June 28, 2011 - Today was our last day of school for this year. In class we played Weather BINGO. Have a great Summer Vacation

June 27, 2011 - We learned about humidity today. Using a thermometer with a wet paper towel wrapped around the bulb and a second thermometer that is dry, we can figure out the Relative Humidity as a percent. e have to find the difference between the temperatures on the thermometers after we wave them for a bit and then use this information along with a humidity chart. Students logged their data onto page 160 and 161 of Bob. We then played a game of Weather BINGO.

June 24, 2011 - Our activity today had us estimating the amount of clouds we see in the sky at any one time. This is cloud cover. We did this with blue and white paper. The blue represented the sky and white for the clouds. When the white paper completely covered the blue, 100% of the sky was covered by clouds. If we use a smaller portion of the white paper, say 25%, of the white paper to cover the blue students will begin to look at and gain the perspective to estimate the amount of white on blue. With this, they will gain the ability to estimate cloud cover. This work was recorded onto page 164 of Bob. 

June 23, 2011 - We used the classroom computers today to research information about cloud types. Our goal was to find a way to tell clouds apart from each other. Different types of clouds form at different heights in the troposphere. Even that white trail coming from a jet engine, the water vapor trail in the very cold atmosphere, the CLOUD coming from the jet. In the evening our eighth graders graduated. Their graduation was held at Queens College in a building called Colden Center.

June 22, 2011 - We made a cloud in a bottle today. From the reading we know that we need to add smoke or salt to seed the droplet of water. The vapor needs something to cling onto. We put water into a two liter soda bottle, shook it up and dumped it out. We lit a match, blew it out and put it into the bottle, capping it quickly. We now squeezed the bottle to lessen the volume, increase the pressure and warm the air. The air warm air evaporated some water, As we unsqueeze the bottle, the air cools and the water falls out of the air forming a cloud as it grabs onto the pieces of smoke. We wrote onto page 162 of Bob today.

June 21, 2011 - Today we took the post test so that Mr. Blum and Mr. Grambo could see if we learned anything because we were in their class. The Pre Test was given on October 15, 2010. There were 40 questions on the test and the questions were the same, but the order was different. We also received the quiz we took last Friday back. After school, Mr. Grambo went to the 8th Graders Prom at Brunos. The Prom is their Senior Dance.

June 20, 2011 - I went back to work today, but I was moving were slowly and can not pick up anything. The class worked in Bob on page 158 experimenting with the idea of Dewpoint. Students pot ice and water into a metal glass to have water vapor condense on the outside of the glass, Students took temperature readings of the air surrounding the outside of the glass. Air across the room was 30 degrees Celsius, but next to the glass of ice water  the air was 22 degrees Celsius. As the warm moist air in the room neared the cool cup, the air cooled and molecules of air began to move closer together. The water was beginning to be squeezed out. It had no where to go so it moved onto the outside of the cup. The 8th Graders today had their awards assembly.

June 17, 2011 - Mr. Blum gave an Open Book QUIZ today from Sally and Bob. As a scientist we write in our journal. It is a science tool that we use to document our research. How good is this book or science tool I ask? Today we will find out.

June 16, 2011 - Our assignment for today is from Investigation 9. This Reading is about Weather Forecasting. The reading asks how weather is predicted and talks about the tools meteorologists use to tell about the weather. This finished work will be placed onto page 171 of Bob (two sheets will be attached to this page.)

June 15, 2011 - The assignment for today was on Cloud Formation and Condensation. Water vapor needs soot, dirt, smoke or salt to cling to so it can grow into a drop. This work will go onto page 159 of Bob

June 14, 2011 - Today I left an reading on HIV and AIDS - This assignment asks where the Virus and Disease came from? What is its origin? The completed  and graded assignment will be attached to sally on page 119.

June 13, 2011 - I had surgery today and will not be in for the rest of the week. Work will be left for the substitute teacher. The work will be collected every day and brought to me. I will grade it and return it. Today I left an assignment on the Water Cycle. This work will go onto page 171 of Bob

June 10, 2011 - The second floor sixth grade went to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens today. In school I worked on the seventh grade Buddy and Me Carnival that was held in our school yard. We set up rides and booths and had Mr. Siriani as a DJ all day.

June 9, 2011 - There is no school today for students. It is Brooklyn Queens Day, or Anniversary Day. I am working with a colleague, Roy Harris, on a workshop about writing notebooks in the science classroom. This workshop is being held at PS 223Q in Saint Albans, Queens.

June 8, 2011 - I was not in school today, I was at a surgeon talking about the operation I was going to have next Monday. In class everyone was given a reading on HIV and AIDS. This reading talks about the virus and the disease it brings. The reading indicated that the virus breaks down a persons immune system. This reading will be attached to page 173 of Bob after it has been graded.

June 7, 2011 - Today we experimented with Carrying Capacity and talked about how one thing, like air, can carry something else, like water. We finished up page 156 of Bob today. During the day we moved all the tables used for the 8th grade practical test back to room 228. Today was a half day for students.

June 6, 2011 - We set up our Bob notebooks today for Investigation 6 which deals with clouds and precipitation. We added words to our glossary. Students went to on-line dictionaries to find the meanings on words such as carry capacity and saturation.

