The latest plant experiment my 2nd & 5th hour science class is doing is going along well. Here’s a picture of the pea plants after two weeks.

Students are measuring the height of their plants each day. When the experiment is done, they will learn how to analyze their data and determine which soil (regular potting soil or organic potting soil) is the best for growing plants.

It has been so fascinating to start with a dried up pea, put it in some soil and water regularly, you get a living plant. I have told my students how they are seeing the miracle of life. We know of life nowhere else in the universe. Just here on Earth. And we can get a beautiful, growing plant, which will produce food from a simple seed.

I have told students that, when they do a science fair project, they have to repeat the experiment a number of times. With plants, for example, they have to grown at least ten different plants and use the average height to determine how a plant would grow. This experiment has reinforced the importance of repeating experiments. Here’s a picture of two plants:

I pointed out that if they had only grown one seed, they might have gotten the small plant on the left or the large plant on the right. I asked them if this actually reflected how seeds grow. My students realized that it doesn’t. This was a great learning experience for them, seeing two significantly different plants.

As I mentioned in my last post, my 7th grade science class is studying cells. I wanted to share pictures of two assignments they did. The first is a picture of my bulletin board in the school hall. My students made examples of cells. These examples are on display for students to see.

Thursday, students finished the Cell Project. As a part of the assignment, the groups were required to make a model of their cell organelle. The picture is a model of the mitochondrion. This organelle is responsible for producing the energy the cell needs. This is an example of excellent work by some students in my class. (Too bad they all weren't this good!)

We are approaching the end of the first term. It has been a busy time.

6th grade students have been learning about gravity and the Solar System. They have had the chance to do lab activities that demonstrate how the Solar System and gravity work together.

Next week we begin discussing the reason for the phases of the moon. Students currently have an assignment to observe the moon from October 1st to October 15th. Each night, they are to draw a picture of what the moon looks like. We will spend about two weeks on phases of the moon. The last four weeks of the first trimester will be spent learning about the reason for the seasons, size of the universe, and constellations.

A quick note about grading. Students only took one test this term. If I left it on their grade, a poor score (even after they take the re-test tomorrow) could significantly lower your student’s grade. I will record the results of the test on next terms grades.

My 7th grade students are actively learning about plant and animal cells. They have completed a WebQuest and a presentation to the class on an assigned organelle. Over the next few weeks, student will have opportunities to look at live cells and learn how to distinguish between plant and animal cells through observation.

Over the next six weeks, your students will have plenty of opportunities to expand their knowledge of the world in which they live.

I wanted to share a cool video. It was taken by the EPOXI spacecraft. You can see the moon move in front of the earth.



The EPOXI mission was called Deep Impact. On July 4, 2005, Deep Impact sent an impactor to collide with Comet Tempel 1. After it finished its mission, Deep Impact was still in excellent condition, so it was decided to send it to another comet. Here's a video clip showing animation and actual footage of the impactor hitting the comet.

I want to discuss our new Pinnacle grading system. I’ve heard from parents who have many questions. I understand the confusion, because, frankly, we teachers still have questions.

One thing I learned over the years dealing with computers and new software is that, when you have new software, there will always be problems that no one can anticipate. We were told that when calculating grades, Pinnacle would look at the highest score and ignore lower scores. We’re now finding out that Pinnacle is averaging grades. Based on the original understanding, I entered grades for your students after they took the Astronomy Pre-Test. I did this to help keep track of their progress over the term. Most students got grades of around 2.0, which I feel, shows that they have a good understanding that will help them understand the new concepts we study. I recorded their scores in the Assessment category. Now I find that the low scores will be averaged with the other Assessment scores I enter. This is not fair to my students. To keep a formal record of their results (to compare with later scores to see, first, student progress, and second, how effective I have been teaching them), I have now created a new category called “Pre-Assessments.” This category has a weighting of “0.” The scores will not be considered by the computer when averaging scores. This way, my students’ grades won’t be affected by the Pre-Test and I can have scores I can use for future comparison.

As a faculty, we are working to come up with common standards we use when we calculate grades for our students. We believe that it’s essential that a 3.0 in my class is the same as a 3.0 in any other class.

