The Water Cycle Game: the incredible journey

This year was my first year teaching 6th grade science.  I just finished teaching the water cycle and I think we had a good time in the process.  I used a Project Wet idea for an engagement activity to start students thinking how water could move through the cycle.  I had students create different pictures for stations in the game; plants, river, ocean, clouds etc.  Students would visit these stations and roll a die when they got there to determine where they would go next.  They would also keep track of which stations they had visited.  Students used this list to create a comic strip from the point of view of drop of water as an assessment.  My sixth graders did an awesome job of creating comic strips this year!  They had cute story-lines  and were very artistic.  This is a link to the directions for this lesson:
http://www.montana.edu/wwwwet/journey.html

Cyber Monday Sale on TPT

Teachers Pay Teachers is having a huge Cyber Monday Sale. The site is running a 10% off sale by using the promo code CMS28.  Just use this promo code at checkout.  Many top sellers are also  running sales in their stores with as much as 20% off.  That can give you the customer 30% off of many items.  My store will be at 20% off on Monday November, 28th and Tuesday the 29th so stay out of the malls and happy shopping!

Nonfiction Graphic Features II

Due to the overwhelming support for my Nonfiction Graphic Features practice, I have created Nonfiction Graphic Features II.  This is great practice for students who need to be able to interpret diagrams, graphs and charts. It contains a line graph, a bar graph, and a circle graph.  I have also included a diagram of a human ear with associated questions.  This one is a tad more difficult than the first one but a good practice none the less.  Here is the link to this product:


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Nonfiction-Graphic-Features-Practice-II

Math and Science Linky Party!!!

Hello everyone!  For the month of November, we would like to invite you to The Lesson Cloud's very first linky party celebrating all things Science and Math.  We've had over 100,000 page hits since our inception, including nearly 1000 people following on Facebook and 275 following on Blogger, so it would certainly behoove you to join in!  We can all learn and share with each other...it's a WIN/WIN!  Here is the link!
http://www.thelessoncloud.com/2011/11/math-and-science-linky-party.html

We would be honored if you would post your free or priced product having to do with Science and/or Math (all grades) to participate in our linky party. 

To participate in our linky party, there are a few rules/guidelines:

1.     Product may be free or priced.

2.     "Link Title" should be the name of the product.  Please also include grade level.

3.     URL should go DIRECTLY to the blog post or product page where the product can be found.  Don't have people clicking more than once...you will lose them.  This is NOT your blog address, but the actual POST address.  It is also not your TPT store address, but the actual address of the specific product in your store.

4.     Share the love, and thank the host!  You must post a blurb about the linky party on your own blog, inviting them back to this linky party to see what you and others have posted.  You can copy The Lesson Cloud button and/or the link to this post to share! We want a ton of people to see all we have, so share and share away!

5.     If you are still unsure how to do this, check out Beneath My Heart's blog for a fabulous tutorial.

Hurry! Submissions close November 31, 2011. Happy linking...and enjoy!

Spooky Science

Today  Halloween fell on a Monday.  I struggled with what to do with my sixth grade science class and came up with a Halloween story with demonstrations.  I wrote a story last night until 11pm.  It was actually a pretty good story all and all.  It was basically about three kids trick-or-treating and finding themselves exploring an abandoned house only to find a wrinkled lady with a very pointed black hat.  During the story I used dry ice for a number of demonstrations that the kids loved.  One of these included taking a metal ice cream scoop and holding it against the dry ice.  This makes a great squeaky door sound.  Actually it was more like a screaming door!  I plan to revise my story and post it to my Teachers Pay Teachers store to help teachers for next years Halloween.  It turned out to be a very enjoyable day.

Blog on Fire Award

A big thank you to Amy from Science Stuff for nominating me for this award.  According to the rules I have to say 7 things about myself and then nominate 7 worthy blogs!

1.  I went to college to become a geologist.  I never really considered being anything else and somehow I became a teacher.  At least I teach earth science!

2.  I am a native Boulderite!  I originally come from Boulder, Colorado which is a very unique (or strange) place to grow up. 

3.  I have two wonderful children who are 13 and 9.

4.  I grew up playing clarinet and piano.  I can still play the piano pretty well.

5.  I have been a middle school science teacher for 14 years.  I am also teaching reading this year and tutor dyslexic kids after school.

6.  My husband and I love to hike  and spend time outdoors.  I feel like a good hike is an antidepressant.  I guess I belong in nature.

7.  I love animals and have a brand new kitty who is part Siamese named Pippin. He was found roaming at one of our district schools.  He is adorable but now thinks my couch is a toilet.  Cats!!!

And now for my seven outstanding blogs.... hope you will check them out soon!

Ed Tech 4 Science
Teacher Tam's Educational Adventures
 The Teaching Bank
Education Journey
 Sunny Days in Second Grade
Teacher Gone Digital
Life in Special Education

Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, and Tonto Natural Bridge

I have once again taken my fall break in some of the southwest's most cherished locations.  I also take my camera lucky for you!  I haven't been in Arizona's Petrified Forest since 1993.  This year I decided to go back to see it again.  The logs you see in the following picture are indeed very much rocks!

 

You are not allowed to take any petrified wood out of the park of course.  There are however some locations near Winslow, Arizona and vicinity where you can collect pieces.  I found a great blue piece in 2007 in the Winslow area.  But alas, in the park, you cannot.  I guess this bird will stop you if you do!

 The painted desert was just beautiful this time.  It is a little tricky to take quality pictures of, however.  Here are a few from the overlook near the visitor center:

These two parks are in the same area so if you ever visit you can see them both in one day.  My husband and I did most of the hikes as well.  We stayed in Winslow at an old Harvey House on the old route 66.  The La Posada Hotel has been renovated and is a wonderful place to stay.

On our way back home to Phoenix we past Tonto Natural Bridge State Park and decided to stop.  I hadn't been there since I did my field school for my masters up in that area and really wanted to see it again.  It is the largest travertine  bridge in perhaps the world.

You can see the waterfall running from springs at the top.  This creates a micro-climate at the base of the bridge complete with many types of plants.  Here are a few pictures of the water and plant life in the bottom.

If you ever get a chance to visit Arizona, you will find amazingly different landscapes and climates in a relatively short distance.  These areas I have pictured are not far from one another.  They are within a few hours drive of Grand Canyon and Flagstaff as well.  Hope you have enjoyed my travels!