Earth Story Part 1

Paying It Forward in The Devil's Arithmetic

In Chapter 15 of The Devil's Arithmetic, Leye explains that Rivka organized a ring for the blokova, allowing Hannah to have a decent job in the kitchens. Rivka and Hannah have an exchange regarding Leye's explanation in which Rivka essentially tells Hannah to "pay it forward," an idea that prompts people to do good for others. Please provide your feelings on the following excerpt, drawing connections to your own life or other areas of study in the Sixth Grade.

When Hannah tried to thank Rivka, the girl only smiled and shrugged away the thanks. "My mother, may she rest in peace, always said 'a nemer iz nisht keyn geber,' a taker is not a giver. And a giver is not a taker either. Keep your thanks. And hand it on." She said it gently, as if embarrassed.

Hannah understood her embarrassment and didn't mention it again, but she did try to pass it on....

Capt. Charles Moore on the seas of plastic | Video on TED.com

Capt. Charles Moore on the seas of plastic | Video on TED.com

An excellent TED Talk by Charles Moore, as shared by Jewelyn P. during her Plan of Action presentation. Thanks, Jewelyn!

Science Stars Step Into Finals

Science Students,
It's time for us to play a little 1st Trimester review game... Please provide one "Fun Fact" from our studies during the 1st Trimester of Earth Science. You may list one golden nugget from Chapters 1, 2, 6, or 13, but you may not provide the blog with a fun fact that a classmate has already posted (first come, first served). You must also number your post. If you are the second student to log in, your entry might begin like this:
2) Alfred Wegener developed the Theory of Continental Drift.
Email or see me if you have any questions... Let the game begin!

Courage. Grace. Fortitude.

Courage. Grace. Fortitude.

These are the defining qualities of a dear friend of mine. She is a woman who exhibits such bravery in the face of what is surely the greatest battle of her life that I often find myself saying that she is a better “man” than me. You see, she is waging a war on a terror that is unlike anything any superpower or military might has ever encountered. This battle has roiled inside of her for months; it is a war that is fueled by factors which are sadly common to so many others like her.

Like many of her comrades who wage similar wars, my friend is young, vibrant, talented, and kind. She is a daughter. A wife. A mother. And now she is a warrior.

Her battle is against cancer, and she embodies such fervent qualities that she echoes the call of countless survivors and womanly warriors of similar ilk. My friend is no stranger to the fight against women’s cancers. She has witnessed as the dreaded disease cruelly toyed with her family and friends. She worked in the trenches with the Susan G. Komen foundation. And now she faces a faceless foe, staring into the darkness and refusing to blink. Despite pain, discomfort, doubts, and disbelief, she battles – working each day, caring for her young daughter, standing side-by-side with her devoted husband. She pushes pain and doctor recommendations of rest aside in order to devote her time to teaching. She shows few chinks in her armor despite the onslaught of the effects of cancer and the treatment that is supposed to heal her. She wears a brave face and shares a warm heart and sharp sense of humor with her students and colleagues. Even as she walks this long road, she asks for little but gives so much. Now, I find myself asking what we could possibly give her to ease her pain, tell her troubles to tarry outside her door, or to allay her fears.

I always tell my students that the word “sucks” is never to be used in my classroom. Such common verbiage holds no place in our academic halls; however, I used that word today (with apologies). There was to be no denying it – Cancer Sucks.

My friend is truly a profile in courage. By exhibiting such grace under fire, she has somehow channeled the words and spirit of President John F. Kennedy who wrote, “The stories of past courage can define that ingredient – they can teach, they can offer hope, they can provide inspiration. But they cannot supply courage itself. For this each man must look into his own soul.” When Kennedy speaks of the courage of man, he speaks of mankind or womankind. Kennedy speaks of the courage that is required of not only world leaders, but of those who wage a daily war against such villainy as cancer. He speaks of the courage of my dear friend and colleague. In her battle against cancer, this teacher continues to teach, continues to offer hope, and continues to provide inspiration. And if it is for each man to look into his own soul, well she’s doing just that. She’s digging deep and again prompting me to say that she’s more “man” than I could ever be.

Like a boxer with an entourage of trainers and supporters, she has us in her corner. She’s coming out swinging, and she’ll keep swinging through the bell. This fighter and her entourage will never throw in the towel.

Michael Josephson Commentary: A Veterans Day Tribute 696.5

From the Josephson Institute and Character Counts!, a commentary on Veterans' Day and the honor of those who serve our country...

Michael Josephson Commentary: A Veterans Day Tribute 696.5

Heqet-isms

Students,
Please create your own Heqet-ism, a phrase that Ranofer's friend Heqet might say. Post your Heqet-ism below.