We encourage parents to bear with us as we are learning the new system. We have many questions that we have been told don’t have any answers at this time. Our Pinnacle specialist at the District is putting in many long hours trying to solve problems and make sure it’s doing what we want it to do. And, when most of the bugs are worked out, it will still take us time to fully understand and make the system work the way we want it to.

I believe this has change has already had positive results. One is that faculty members are talking together and sharing ideas more than we have in the past. As a science staff, we are working closely to improve our teaching methods, approaches, ideas, assessing students, etc. This is the first year we have had 6th grade science for two trimesters. Mrs. Findlay, Mrs. Perea, and I spent a lot of time working over the summer to use our additional twelve weeks the best way we could. Even with all the time we spent, we found that teaching the scientific method the first week or so is not the best approach. After our evaluation, we decided it would be better to put this off until the second trimester, teaching the scientific method as a part of the Microorganisms unit.

This new approach has caused to me to evaluate myself as a teacher. Am I really teaching the best way possible? Are my activities really doing what I want them to do? Do my assessments really tell me how my students are doing in my class? It’s meant a lot of hard work (for the entire faculty, not just me!), but we all know that this will help us to become better and more effective teachers.

If you do have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get with me. If I can’t answer the question right away, I promise you I will get you an answer.

Sixth grade is working on learning more about the Solar System. Their current assignment is to make a Solar System Catalog. They have to do some research and find basic facts about the objects of the Solar System. The project should be done by Wednesday.

Then, for the next week, we’ll be making scale models of the Solar System and learning how gravity helps keep the Solar System together.

My 7th grade students are currently working on a Cell WebQuest. A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. I like using WebQuests because students learn how to research using the Internet. They have two assignments: making trading cards for each cell organelle; writing a children’s book about cell organelles. This gives students excellent experience researching and writing. Albert Einstein once said, “If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.” Writing a children’s book gives them the opportunity to explain cell organelles “simply.”

I am beginning a series of plant activities with my 2nd & 5th hour 6th grade science classes. I am working with these two classes because they are going to be assigned a science fair project 2nd trimester. We will be doing some introductory experiments to teach them how become more familiar with plants. Once these are done, we will be doing two major projects. One class will be involved with the Tomatosphere project. According to the website:

“Tomatosphere is a research project involving more than 9,000 classrooms of Grades 2 to grade 10 students ("Tomatonauts") across Canada, the United States and several other nations. In 2008, students will have the opportunity to grow tomatoes from seeds that have been placed in an environment to simulate the effects of aerocapture, as might occur when entering the atmosphere of Mars, and a control group. In the research project, students will be asked to germinate the seeds, but will not know the origin of the seeds until the results are reported to the web site. At that point, the teacher receives an automatic response indicating which seeds were from each group. This methodology, known as a "blind study" will allow the mystery of the project to be real for the students.”

The other class will be making a “space growth chamber” to see how seeds could grow in space. I was able to get cinnamon basil seeds that have been flown in space. We will grow these and compare their growth with cinnamon basil seeds I purchased from a seed catalog.

I am working with plants with my students because NASA is very interested in growing plants in space. If NASA is going to be successful in developing lunar colonies and sending humans to Mars, growing plants on the Moon and in space will be very important. Based on my research, I am hoping my students will be able to learn about the challenges scientists face as they try to send humans into space for extended space voyages.

One last note – two of our 6th grade science teachers, Mrs. Findlay and Mrs. Perea, received a $530.00 grant from the Utah Air Force Association’s Utah Aerospace Education Fund for the purchase of three cordless microscopes. With the larger than expected enrollment, this generous donation will allow us to have two students per microscope. We thank them for the grant.

Please feel free to contact me any time.

Clear Skies!

Friday, 6th grades student took the Astronomy Pre-Test. The purpose of this test was to give me a chance to see what my students knew about the astronomy topics we will be studying 1st & 2nd terms.

I was pleased with the results. Using the rubric scale, the majority of my students received a grade of 2.0. Considering they were being asked questions about subjects we haven’t discussed, I was pleased with the scores. A score of 2.0 or higher is an excellent score. (Click here to read what the scores mean.)

Please understand that I consider each student’s score a baseline score. I will have something to compare scores to as the terms go on. If a student received a low score, I am not concerned. I believe that, as we cover the topics, student’s grades will rise.