June 3, 2011 - We were working on our Bob and Sally notebooks. Mr. Blum is making a test that allows us to use our notebooks. If our notebooks are good and useful as a science tool, we will do well on the test. If our books are a mess, oh well. During period 1, I went over to PS 149 to pick up furniture for Ms. Ricci's room with 25 students and after school we held our Black and White dance. It was a busy day.

June 2, 2011 - We finished our write up for the heat experiment on pages 150 through 156 of our bob notebook. This is about why hot rises upward and cold sinks. We discovered that convection causes hot to rise and cold to sink. Hot rises because there are less pieces per unit volume due to an increase in energy and molecular movement. Less pieces means less mass, less weight and hot floats, 

June 1, 2011 - We experimented today to see if convection worked with liquids in the same way that it did with gasses. Today we tried to make layers of hot and cold water on top of each other. We used food color to help distinguish the hot water from the cold and used the same towers from the salt water experiment to help us with our layers. We documented our work onto page 152 of our Bob notebook.

May 31, 2011 - The entire 5th and 6th grade went to the Whitestone Cinemas today to see the Disney movie entitled African Cats. This movie tells the tale of a pride of lions on the African Savannah and how they live together and hunt together. There was also a store about a family of cheetahs, wild dogs, a wilder beast and a weird looking bird. Mr. Blum gave out a worksheet that we went over in class when we got back from the movie.

May 30, 2011 - School was closed today in observance of Memorial Day.

May 27, 2011 - Everyone was working today on pages from their Bog Camp Project while I set up the practical test for the eighth grade. They start their exam next Tuesday. During period 7, Mr. Fahey met with representatives from each of our 17  Sixth Grade classes. Next Tuesday we go to the movie to see the new Disney Film. Remember to bring in your Permission slips. Next Friday, June 3, is our last dance of the year. Tickets will only be sold on Tuesday and Wednesday.

May 26, 2011 - We started the experiment today on page 150 of Bob. This experiment is on hot rising and cold sinking. We used two different types of convection boxes today. On page 151 we wrote a procedure for using each type of convection box and labeled the diagrams showing how heat travels through the boxes. In the evening, our music department held its Spring Concert.

May 25, 2011 - We went over the mass of salt in each container of color water so that we could figure out the density of each salt water solution used on page 149. These various densities gave us the color tower. We then put the last two pages for Bug Camp into our Sally notebook. On page 106 and 107 of Sally we will find out about an entomologist named Fabre and will read will work online to find out what he did with cecropia moths. The last two pages of the Bug Camp unit has us finding out about the homes insects make and live in. In the evening, District 30 had its Celebration of Excellence in our school. There was an Art show, auditorium program and dance.

May 24, 2011 - Everyone received back their work from last Friday. If they wish to re-do any of their work, they can for a better grade. We finished the experiment on the salt density tower experiment. The colors are Blue on bottom, then Green. On top of green is Yellow and the top color is Red. Tomorrow I will tell everyone how much salt was put into each color solution so that you can figure out the density of each solution.

May 23, 2011 - We went over the reading from Friday to find out why everyone had so much difficulty with the questions that ere being asked of them. I then showed a sinking can of coke and floating can of diet coke. The difference in density was due to the sweetener. Students had a half day, so we did not work too much on our tower of salt water solutions.

May 20, 2011 - I was not in school today. I left a reading about a type of heat transfer called Convection. In this reading is a diagram of a convection box. We are to explain how the box works and shows convection.

May 19, 2011 - While finding the density of objects, you may have noticed that some objects just sank in the water, while others floated a bit. Today we made an egg that sinks in fresh water float when salt is added to the water. Our next task was to make a tower from four liquids. These liquids were all salt water solutions of different strengths that have been dyed four different colors. The more dense solution will sink to the bottom, the least dense will float on top. Our job was to make four layers on top of each other.

May 18, 2011 - We continued working to find the density of different objects. We also had to define density and had to show all the math calculations used to obtain the density.

May 17, 2011 - We started to find the density of 5 objects today. We measured their mass with a triple beam balance and then placed the object into a graduate cylinder to find out how much water it would displace. This was it's volume. Knowing the Mass and Volume allows us to do some mah to find the density. We are working in Bob on page 148. During lunch this week students are coming up to dissect a grasshopper.

May 16, 2011 - In class we set up our Bob notebook for Investigation 5. We then added words to our glossary and worked in our Sally notebook on our Bug Camp project.

May 13, 2011 - In todays demonstration, we have cards attached to a metal pole using wax. one end of the pole is place into a heat source. as the pole is heated, the wax begins to melt and the cards begin to drop. Again this shows Conduction. All work is checked and we have finished Investigation 4. This weekend we are to work on Bug Camp pages 97, 98 and 99.

May 12, 2011 - Our experimentation today has us seeing if aluminum conducts heat better than iron. In this investigation we have heat strips on metal bars which are touched onto boiling water. we are looking to see if the heat from the water will pass to the metal strips and on towards the heat tapes. In another investigation we have cold water in a test tube which is placed into a beaker of boiling water. We want to see if the heat and cold transfer to each other. Today everyone took the second part of their state math exam. We checked over the work on our experiment so far. Todays homework is page 96 of our Sally Notebook in our Bug Camp project.

