It's Science

In honor of Science Fair week here at Gattis Elementary, I thought I would share some science sites that are full of great ideas!:

Experiment of the Week: Sign up for a science experiment of the week.
If you have the time for the science lesson, but not enough time to research and find a steady supply of really engaging science experiments, sign up for a science Experiment of the Week. Each week, a new science experiment will be e-mailed to you.

Bubbles! Do bubbles have sides?  Find out more about Bubbles: http://www.sci.mus.mn.us/sln/tf/books/bubbles.html

Yucky Body Site http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/body/
This site let's you know why all those want to know where eye gunk comes from, what is a funnybone, and what causes bad breath.  Those human bodies do some crazy stuff!

Technology I'm Thankful for

 I was talking to my five year old nephew, Caleb this weekend and we started talking about inventions.  What was an invention, why did someone make them, then we started taking turns saying an invention we liked and why we liked them. That conversation inspired this blog:

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Technology I’m Thankful for:

1.     Cell Phones: One price for a call to someone down the street as someone in Conneticut or Kansas, fantastic!  I remember when as a college student I got calling cards to call anyone out of the city I was living in.  Now I can call and text to so many people and afford it!  And when I’m at the store, I can call the house and get grocery ideas.

2.     USB: The number of peripherals since the invention of USB has become incredibl.  No longer is it get one type of cable for one device.  USB has introduced us to a whole new world of computing options. Digital cameras, scanners, web cams, all of these fantastic things would not be nearly as widespread as they are today without USB.

3.     Digital Cameras: What a fantastic idea!  Now I can share pictures with my friends and family via email or facebook, or shoot them a cd chuck full of pictures.  When my nieces and nephews are born and I’m not in town, I can see them the same day!!  Remember the days of film camera?  I would never get a great shot, or have film for a year before developing it.  Then if someone wanted copies, another trip to the store and cost.  I love digital cameras!

4.     Inexpensive Internet: I feel like everything is at the tips of my fingers with internet. It’s so much easier to communicate with others, and the ability to find resources is amazing!  What does a word mean? Why is my washing machine leaking? What recipe can I make with bananas, cornflakes and chocolate chips? Being able to find and share resources quickly has opened the doors to so many possibilities.  And even non-geeks can afford it!

5.     Online Travel Agent:  I used to call a travel agent, or would be with my Dad at the airport to book tickets. Now I can go to Kayak.com and put in the days I want to fly and ask for a buzz and everyday I get an email telling me the cost of flights on the days I requested.  Being able to compare prices quickly I think helps keep the prices down (in some ways).

 

 

My final invention is not a technology one, but one Caleb and I both agreed on.  Chocolate Cake!  The invention of chocolate cake was actually begun as a catalyst for eating chocolate in 1674 in Europe.  So to all my nephews and nieces; Caleb, Joshua, Evelyn, Julia, Nathan, Amberly and Jacob, I look forward to talking about more inventions (or eating chocolate cake) next week at Thanksgiving! Love you à, Aunt Angie   

To everybody else, Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are the cousins all together.  I talk to each through cell phones, they are all snapped with many digital cameras, have parents that blog about them & do lots of plane rides to see each other!

More than Just the Facts

http://www.factmonster.com/

Factmonster has been a favorite kid friendly educational site of mine for years!  It has so much information, you can create a webquest about things you find just on this one site. From dictionary, math games, quizzes, world news, people facts and other cool stuff! 

Here’s what I learned in just 4 minutes:

1.       Today  in History, November 13, 1942 they changed the minimum draft age from 21 to 18?

2.       Adeline Whitney invented Alphabet Blocks in 1882

3.       Money around the world: Ethiopia has the birr, Peru the Nuevo sol, Mongolia the tugrik

4.       I didn’t know as much about Turkeys as I thought after taking the “Turkey Day Quiz” at http://www.factmonster.com/quizzes/thanksgiving1/1.html

5.      “Raining cats and dogs.” Came from Norse mythology.  The dog is associated with wind and the cat with storms. This expression means it's raining very heavily, nothing to do with pets at all!

What can you learn in 4 minutes?