The scores have been posted on Pinnacle. Feel free to check your student’s scores. I’m very confident that, when they take the final test in November, their scores will improve.

If you have any questions about the test or a student’s score, please feel free to contact me.

It’s been a great nearly three weeks.

Earlier this week, we had some samples of microorganisms, so we took time off and spent an entire class period looking at microorganisms. We had some fantastic samples and we were able to see, literally, hundreds of Euglena and paramecium. We didn’t have such good luck with the amoeba samples. A great time was had by all, seeing life on the microscopic level.

We’re moving forward learning about the Solar System in 6th grade science. I think it’s important for students to learn how to read something and get information from what they’ve read. For the last few days, they have been reading the Kids Discover Planets magazine. I’m finding many students haven’t learned how to do this, so I’m pleased to begin to help them learn this important life skill.

I really enjoy teaching astronomy because it’s such a constantly changing field of study. Did you know that there is a new “class” of planets? We’ve got the rocky inner planets, the outer gas giants, dwarf planets, and now we have plutoids. According to Space.com, plutoids are “small round things beyond Neptune that orbit the sun and have lots of rocky neighbors.” (If you want to read the official definition, click here!)

A fourth dwarf planet was officially named in July. Makemake (mah-key mah-key/named after the Polynesian creator of humanity) is located in an orbit near Pluto. (This makes Makemake a plutoid.)

We’re finishing our study of the metric system in 7th grade. We will be using metric measurements all year, so it’s important that your students understand the basics of the metric system.

I hope that Monday or Tuesday of next week we’ll begin our cell unit. I love beginning the school year studying cells. Students will see and study cells directly. Each student will have the chance to take a sample of their cheek cells and look at them under a microscope. I think it’s a great experience for them to see some of their own cells. It helps make a more direct connection.

Please take the opportunity to check my website. I put assignments and current activities on it on a regular basis. It will help you keep current with what’s happening in science.

Phoenix (and Steve the Cat) on Mars

Sunday, the Phoenix lander successfully landed on Mars. The first pictures that came back showed a desolate landscape that is very different from where Spirit and Opportunity are exploring. Click here to visit the NASA Phoenix website.

There was also a special payload aboard. Click on the video for more information!

For more information about our fearless explorer, visit Steve the Cat on Mars.

Buy a Star

As I was driving to school this morning, I heard an ad on the radio encouraging you to “name a star” as a gift for someone. In fact, they said, the book with the names is “registered with the U.S. Copyright office.” You get all this for only $54.00.

Some bad news – the companies that sell star names have no way to officially name stars. In fact, you can name and call the stars anything you want. It will be as unofficial, and save you $54.00 in the process!

Phil Plait, author of Bad Astronomy has written an article about what he calls Star Scammery. You can find it here.

If you’re thinking about spending $54.00, read this first. After you’ve read it, pick a star, name it, and make up your own certificate. It’s cheaper and a lot more personal a gift!

Dawn Launch

If you've read my first blog entry, you know that I had the opportunity to spend three days at the Kennedy Space Center last summer learning about the Dawn mission to the asteroids Vesta and Ceres. Dawn was successfully launched last Thursday. Here's a video of the launch with some nice music.

Dawn Educators Workshop June 28 - 30, 2007

I had the opportunity to attend the Dawn Educator Workshop June 28th – 30th. The Dawn Education and Public Outreach Office sponsored the workshop. I want to express my appreciation to the Utah Aerospace Education Foundation, Utah Air Force Association, for a very generous grant that helped me attend the Workshop.

Here’s a thirteen-minute video that gives you a great overview of the Dawn mission:

The Educator Workshop was held at the same time as the Dawn Science Symposium. We were invited to the opening session.

The first speaker was Dawn Principal Investigator Dr. Chris Russell. Dr. Russell reviewed the history of the Dawn mission.

The Dawn mission was first proposed in 1994. It was originally proposed as a mission to the moon. It was not selected. The mission then changed from a lunar mission to a mission to the asteroid Vesta and then to both Vesta and Ceres. (These are the two largest asteroids.)