The Golden Goblet Chapter IX

Students, please take a few minutes to analyze the following excerpt from Chapter 9 of The Golden Goblet. Note the author’s use descriptive language and the inner monologue that Ranofer exhibits. What are your impressions of Ranofer's revelations? What do you predict the next plot turn might be as we enter Chapter 10? What are your impressions of Ranofer's current emotions?

Post your comments below.

He means to take no chances that I will forget tonight, Ranofer thought as he started for the storeroom. Cursed One! What does he care for my coppers, except to make sure I do not get them? If only I could keep them, I could hide them away and some day buy a donkey. But he does not even need them, especially these days when he swaggers about in fine headcloths and new-made sandals. He has two pairs of sandals now, one with buckles, like a judge's. Aye, and he eats fish often, and salted waterfowl. I can smell them in the storeroom at home. And he reeks always of wine or barley beer...

My coppers cannot have made all that difference, Ranofer reflected....

Chapter 17 Section 3 Skit

Our last Earth Science class of the year... a skit is enjoyed by all!

Throw Away the Trash

Enviroman and friends remind us that we need to "Throw Away the Trash" if we want a clean home, classroom, and planet. C'mon everybody! Throw away the trash!

Earth Science Rocks!

I have always been a big fan of this planet of ours - the third rock from the sun, our terrestrial home, our mother, our Earth. How could I or any other Earthling not be a fan? Both the biotic and abiotic worlds are flat-out fascinating. I am captivated by the planet's processes; the diversity of plants, animals, and geology; the connections between flora and fauna; and the complexity and majesty of structures that exist on land, in the skies, and under the waters. These fascinations formed by nature's wonders have called mankind to the great outdoors. Luminaries from John Muir to Ansel Adams to Henry David Thoreau embraced the wilds and tickled our imagination. Galileo Galilei, Sir Francis Bacon, Xenophanes, Charles Darwin, Alfred Wegener, and countless others turned their wonderment and scientific methods into wells of knowledge about the night sky, the world's coastlines, living creatures, and the evidence of creatures once living.

There's a certain amount of romance that goes into the study and appreciation of Earth. As we dig further into the fossil record, we learn more of our past. As we scale the face of a rocky mountain, we hug the evidence of geologic upheaval, a violence that has been silenced as it settled. As we skip a rock across a lake, we set off a ripple effect that has been repeated countless times in every ocean, sea, lake, stream, and backyard puddle. As we gaze across the ocean, waiting for the glowing sun to dip below the Pacific's horizon, we turn our thoughts to a new day dawning on the other side of the planet. Romance looms in the wings of a fluttering butterfly, the rolling of wave trains, the glowing flow of Hawaiian lava, the morning dew on the petal of a rose, the birth of a foal, and the aerial ballet of a bird riding a wind. Captivating. Profound. Mysterious. Earth.

As a child, I found great appreciation and interest in spending time on the beaches of Malibu and Santa Monica. I started a collection of shells and rocks, finding samples on the seashore and the expanse of the high desert. I embraced nature photography under the watchful eye of my father. I spent more time outdoors than in (and still do when not in the classroom or edit bay). I questioned the ground shaking under my Californian feet. I recognized a love of animals, eventually joining 4H and later becoming a veterinary assistant. With this type of history and ongoing interest, I salivated at the opportunity to teach Earth Science.

This has been my first year teaching Earth Science in 6th Grade, and I have relished the time spent on each lesson and concept. What a year of discovery it has been for our students and myself. We have learned and renewed our knowledge of the Earth as a living laboratory. This has been a year of major earthquakes (Haiti, Chile, and others), tremendous volcanoes (Iceland), and homecomings (field trip to Vasquez Rocks County Park which sits a stone's throw from my parents home in Agua Dulce). I have shared photos of my Vancouver Olympics' trip to the great northwest, giving the students a glimpse of Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier from my rental car's window. I have utilized the San Gabriel mountains, burned bare by last year's Station Fire, to illustrate erosion and mountain formations. I have shared David Herndon's images of the quake destruction in Haiti to illustrate the destructive forces of plate tectonics. I have even used my cellphone to capture images of marine fossils discovered on a trail in the Santa Monica Mountains. I love this stuff!

I am an avid hiker (who wishes he had more time and trails) and find great satisfaction in breaking a sweat as though it meant breaking bread with Mother Nature. My good friend, Scott Olson, and I like to hit the local trails each spring and summer. We have found the Santa Monica Mountains to be a fair challenge and a scenic sensation. On a recent romp up Backbone Trail, a relatively oft-traversed trail off of Malibu Canyon Road, I became giddy when I discovered a handful of marine fossils atop the mountain range. Scott could only sit back and chuckle as I snapped BlackBerry pictures and picked up a few samples of what appear to be spiral shell fossils (Mesalia Clarke Gastropoda) which probably enjoyed life more than 50 million years ago. I recently explained to our students that the top of Mt. Everest in the Himalayas used to be under the sea, as evidenced by the limestone layers atop Everest. Now, here I was in the Santa Monicas thinking that I was a modern-day Xenophanes. In 500 B.C., the Grecian discovered fossilized sea creatures on mountains and reasoned that the area must have once been submerged under the sea. In 2010, I got the same kind of rush of discovery.