May 11, 2011 - We used yesterdays collected data to make a graph showing which material heated up faster when exposed to radiant heat and which cooled faster when the heat was removed. We examined the soil and sand from yesterdays experiment and attached some of these samples to our Bob notebook with clear tape. We then wrote out the procedure for our experimentation. In the morning, all classes took the first part of the State Math Test. Everyone received page 95 in Sally for Homework. It has everyone making a food web.

May 10, 2011 - We looked over the classification page we did for homework in our Sally notebook on page 92 and 93. We then started an experiment on heat and how it moves beginning on page 141 of Bob. Today we watched a video of Mr. Blum heating soil, sand, water and air for ten minutes and then cooling these substances for ten minutes. We collected temperature data every two minutes as these substances heated up and then cooled down. Tomorrow we will make a graph from this data. Our homework for this evening is to work on page 94 of Sally. This is about an Energy Pyramid.

May 9, 2011 - We set up our Bob notebook for Investigation 4 on Heat Transfer and Set up our Sally notebook for more work on our Bug Camp unit. Our Homework tonight was pages 92 and 93 of Sally on classification. We added 7 words to our Glossary on Heat and began to define them. We then went over the Heat reading that was given to us on Friday.

May 6, 2011 - The Plant Sale was still on. In class we finished yesterdays reading on the Microscope and then worked on a reading from our Glencoe Textbook on Heat and how it travels. Next week we will begin investigation 4 about Heat Transfer. The microscopes I ordered from eBay came in today. We will try them out next week when we dissect grasshoppers during lunch.

May 5, 2011 - I was working with the Plant Sale today in room 131. The classes were working on a reading about the Microscope. This reading was very difficult and way above your reading level. I wanted to find out how you went about decoding the article and figuring out what things meant so you could answer the questions. After school we held the Community Board 3 Youth Fair in our school from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. Representatives from the Queens Library, The Fire Department, Police Department and other Queens organizations were on hand to talk with students about careers and summer jobs available to them.

May 4, 2011 - We played Weather BINGO today after the second part of the ELA Test was over. Playing BINGO is a great way to review our weather concepts and its really fun to play.

May 3, 2011 - We continued working with the microscopes. We added 4 computer microscopes to different teams in our class today. Students using the computer microscopes printed pictures of the insects parts they were viewing for inclusion in their Sally Notebook. I collected and graded the Sally Notebooks of 6-239. Today was the first of two parts of the ELA Test.

May 2, 2011 - In order to complete pages 86 and 87 of our Bug Camp project, we needed to use microscopes to view insects. Over the next two days, the class will use microscopes to help them finish these pages. We had a labeled diagram of a compound microscope on the Smartboard and went over the difference between a hand lens, or simple microscope, and a compound microscope. Students then looked at an insect on graph paper to explain how to figure out the size of the insect, knowing the size of the graph paper boxes. We then viewed a one centimeter grid under the microscope. Students looked at millimeter squares under various powers of the microscope and tried to compare the size of the grid to figure out the size of the insects they were viewing. At low power, the students explained that they could see four grid boxes across the white circle inside the microscope. This was their Field Of View. The circle was four millimeters across. The students, over time, need to judge the size of objects inside this circle. We started collecting and grading the Sally Notebooks. We are looking for the Bug Camp project. I collected the books from 6-235 today.

April 29, 2011 - Students moved to the station they were not at yesterday and finished the experiment on Seasons. When we left class today, we were finished with pages 134 through 138 of our Bob notebook. This also includes two summaries for our work on Thursday and Friday.

April 28, 2011 - I finished looking at the Bob notebooks today. I looked at the books from 6-237. In class we started an experiment to show how the tilt of the earth causes the seasons. We have two stations set up. At one station we have heat sensor strips on globes that are being exposed to heat lamps. The strips are at the equator, Tropic of Cancer, New York City and the North Pole. As the lamps are turned on, students record the colors the heat sensors turn. At station two, lamps are aimed at graph paper; first at a 90 degree angle to the paper and then at a 15 degree angle to the paper. A shape, in light, forms on the paper, which the students trace and color in. Does the spread of light cause a decrease in heat intensity?

April 27, 2011 - We talked today about ways to help us remember what we have done in science and other classes and then went on to a reading about weather that uses a graphic organizer to help the students pull information from the story and put it into a chart for to help them remember the information. This reading is the first in a series of readings we will put into our Jake notebook that will use a graphic organizer to help the students organize and hopefully remember the information that they have read.

April 18 -26, 2011 - School was closed for Spring Holiday

April 15, 2011 - We set up our Sally notebooks for vacation work for our Bug Camp project. In class we finished off the length of day experiment. I collected and looked at the Bob notebooks from 6-241 today.

April 14, 2011 - I collected and looked at the Bob notebooks from 6-239 today. We then started to look at the length of the day during the different months of the year and we are going to make a line plot or graph from the information that we collect. Length of day is the time of daylight between sunrise and sunset on a given day.

April 13, 2011 - In school we added new pages to our Bug Camp project in our Sally notebook and put the April site visit into our Sally notebook for the My Piece of the Neighborhood project. This month Mr. Blum has us collecting water samples around Queens to experiment on the dissolved oxygen in the water samples. Our Bug Camp project will soon have us using the microscope. 6-235 and 6-241 were finishing up the air pressure experiments using the syringes. I collected the Bob notebooks from 6-235 to look at pages 122-132.