One unique feature of the Dawn mission is the use of an ion engine. Xenon gas “fuels” the ion engine. The xenon is ionized and is ejected out the thruster nozzle. There is a major difference in how an ion engine is used. A chemical engine is fired for seconds or minutes each time it’s fired. The ion engine can be fired for months at a time. The ion engine is more efficient and ions come out of the engine faster. This makes the engine more efficient and less fuel is required.

Dr. Russell said that an ion engine is the only way that mission could be done. Dawn will orbit Vesta and then leave Vesta orbit, travel to Ceres, and orbit Ceres. This requires enough fuel to enter the orbit of Vesta, blast out of Vesta orbit, and then enter Ceres orbit. This would require more chemical fuel than could have been placed on Dawn.

The ion engine was, in part, responsible for the Dawn mission not being selected in the late 90’s. NASA’s space probe, Deep Space One, was the first use of an ion engine on a space probe. There were problems with DS1’s ion engine. Because of these problems, Dawn was not approved.

The Dawn mission team studied the problems and modified their ion engines. They also included three thrusters. This means there are back-up engines if one fails.

The Dawn mission was approved in 2001. After a final review, Dawn was approved for launch in 2004 and set for launch in 2006. Unfortunately, Dawn was cancelled in March 2006 because of cost overruns and technical problems. Three weeks later, after protests from planetary scientists, NASA reversed the decision and Dawn was given life again. It was scheduled for a 2007 launch.

We next heard from Dr. Lucy McFadden, Co-Investigator. Dr. McFadden discussed her recent studies of Vesta using the Hubble Space Telescope. She mentioned that her study of Vesta was the last done before the Wide Field Planetary Camera stopped working.

Vesta has a unique feature at its south pole. It appears that it was hit by a large object early in its history. Because of the impact, the south pole is not round. You can see this in this artist’s drawing of Vesta.

She also mentioned that it is believed that most meteorites on Earth originated on Vesta.

Photographs were taken over a period of two days. The purpose was to study features on Vesta’s surface. Many different features were visible in photographs. These photographs will be used to decide how to use Dawn when it orbits Vesta.

Here’s a video of Vesta rotation:



Dr. McFadden discussed what would happen when Dawn orbited Vesta and Ceres.

Dawn will begin at an altitude of about 1,500 miles to survey each asteroid. It will then drop to 500 miles to map the surface of Vesta and Ceres. Finally, it will drop to a 125-mile orbit. At this point, the Visual Infrared (VIR) Spectrometer and Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND) will map the surface of the asteroids (more on these experiments later).

Dr. Mark Sykes, Director of the Planetary Science Institute and Dawn Co-Investigator, discussed “What is a Planet?” He discussed the recently adopted definition of a planet:

1. Is in orbit around the Sun.
2. Has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape
3. It has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.

Dr. Sykes pointed out that that less than 500 out of 10,000 IAU members voted on the definition.

This definition is opposed by most planetary scientists. Dr. Sykes put up a photograph similar to this one.

As you can see, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter have not cleared the neighborhood around their orbits. By this definition, these bodies should not be considered planets.

Most planetary scientists have let it be known that they will not accept this definition. They feel that only the first two definitions should be used. This would give us eleven planets instead of eight. Ceres, Pluto, and Eris would be considered planets.

In fact, he would take it one-step further and include Pluto’s moon Charon as a planet. This is because it’s round, it orbits the Sun, but it doesn’t really orbit around Pluto. If you were to look at Pluto and Charon as they orbit each other, you would see that the barycenter of their orbit is outside the surface of Pluto. They are orbiting around a point between Pluto and Charon.

You can see this in this animation from the New Horizon’s website.



This would give us twelve planets.

Later that afternoon, we had presentations from scientists who designed three of the experiments on Dawn.

Dr. Tom Prettyman discussed the Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND). GRaND will measure the chemical composition of Vesta and Ceres.

GRaND will identify how much of each chemical, compound, etc. is found in the surface of each asteroid. It will also identify what water is present. There is a current proposal that there is a body of water or ice below the surface of Ceres. GRaND should be able to determine if the body of water or ice is there.

Knowing the composition of the asteroids will help understand how the solar system was formed. Knowing the chemical composition these asteroids will help determine the composition of the solar nebula.