Online Cool Math Games

http://coolmath-games.com/
Students and teachers are always looking motivating ways to work on math skills. This site has fun and colorful games for a variety of ages. No download needed at school or home! Coolmath.com is a great resource for online math materials including a collection of great arithmetic, logic, and spacial awareness games.

These games are not only fun to play, but are mentally stimulating as well. Check out CoolmathGames for online fun with Math!

Did you Know?

Did you Know? – Cool Website viewing tricks: 

• You can enlarge the text on any Web page. In Windows, hold the Ctrl and the plus or minus keys (for bigger or smaller fonts)


• You can tap the Space bar to scroll down on a Web page one screenful. Tap Shift and the spacebar key together to scroll back up.


• You can double-click a word to highlight it in any webpage, document, or e-mail.


• When you’re searching for something on the Web using a search engine like Google, put quotes around phrases that must be searched together. For example, if you put quotes around “multiplication facts,” you will only get pages containing  both words and not just the word “multiplication” or containing the word “facts.”

 


Did you know?  --- Regarding Email: 


   






• When someone sends you some shocking e-mail and suggests that you pass it on, don’t. At least not until you’ve first confirmed its truth at snopes.com, the Internet’s authority on e-mailed myths. This includes get-rich schemes, Microsoft/AOL cash giveaways, or scare-tactic messages about our Presidential candidates.


• When you get an e-mail message from eBay or your bank, claiming that you have an account problem or a question from a buyer, it’s probably a “phishing scam” intended to trick you into typing your password. Don’t click the link in the message. If in doubt, go into your browser and type “www.ebay.com” or your bank’s address manually. 


• Sorry to tell you, but nobody, is going to give you half of $80 million to help them liberate the funds of a deceased millionaire…from Nigeria or anywhere else.  Do not send them any information about yourself.

Office 2007 Resources

Microsoft Office 2007 is fresh and new.  At first I wasn't to sure, things weren't where I knew they were in the 2003 version.  Once you become familiar with the applications and the infamous “Ribbon” you will learn to love it as I did.  Microsoft has prepared oodles of support and training materials on Office 2007.  Below you will find links to the more tutorials, support and training that I have found most valuable. After leading a training on Office 2007, resources for Access were requested, you will find links to those below.  

Video Tutorials

The following are Video Tutorials for individual Office Applications.  Each is less than eight minutes long!  This is a fantastic way to start using each application! 

• Up to Speed with Word 2007 Video Tutorial by Microsoft 


• Up to Speed with Excel 2007 Video Tutorial by Microsoft 


• Up to speed with PowerPoint 2007 Video Tutorial by Microsoft 


• Publisher 2007 Series of Short Video Tutorials by Microsoft


• Access 2007 Video Tutorial by Microsoft 

Self-Paced Courses on Office ’07

The following are also provided by Microsoft.  In this section you can select which content area you would like to view the self-paced lesson for. Each lesson includes audio demonstration, some with an option for visual as well.  At the end is a short test and a quick reference card.     

• Getting  Started with Microsoft Office 2007 by Microsoft


• Word 2007 Courses by Microsoft 


• Excel 2007 Courses by Microsoft 


• PowerPoint 2007 Courses by Microsoft 


• Publisher  2007 Courses by Microsoft    

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  Access 2007 by Microsoft

  
  

Converting from Office 2003 to Office 2007 

So many times I have wanted to do something quick that I know just how to do in Office 2003 and then can’t find how to do it in Office 2007.  These conversion flash files have been a lifesaver!  Just open them up, do the steps you would have done in Office 2003 and it will tell you what steps to take in Office 2007!   Currently one does not exist for Publisher.       

• Word 2003 to Word 2007 


• Excel 2003 to Excel 2007


• PowerPoint 2003 to PowerPoint 2007


• Access 2003 to Access 2007    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web 2.0 Video Tutorial

Web 2.0 Tutorial  An explanation of what Web 2.0 is, a look at how it benefits students, a closer look at blogs and wikis and tips on how to get started.
Can be found at teachertube at: http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=923aabc702667ba5f0d0