April 12, 2011 - I was not feeling well today and did not come to school. Students received their Report Cards today.

April 11, 2011 - We finished the write-up for our pressure experiment that use the syringe. We set up our Bob notebook for Investigation 3 on Seasons. Today was a clerical 1/2 day. Students were released from school at 12:15 pm. Teachers went to meetings all afternoon.

April 8, 2011 - All 6th graders went through Mr. Blum's room today. We met together to find out about the gases that are found in the air.  Our teachers made oxygen and hydrogen through chemical reactions and then showed us that hydrogen can explode and oxygen burns. We saw videos of the Hindenburg disaster on the Smartboard and watched gases in our atmosphere become electrified and glow.

April 7, 2011 - We used a syringe today to prove air takes up space and has pressure. This experiment is on pages 128, and 129 of bob. Students manipulated air through a hose between two syringes. In the evening we held our Hawaiian Dance from 3:30 to 6:30.

April 6, 2011 - We continued working on the experiments that show the properties of air. Students that brought in their own soda cans will get a chance to crush them by heating and removing the air from inside the can. Tomorrow is our school dance with a Hawaiian theme.

April 5, 2011 - We started to show that air has properties. We experimented to show that air takes up space, has mass and exerts pressure. We set up the lab as workstations where the students have to move from station to station. Students get a chance to smash a can using the principles of air pressure. I hung up the atmosphere posters on the wall outside the classroom today.

April 4, 2011 - SPACE CAMP - We woke up at 7:15 and packed down for our trip back to New York. After breakfast, we headed back to school. We ran into some problems with our back wheel which brought us back to the school building at 9:00 pm. All in all everyone had a wonderful time. At school, students were working on their Bug Camp project.

April 3, 2011 - SPACE CAMP - Today we continued working on our trainers but our main goal was to get our self ready for our mission. Some members of our team world be part of mission control others would be on the Space Shuttle. Our team was scheduled to be on the shuttle at 1:00. At 3:00 we held Space Camp graduation. Some members of this years trip received special awards for participation for three and for years. In the evening we were off to the Manhattan Steak House for a delicious dinner.

April 2, 2011 - SPACE CAMP - Activities varied today for the teams at Space Camp. By the end of this adventure, everyone will have participated in all activities, but not at the same time. The Armstrong Group went to the 1/6 gravity chair at 11:00. The Moon has less mass than the Earth and therefore has gravity that pulls with less force. On the moon you will feel lighter because the pull is less. Astronauts needed to practice walking with this lighter feeling. This unit was designed to help astronauts experience and train in this environment. In the afternoon we went to the propulsion lab and learned about how rockets and the space shuttle are able to get off the ground. We have learned about the space suit and have moved around in the Manned Maneuvering Unit.

April 1, 2011 - SPACE CAMP - This morning, Mr. Yaskulski and I left for Space Camp with more than 30 students from our school. Space Camp is located in Montreal, Canada. The trip to Montreal took about 8 hours. We arrived at Space Camp for our orientation around 4:30 pm. We were put into our groups and started our work as a team. The Payette Team Just built there Egg-O-Naut. This activity has us building a structure that will keep a falling egg from breaking. Astronauts and their space capsules fall from great heights. What keeps them from smashing and becoming a disaster? In school, students started their Bug Camp project.

March 31, 2011 - We finished up our group charts on the atmosphere and we made our personal chart of the atmosphere onto page 124 of our Bob notebook. Students gathered information for their chart from their textbooks, from the book of charts on their desk and from the internet.

March 30, 2011 - We did not look into the parts of the air today. We will do that as a large group next week in Mr. Blum's room. Today we started looking at the atmosphere and making a chart to show its parts and what is in each part. We put a sticker into our planner to remind us to bring our Sally notebook and crayons to class on Friday and Monday.

March 29, 2011 - We started our Bug Camp project today in our Sally Notebook. We wrote onto the KWL chart. We then began work on Investigation 2 in Weather Watch. We talked about the makeup of the air and created a pie chart that we wrote onto page 122 of Bob. Everyone received a permission slip today for next weeks school dance. You need your Sally notebook with crayons for Friday and Monday.

March 28, 2011 - We set up our Bob notebooks for Investigation 2 of Weather Watch. This unit covers what air is made of, the properties of air and where we find air. We then set up our Sally notebook for the beginning of the Bug Camp unit of study. Today begins the Fourth and final marking period of this school year.

March 25, 2011 - The Third Marking Period has ended. Many students have been coming up from lunch to make up work to hand in this week. I will enter your Report Card grades on Monday. In class we were writing a weather report onto page 120 of Bob. On page 121 we had to write what a meteorologist is and what a meteorologist does. I went around the room today with the tools of the trade. I had barometers, sling psychrometers, barometers and hydrometers. For homework we had to make sure we had the following words entered into our glossary: meteorologist, weather, hurricane, weather report, coordinates, longitude, latitude.

March 24, 2011 - We continued work plotting the path of Hurricane Dean across the Atlantic Ocean. All classes should have finished this plot today. Many students came up from lunch to make up missing work. The third marking period ends tomorrow.