Man, Earth Science rocks!

2010 Revlon Run/Walk for Women

Join me this weekend as thousands of Angelenos and I Discover our Womentum! At school in the past two weeks, we have experienced the C-word hitting home, and we have all been touched by this terrible disease through our interconnectedness with family and friends. Join me on Saturday, May 8. Join me to raise funds for research and treatment. Join me to raise awareness. Join me to stand together. Join me.

How The Earth Was Made — Iceland Volcano

STUDENTS: Check this out -- Iceland Volcano on "How the Earth Was Made." Super cool! Awesome in HD. The History Channel's "HTEWM" episode guide link is provided below.

How The Earth Was Made — Season 2 Episode Guide — History.com

The Eyes Have Depth

Students,
Please respond to the following passage from The Giver. Does this passage offer any descriptive language that draws you in? Does it foreshadow something that will be revealed about Jonas and/or The Giver? What does it tell you about most members of the community? What is meant by the Depth that Jonas speaks of in the light eyes? I look forward to enjoying your insight.

Mirrors were rare in the community; they weren't forbidden, but there was no need of them, and Jonas had simply never bothered to look at himself very often even when he found himself in a location where a mirror existed. Now, seeing the newchild and its expression, he was reminded that the light eyes were not only a rarity but gave the one who had them a certain look -- what was it? Depth, he decided; as if one were looking into the clear water of the river, down to the bottom, where things might lurk which hadn't been discovered yet. He felt self-conscious, realizing that he, too, had that look.

Aeneas at Carthage

Students, please take a few minutes to analyze the following excerpt from “Aeneas at Carthage.” Note the author’s use of personification and descriptive language. Post your comments below.

Aboard the Trojan ships, there was no time for panic. Sails were ripped from their masts; the decks were a riot of rigging, timber, torn wineskins belching their contents, all mingled with sea-water and blood. There was a tearing and slapping of wet fabric, and the scream and crack of wood bent beyond the limit of its length. The low, desperate babble of human confusion was broken now and then by the shriek of some poor creature crushed by a mast, or the shrill neighing of a horse swept overboard into the boiling sea.

Human wits and muscle could do nothing. Aeneas, his legs gripping a rocking ladder, raised his hands to the sky. “Why didn’t we die in Troy?” he cried, but the words of his prayer were lost in the gale; the whole ship seemed to be wailing the same lament.

The Importance of Science

I have been given a sort of mandate as the sixth grade science teacher: Increase science instruction hours, breadth, and depth. As this mandate has been embraced and achieved, our students have experienced both the benefits and the burden of the increased focus on science. The content knowledge that they have acquired is significant, the scientific study skills that they practice are critical, and the life lessons regarding the interworking of our planet will linger in their minds forever. All of our lessons in the formation of our planet, the changing face of the Mother Earth, our dwindling natural resources, and the interconnectivity between nature and mankind have lately turned my thoughts to the learning that is taking place in our science program. What we are discovering in Earth Science is about more than Pangaea, volcanoes, and petroleum. We are learning that science is a part of our daily lives – not something that is done, but something that is lived.

The September 2009 issue of ASCD’s Educational Leadership magazine outlines the great ideas of science, the eighteen concepts that our students need to digest in order to be scientifically literate. Here’s what we, the lifelong learners, need to understand:
1. The universe is regular and predictable.
2. Energy is conserved and always goes from more useful to less useful forms.
3. Electricity and magnetism are two aspects of the same force.
4. All matter is made of atoms.
5. Everything comes in discrete units, and you can't measure anything without changing it.
6. Atoms are bound by electron glue.
7. The way a material behaves depends on how its atoms are arranged.
8. Nuclear energy comes from the conversion of mass.
9. All matter is made of quarks and leptons.
10. Stars live and die.
11. The universe was born at a specific time in the past, and it has been expanding ever since.
12. Every observer sees the same laws of nature in operation.
13. The surface of the earth is constantly changing.
14. The earth operates in many cycles.
15. All living things are made from cells, the chemical factories of life.
16. All life is based on the same genetic code.
17. All forms of life evolved by natural selection.
18. All life is connected.