GRaND data, along with data from the Visual Infrared Spectrometer and the framing camera will answer many questions about the conditions in the solar nebula that led to the formation of the solar system.

Dr. Holger Sierks, Framing Camera Project Manager, discussed the framing camera. Two cameras have been put on Dawn, ensuring that there is a back-up in case one camera fails.

The camera will have three filters – red, blue, and yellow. It looks like an old View-Master™ disk. It also has a mechanism similar to the View-Master™ to change the filter.

It will be used to help Dawn navigate as it approaches and enters orbit. Once in orbit, the Framing Camera will be used to map the surface of Ceres and Vesta.

Dr. Maria Cristina De Sanctis, Technical Manager, Instituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, discussed the Visual Infrared (VIR) spectrometer.

The VIR Spectrometer uses visual and infrared colors to determine the chemical composition and minerals found on the surface of the asteroids. Data from the VIR Spectrometer will be used along with data from GRaND and the Framing Camera to give the science team a thorough understanding of the composition and structure of Vesta and Ceres.

In addition to the briefings we received, there were breakout sessions where we had a chance to try Dawn lesson plans we can use in the classroom.

The first breakout session was a lesson about the history and discovery of the asteroids called “How Bright Are You?”

In this lesson, students are given a table with the Asteroid name, year of discovery, its maximum brightness, and its size. Students are expected to create two graphs – Asteroid Brightness vs. Year of Discovery & Size of Asteroid vs. Year of Discovery.

When students complete their first graph, they will see that, with two exceptions, the brighter the asteroid, the earlier it was discovered (four asteroids were discovered in a seven-year period. The next asteroids were discovered beginning in 1845.

The second graph shows students that, with a one exception, the first asteroids discovered were the largest.

Using the information, students expected to learn:

The larger the asteroid, the brighter it is.
The larger asteroids were discovered first.

Students complete a worksheet using their data to answer the questions.

This activity helps students learn how to analyze data and answer questions using this data.

The next session was called “Analyzing Telescopic Images.”

Students are given telescopic images of Vesta. Using those pictures, students complete the worksheet by analyzing their pictures. For example, they come up with possible explanations for the differences in brightness on Vesta’s surface and, using all pictures, they attempt to determine the direction of Vesta’s rotation as well as the tilt of its axis.

“In Search of …” required students to analyze star charts and identify where the asteroid is. They are required to identify the “star” that moved.

This activity gives students an experience similar to what earlier astronomers had to do to find an asteroid among many stars.

“Edible Rocks” required students to describe a piece of candy that had been cut. Students see a side view of the candy and then describe it, using non-food terms.

Students are then given a description of each piece of candy written by scientists that study meteors. Using those descriptions, they identify which description describes their “meteorite.”

I liked this activity because not only can I use this with my 6th grade students when we study the solar system, I can use this with my 7th grade students. 7th graders learn about classification. This activity gives them the opportunity to learn how to describe something in a way that allows others to use their description and identify the object.

The final sesson was “Design a Mission.” Students are given a NASA Discovery Program Announcement of Opportunity and required to submit a proposal.

Students receive the Discovery Program requirements and a sheet that outlines the costs of the rocket & fuel (about $80,000,000), science team, instruments, etc. Their mission can cost no more than $350,000,000.

Once done, students have to present their mission to the class. They have to name their project, design a mission patch, explain what it is going to study, identify the instruments they will use, and the total cost of the mission.

These activities give students a taste of what scientists do when they study the solar system. They develop important life skills: the ability to analyze and present data, use their knowledge in creative ways to solves problems, present their results to a group, be prepared to explain and answer questions, etc.

Having spent three days learning about Dawn, I now feel like I am a part of the Dawn mission. I have been following it very closely over the last two weeks. (I was very disappointed by the delay of the launch until September!) I will be using Dawn lessons and information about the asteroids in my science curriculum in both 6th and 7th grade.

Programs like this help teachers get a broader view of the missions NASA launches to explore the solar system. It also helps to “reinvigorate” the teacher. I came away from the workshop excited about taking what I’ve learned and using it in my curriculum. All teachers should have the chance to attend workshops like this. It helps remind us why we became science teachers!