March 23, 2011 - We put up a bulletin board in the hallway to display some of our posters showing our collected information on Hurricane Dean. We now began our plot of this hurricane across the Atlantic Ocean, but first we needed to talk about Longitude and Latitude. Longitude ate the up down lines and Latitude are the side to side lines. Students went on-line gathered proof about their statements and we began our plots. After school Mr. Y and I went to a meeting at Gateway for our Camping Trip. Our date is May 23, 2011.

March 22, 2011 - We did some research today on Hurricane Dean (from August of 2007) and worked on a team poster to become familiar with facts on the hurricane. We received Progress Report number 6 today. It is due back tomorrow. A former student, Jessica Viola, came in today to observe for her college classes. She is studying to be a third grade teacher.

March 21, 2011 - This was a Professional Day. The teachers and staff went to school, but students did not come into school today. The adults went to meetings all day to learn how to incorporate reading into the subject areas.

March 18, 2011 - We used our classroom computers, smartboard and books prepared by Mr. Grambo to become acquainted with Hurricane Dean. Next week we will be plotting this hurricanes path across the Atlantic Ocean. This plot will be placed upon a North Atlantic Tracking Chart. Today was Dress Like Your Favorite Teacher Day. Students all over the school looked like twins, triplets of the teachers they admired the most. There was even the Fahey Gang wandering around the building during period 1.

March 17, 2011 - Mr. Grambo showed us the various web pages on the school web site devoted to our science investigations. The videos that we have viewed in the past few days are now on our Weather Watch Web Page. If someone in our class were absent they can look at the videos at home. The videos can be found under the video heading on the right hand side of this page:
http://www.armstrong227q.com/Science/WeatherWatch/11_whatIsWeather/index.html
Today was wear Green Day. You can not imagine how much green clothing our students can dig up in there closets if they really try to.

March 16, 2011 - We watched a video today on Hurricanes and answered questions on page 115 of our Bob notebook. The video explained that hurricanes have other names if they form in other oceans around the world. They form over warm water and need winds of 74 miles per hour to even be considered a hurricane.

March 15, 2011 - We viewed a movie called things that fall from the sky. We wrote about it on page 115 of our Bob science notebook. In this short video we found out that a volcano can put ash and sulfur dioxide into the air. These chemicals can make acid or block sunlight and make the earth colder. We watched as giant pieces of hail fell in Germany and sand from the Sahara Desert got caught in the air and fell 2000 miles away onto cars in London, England. We also checked for parent and student signatures on the contract on page 112 of Bob. Councilwoman, Julissa Ferreras came to visit our school today. We walked her around and she talked with various students about the new computers that we just received in our classrooms.

March 14, 2011 - We began our Science unit on Weather today. We started with the KWL chart writing in what we know about weather and what we felt meteorologists needed to be ale to predict weather. We then went on to write a definition for the word weather. For homework tonight we had a reading on weather where we had to compare and contrast two readings from different encyclopedias using a venn diagram. We began using our Smart/Promethean board today.

March 11, 2011 - We went over the correct answers for the exam on Simple Machines. We filled in the contract for the new unit on weather called Weather Watch. We then had a discussion on the earthquake in Japan.

March 10, 2011 - We attached the contract and KWL chart in our Bob notebook so that we can begin our new unit on Weather. We received back our graded Simple Machines exams. we then wrote Thank You Letters to Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras for giving us a grant that put so many new computers into our school. In the evening I went back to school to see our school play High School Musical. It was sooooo terrific. Everyone was so professional.

March 9, 2011 - We all took a  Test today on the Simple Machines Unit. There were questions about levers, pulleys, inclined planes, wheels, wedges and screws.

March 8, 2011 - It is our last day working with the Simple Machines equipment. Everything is documented today with drawings. It is also Mardi Gras Day around the school. I sent out an e-mail today about Mardi Gras. Tomorrow is our test on Simple Machines.

March 7, 2011 - We continued "building the better mousetrap". Everyone was busy putting together a complex machine that would lift the 240g load.

March 4, 2011 - Students continued with their task of lifting the 240g mass to a height of 25cm with using the least amount of effort. Every group was building the weirdest contraptions to move this mass. All work from the beginning of the week was handed back to students. During my prep periods I worked with the computer installers putting computers into rooms on the second and first floors.

March 3, 2011 - In the morning I worked with the crew installing the new computers into the third floor classrooms. The afternoon classes talked about Rube Goldberg and his way to make a difficult task out of the most simple things. We then set out to figure out a way to lift our 240g mass to a height of 25 cm using the least amount of effort. Which group can do it? Next Tuesday is Mardi Gras Day. We hung posters around the school today. Next Thursday is our school play.

March 2, 2011 - Day three at Taconic has us hiking through the woods and tubing down snow hills behind the main lodge. This is our last day here and we will return to school at 4:30. While we were here we filled out a log book that we will put into our Sally notebooks. At school students worked on a reading about the Wheel and Axle.

March 1, 2011 - Day two at Taconic brought us Project Adventure. This program has us making decisions as a team to figure out how to solve problems. In the afternoon, we looked at animal skins and skulls and learned about the adaptations animals have. The evening brought us a reptile program and a night hike through the woods. At school students worked on a reading about Rube Goldberg.

