Mars in Opposition, Grand Rapids Museum Time!

Today, I am taking my five year old son to see the Mars exhibit in Grand Rapids, MI at the Grand Rapids museum. We are so excited, we can barely stand it! I have always loved astronomy, but this March (2012) was the time in my life when I couldn't learn enough. Five planets (Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn) were visible in the night time sky! It was something that will not happen again for quite some time and was something that we will never forget.
www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2012/...

    Happy Earth Day, everyone! This week at my school, I have declared it Earth week! After collaborating with our PTA for their generous donation and Mr. Randy Baker, a conservationist from our community, I was able to gift a Maple Sugar seedling to each of our 90 fifth graders! I began with reading them The Lorax and asking them how we can make a difference. After handing out the seedlings, I told them, "Although each of you only has one tree, imagine if 90 trees were planted today and what a positive impact we will have on our environment!" This was an exciting thing to be able to do and incorporate into my science lessons.

Science Fair 911 – What If My Results Are Wrong?

I found this blog today, although I have heard of Steve Spangler before. I was thinking about doing a science fair at the end of the school year. We shall see!

Science Fair 911 – What If My Results Are Wrong?

Week 6 Science 6661 with Bianca Garner

• This week, my students are working with Newton's Laws of Motion. To engage the students in the idea of Newton's Laws of Motion, I have been using my smart cart to show videos to watch examples of each law. Some of the most powerful web resources for this that I have found are as follows:
• United Streaming.com (they have a wonderful kids video that uses all of the laws of motion and things related to that, such as centrifugal force, gravity, relative and kinetic energy, etc. It is on a funny topic, however, called Punkin Chunkin, which the students have found to be fascinating and humorous.) This tool is wonderful for getting the students interested in the subject and showing them real-world applications with the concept of Newton's Laws of Motion.
• Teachnology.net has been another website which I have used to make rubrics for the students' reports that they have been doing for this unit. This is a wonderful 21st century tool because the students know the expectations of the teacher in order to get their desired grade. 
• Edhelper.com has been another website which I utilized to print off books for the students as we go through the unit. This is beneficial because it pulls different lesson plans and ideas than what I already have.
• Atlasrubicon.com is a great resource that my school district provides to us. A subscription is needed to access this blog. However, on this blog, teachers throughout our county have shared countless lesson plans that are written by using the 5E method. Basically, this encourages inquiry based lessons and I believe is the most beneficial tool for preparing 21st-century scientifically literate citizens. This method of learning allows students to learn how to constantly operate on a deeper level of thinking. It encourages inquiry, working in collaborative groups and fosters real-world applications within lesson plans. It is a great resource that I have utilized a lot with Newton's Laws of Motion.
•  Blogger.com (This site) is free and I utilize this site with my students. We weekly blog during computer lab time. Whether it be a response to what they are doing in a particular subject in class, or talking about their favorite books with their peers, this is another thing that is beneficial to tie into lessons. Not only is it incorporating another avenue of learning, but allowing students to blog and utilize technology in the classroom is what needs to be done. Our society is very technologically savvy and moving toward doing everything online.