Each concept is important in its own right, but I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on just a few of these ideas. No. 2 illustrates a connection to global warming, a critical focus amongst our students and Eco Club members. Regarding Item 2, the article’s authors, James Trefil and Wanda O'Brien-Trefil, state, “This idea helps us understand such concepts as global warming (energy captured by greenhouse gases has to go somewhere—in this case, to warming the planet) and explains why, when we burn coal, two-thirds of its energy will be dumped into the environment as waste heat.” As we come off of our studies of the Earth’s nonrenewable resources, this idea seems particularly poignant. Items 13 and 14 are of significance for 6th Graders, as well. Regarding No. 13, the authors state, “This idea encompasses plate tectonics, our current dynamic picture of the earth, and the notion—surprising to many people—that everything is impermanent, from mountains to oceans.” Regarding the Earth’s cycles, an understanding of the rock cycle, water cycle, etc., will prompt students to better understand and respond to such environmental concerns as acid rain, the expanding hole in the ozone layer, and aforementioned global warming.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, as No. 18 states, all life is interconnected. If we do not understand the complex web of ecosystems that exist on our planet, we will be doomed to miss the opportunity to best manage our planet both now and in the future. We rely on each other for health and safety. We rely on the Earth’s resources for sustainability. We rely on all creatures – great and small – as we live out our days on the big blue third rock from the sun.

Scientific literacy does not begin or end in the sixth grade, we are on a lifelong trajectory of science education and exploration. The Earth is our classroom, and it is always open for business.

Finals and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

As we traverse through our academic careers, we are met with the challenges of weekly quizzes, coordination and completion of group projects, the research and writing of term papers, and the daunting task of taking final exams. For our sixth graders, the concept of finals is a new one, but they recently completed their second round of these tests and closed another trimester with scholastic and personal growth. While finals may strike fear in the hearts of some, they are a reality as we move through middle school, high school, and college. Our sixth grade exams are a kinder, gentler introduction to the world of finals... and tigers, and bears, oh my!

It’s no easy task, recalling, revisiting, and re-digesting a trimester worth of curricular content in five disparate subject areas. Students are asked to master concepts and process information in Mathematics, Ancient History, Earth Science, Grammar, and Reading/Vocabulary. They prepare themselves for five straight days of tests with a plethora of note cards, outlines, review questions, and textbooks that get scoured for the umpteenth time. They meet in study groups, seek out instructors during recess, quiz one another, and conduct further research. As the students bone up on subject matter, they are actually learning about themselves at the same time. The study and exam process is truly an invitation to metacognition, an understanding of one’s own thought processes. This opportunity to understand self is just as valuable as the acquisition of academic knowledge.

In the end, the students’ experience with finals is not solely about processing content or earning top grades. The outcome or end product of the final exam experience is one of self-discovery and awareness, learning that we live in a world of interconnectivity. The information that we acquire through schooling and daily life is tapped into repeatedly. What we learn in History class applies to stories that are shared in Reading. What we discuss in Science may reveal itself again in Mathematics. What we learn in September is still important in March. Knowledge is not left at the classroom door when we clock out at 3:15 p.m. each Friday. When a quiz is passed, the information does not pass from our lives. Our little nuggets of knowledge collect in a treasure trove of understanding. The human mind is a powerful thing, and it retains information and makes new connections in the blink of an eye. For our students, information is absorbed like a sponge. The synapses of memory and experiences fire at remarkable rates as they gain knowledge and watch their calendar days fall away.

As our students continue to progress through their academic careers, they will encounter more tigers and bears… and finals. But, oh my, they will be ready for all of them.

New Resident of the Blogosphere

So, I am setting up shop here in Blogsville, and I am enjoying the process -- setting up a profile, adding gadgets, fine-tuning colors and layouts, uploading images, and so forth. I've even met some of the neighbors. Crossing Chalk and Murphblog have been welcoming, both educators and writers who have mastered the online creative realm. As for this junior statesman of Blogsville, so far so good. I am a little concerned about the neighborhood home owner's association though... As the neighbors warned me, there is a huge allotment of time required to truly gain full membership in the web log club. As a teacher, TV producer, hopeful picture book author, husband, and self-proclaimed jack-of-all-trades, I hope to squeeze out enough time to fold Blogger.com into my loaded life.

Like they say in real estate, it's all about location, location, location. I hope my students, friends, and new neighbors can find me tucked away into this ever-expanding population of web writers. I think Bache's Box is situated nicely between the political pundits, witty writers, and Googling gardeners of the web. We'll see what the foot traffic is like as I improve my curb appeal and property value with quality blog entries and useful links. Like any invested homeowner, I'll put in some elbow grease in an effort to keep my equity in the black.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

Give Yo Mouth A Rest

"Give Yo Mouth A Rest" the music video!