February 28, 2011 - We went on our three day adventure to Taconic Outdoor Education Center today. We arrived at school at 6:00 AM for our Bus ride to Stoney Kill Farm. After visiting with the cows, chickens and sheep, we learned about the water shed and interesting facts about where our food comes from. In the late afternoon we ventured over to Taconic for the rest of our three day adventure. In the evening, Bill Robinson brought reptiles and birds of prey for us to learn about. He explained in detail about the animals' adaptations. At school students worked on a reading about screws and also received Progress Report number 5.

February 21-25, 2011 - School was closed for Mid Winter Recess - Presidents Week.

February 18, 2011 - We received our graded Ecosystem quizzes back today and went over the answers. We then started working on the math problems associated with triangles and squares. This math was first presented to us thousands of years ago by Pythagoras.

February 17, 2011 - Everyone took their quiz on Ecosystems today. When we finished the quiz, we attached pages for our February site visit to pages 26 and 27 of our Sally notebook for our My Piece of the Neighborhood Project.

February 16, 2011 - We worked on some Math today associated with our Simple Machines unit. We did on problems with Work, Power and Mechanical Advantage. The paper we wrote on will be glued to pages 82 and 83 of Bob. In the evening all our science teachers came back to school to present our Science Fair to the parents of our students. We did this after our PTA Meeting.

February 15, 2011 - Students were finishing paperwork associated with Inclined Planes. Some people came up during lunch to experiment with Roller Coasters. Mr. Blum came in during period 8 to help orient Mr. Grambo to Smart Notebook for use with the new interactive whiteboard.

February 14, 2011 - It was a half day today. Students left the building at 12:15 pm. We finished up our experimentation on Inclined planes today. There will be a quiz on Ecosystems on Thursday. I finished grading the Sally notebooks of 6-241 today.

February 11, 2011 - We continued with our Inclined Plane experiment. I collected the Sally notebooks of class 6-241 and began to grade them. This afternoon we held the Valentines Dance from 3:30 to 6:30 pm.

February 10, 2011 - We were working on our Inclined Plane experiment today. I went over how to get the angle of the incline using both the protractor and the Incline-O-Meter. I finished grading the Sally notebooks for 6-239. Students began to go through the Science Fair today.

February 9, 2011 - We went into the City today to see a dance program at City College called Forces of Nature. While we were gone, Mr. Blum and Mr. Akalski set up the Science Fair in the School Library. Today was the last day to bring in permission slips for the dance. We collected the Sally notebooks from 6-239.

February 8, 2011 - they came in today to build our new interactive White Board. It is the Promethean Activeboard 387 Pro. I sent everyone the User Guide for the software that goes with this whiteboard. The software is called Active Inspire. Mr. Blum uses Smart Notebook. Our new whiteboard can also run that software. Since we could not use our classroom while the workers were installing the whiteboard, we were off to another space and were working on a reading about a Greek scientist named Pythagoras. He is all about the Math and the Angles. We have our Valentines Dance on Friday. Tomorrow is the last day for permission slips. We collected the Sally notebooks from 6-235.

February 7, 2011 - We finished page 92 of Bob - What we learned about Pulleys and went on to filling out our KWL chart for Inclined Planes. After discussing our Problem on page 94 of Bob we wrote out our Hypothesis and began out Hypothesis. Page 96 of Bob is our Key. It states what we are looking for. Our goal is to find a way to gather this information. We collected the Sally books of 6-237 today and graded the Ecosystem project and the entries for December and January in the My Piece of the Neighborhood Project.

February 4, 2011 - We set up our Bob notebooks for our experimentation with Inclined Planes. We then talked about Inclined planes for a few minutes and then played around with the new equipment. Permission slips for next weeks dance were given out during homeroom. You may only bring in these slips if you are a member of the Student Organization on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It looks like our new Taconic Trip dates are right after the Mid-Winter Break.

February 3, 2011 - We worked on a reading about pulleys from the FOSS Reader. This reading will be attached to page 90 of Bob after it is graded. Today was the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese New Year. An e-Mail was sent to everyone as a reading about the New Year. Sally Notebooks will be collected next week. We will check both the Ecosystem Project and the My Piece of the Neighborhood Project.

February 2, 2011 - Well did the Ground Hog see its shadow under all that ice today? What a day getting to school. Our three day trip to Taconic Outdoor Education Center was cancelled because of the weather. In class we finished the experiment on two pulleys and then everyone played around with many, many pulleys in their system. We had a reading on Ground Hog Day for homework.

February 1, 2011 - We cancelled our trip to Taconic for Wed to Friday of this week. The weather at Taconic is really Icy and not good for us to walk around. We will reschedule the trip for a later date. Today was Parent Teacher Conference. I saw 60 Parents between the afternoon and evening conference. In class we re-checked the Ecosystem work that we looked at yesterday and finished up the double pulley experiment.

January 31, 2011 - We checked over the last pages of the Ecosystem Project. The Sally notebook will be collected and the Ecosystem project along with the My Piece of the Neighborhood project will be graded. We talked about the differences we saw in the way we hooked up our two pulleys and talked about how we were going to convert all out drawings into information for pages 86 and 87 of Bob. Report Cards were given out today and Tomorrow are Parent Teacher Conferences.

January 28, 2011 - Mr. Grambo was not in school today. We worked on our Ecology project in our Sally notebook.

January 27, 2011 - The Mayor closed the schools today because of the snow. I went outside today at 5:30 in the morning to shovel and there was 15 inches of snow in my driveway. Stay home and finish up your Ecosystem project today.

January 26, 2011 - Students were still working on finding ways to to hook up and use two pulleys to lift the 240 gram load. We are beginning to see differences in the way we set up the pulleys in the system. Today everyone took a citywide Math test during periods 1 and 2 called an Acuity Test. It snowed a great deal all day and will snow again all evening.

January 25, 2011 - We talked about the large charts we made yesterday and how thrashing out ideas on paper is a good thing. We started the two pulley experiment today. We talked about what the Problem was about and then went on to write our hypothesis. We were given a large sheet to draw our discoveries as we developed ways to lift the load using two pulleys. Tomorrow we will look at the similarities and differences in these drawings. Today everyone took a citywide ELA test during periods 1 and 2 called an Acuity Test.

January 24, 2011 - We reviewed our Single Pulley experiment and then set up our Bob notebook for our experiment with multiple pulleys. Students finished checking for the Ecosystem project (part 3) in Sally and we then made a large chart at each team explaining what we learned about the pulley systems we worked with so far. My. Grambo ordered copies of the DIRT movie for the school library. He will let everyone know when they will be available to borrow. There was a meeting during homeroom for those students going on the Taconic Trip next week.

January 21, 2011 - During period 1 and 2, the entire 6th grade watched DIRT - The Movie in the Auditorium. This movie talks about why soil is so important to every environment. Each student was given a worksheet with questions to answer from the movie. After handing in this worksheet for a grade it will be attached to page 51 of Sally. In class we finished up work on the experiment with one pulley and worked on Spelling and Vocabulary. We also checked that Part 3 pf the Ecosystem project has been finished in our Sally notebook. The last part of the project is due next Friday - Part 4: Fri- Jan 28 - Pages 62, 63, 64, 65, 67(What I learned because I did this unit on Ecosystems)

January 20, 2011 - We are finishing up our experiment with one pulley. Today we talked about our variables and wrote out our conclusions. We found that in the fixed pulley system we pulled in one direction and moved the load in the opposite direction. In the free pulley system, the load moved in the same direction as the pull. It is going to snow again tonight. Tomorrow is crazy hair day and wear your JETS Jersey.

January 19, 2011 - We continued working on our experimentation lifting a 240g load using one pulley. Students were drawing illustrations as part of their procedure on page 29 of Bob. In this experiment, students need to explain what a pulley is and place that information onto page 77 of Bob. Some students used the Internet to gather that information today. This definition of a pulley is also to be placed into the Glossary. On Friday, we will be watching a movie in the auditorium called DIRT - The Movie.

January 18, 2011 - We started work today on Pulleys. We wrote on the K and W part of our KWL chart and then went onto making our Hypothesis for our One Pulley experiment. After messing around with the equipment, the classes noticed that there were different ways to set up the pulley system. One way, the pulley was fixed or ties to the ring stand. In another system, the pulley was free to move about with the load. I was able to hook up all the computers in our classroom to the internet today. All second marking period grades have been entered into the computer.

January 17, 2011 - School was closed today in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

January 14, 2011 - We checked over Part 2 of the Ecosystem Project in our Sally notebook. Part 2 goes from page 48 to 55. We then began work with the pulleys on our new experiments. 6-235 finished up the last project today. The Second Marking Period ended today. Many students were busy fixing up work and re-handing in books and experiment sheets.

January 13, 2011 - We set up our Bob notebooks for our next experiment on Pulleys and also added pages into our Sally notebook for our January site visit for the My Piece of the Neighborhood project

January 12, 2011 - It snowed overnight and when we woke up there was 8-9 inches of snow on the ground. The Mayor did not close the school down, so some students and teachers went to school. 6-235 and 237 joined together to make one class and another class was made up from 239 and 241. In science we worked on our Ecosystem Project in our Sally notebook. After lunch, we watched the movie Avitar. It did not finish by the time we left at 3:10 so Mr. Grambo said we can finish watching the movie during lunch on Thursday or Friday.

January 11, 2011 - This was the last day to look at projects and today we say the projects from Team 5. 6-235 still has 3 projects to look at and grade. Mrs. DelValle may come in to see how we look at Science Fair Projects.

January 10, 2011 - We are in the last two days of viewing projects. Today we looked at the projects from team number two. All students received Progress Report number 4 today during Homeroom.

January 7, 2011 - We viewed the projects from team 6 today and also made sure everyone completed work on pages 40-47 of their Ecosystem project in their Sally notebook. If anyone did not complete a page or two they can fix it up over the weekend and show it on Monday. Next Friday we will be looking for the next section of the project to be completed (Part 2: Fri- Jan 14 - Pages 48, 49, 50-(What I have learned so far), 52, 53, 54 and 55). You will be receiving Progress Report 4 on Monday. Friday, January 14 is the end of Marking Period 2.

January 6, 2011 - Today we worked with the projects that were presented to us from team 4. Tomorrow we see projects from Team 6 and we are checking work from our Sally notebook for the Ecosystem project ( Part 1: Fri- Jan 7 - Pages 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 and 47.)

January 5, 2011 - Today we viewed the project From Team One. In the evening was our Open House for parents and students that may want to come to IS 227 next year. Over 1000 people attended this event. We filled the Auditorium two times.

January 4, 2011 - Students in all classes from Team 3 brought in their Science Fair projects and presented them to their class. Each class member listened, took notes and asked questions about the projects being presented to them. Tomorrow we hear from Team number one. Today was Dr. Broaders' birthday.

January 3, 2011 - We put the Gallery Walk sheets into our Jake Notebook so that we can view and grade the Science Fair Projects that will be presented to us over the next six days. We also received a schedule explaining which groups will bring in their projects on which days. Tomorrow group three will bring in their projects and Jake notebooks for presentation.

 

December 24, 2010 - School Closed - Winter Recess

December 23, 2010 - We set up our notebooks today for a January project in our Sally notebook. This project is on the Ecosystem. In January, each Friday a group of pages in the project are due. The entire project must be completed by February 3. We put reminder stickers in our planner today about this upcoming project. Due Dates: ECOSYSTEM PROJECT
Part 1: Fri- Jan 7 - Pages 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 and 47
Part 2: Fri- Jan 14 - Pages 48, 49, 50-(What I have learned so far), 52, 53, 54 and 55
Part 3: Fri- Jan 21 - Pages 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 and 61
Part 4: Fri- Jan 28 - Pages 62, 63, 64, 65, 67(What I learned because I did this unit on Ecosystems)
 
December 22, 2010 - Mr. Grambo went with the AV Technical Team into the city today today to see the Backstage Tour of Radio City Music Hall. We went through the spotlight rooms on the ceiling and learned about the movements of the stage floors

December 21, 2010 - Mr. Grambo did not come in today. He left a reading on Energy. He returned our graded Bob notebooks to our homerooms.

December 20, 2010 - We reviewed the quiz today. Any students that wish to gain back points for questions they missed on the quiz need to take loose leaf paper and explain why their answer is incorrect and why our posted answer is correct. Mr. Grambo collected and graded all BOB notebooks as of today. Many of them need to be reviewed and handed in again for a better grade. Our graded Bob notebooks were brought back to our homerooms. I do not have the signed - returned progress reports from 6-241. All Science Fair boards have now been given out and all students have taken the Quiz on levers (some children were absent on Friday)

December 17, 2010 - We collected the signed Progress Reports. They are to be attached to page 184 of Bob. All students took a QUIZ today on Levers. Science Fair boards were handed out to students that ordered them. After school today we had the Holiday Dance from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm.

December 16, 2010 - We looked at sports equipment today and figured out which type of lever system the pieces were. A hockey stick, baseball bat and twirlers baton were among the items we looked at. We then talked about tomorrows quiz on levers. Progress Report number 3 was given out today. It is to be Brought back tomorrow signed.

December 15, 2010 - Mr. Grambo and Mr. Levin were busy with the Community Concert today. A reading was left for us on Class Three levers. We have now worked on a reading on all three types of lever systems.

December 14, 2010 - Classes went to the Whitestone theater today to see the new Narnia movie in 3D. I have not seen 6-235 for a few days so I went and got them. They were with me first period, before the trip started. They fixed up their Jake notebooks like all the other classes did yesterday and filled in all the December vocabulary into their glossary. While the classes were gone I went to the store to get items for Fridays dance and Wednesdays Community Concert. Tickets went on sale today for the Dance for Friday.

December 13, 2010 - We had a professional day today so students went home at 12:15. During the day, we worked on our Science Fair notebook JAKE and added our December science words to our Glossary in our Bob notebook. The reading on Class 2 levers was collected today. All money for the Science Fair Boards needed to be brought in today. After today, students will need to purchase display boards from local stores.

December 10, 2010 - Today all our classes were at a festival. Before the festival we were watching The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian in Auditorium. Food was then served in the complex beginning period five. I collected and graded the Bob notebooks for class 6-239. Permission slips for next weeks Holiday Dance were given out to everyone in the school today. Tickets go on sale next Tuesday.

December 9, 2010 - In working with the third class lever we found that we needed to use a spring scale that could register more than 1000g of force. The load only weighed 240g and it was taking 1600g of force to lift it. Wow, that was wild. We received a reading for homework today on Second Class Levers.

December 8, 2010 - We are continuing with our work on second and third class lever systems. In a Second Class lever the load is in the middle of the system. In a Third Class lever system, the effort is in the middle of the lever system. We should finish this experiment by Friday. Most students have begun posting their data onto the graph on page 66 of Bob. We gave out an order sheet today for science fair boards.

December 7, 2010 - Everyone began their work on the second lever experiment. In this experiment our goal is to figure out ways to tell second and third class levers apart from each other. We started the day on page 63 of Bob writing a hypothesis and equipment list. I introduced the class to the C-clamp. This piece of equipment will help the class anchor their ringstand to the table top so it will be more secure in this second experiment. Some students began experimentation and data collection.

December 6, 2010 - 6-235 was finishing up their experiment from last week. Classes were setting up their notebooks for their second experiment in levers. Their notebook setup was put on chart paper and hung in the hallway. Students wrote out their notebook pages and then glued in three worksheets. We are ready to work on the class 2 and 3 levers tomorrow. Students are still finishing up their homework on the Simple Machines word search.

December 3, 2010 - I was not in school today. I was having an operation. Ms. Gold was in for me and gave a reading on first class levers. This reading was collected. For homework a Word Search on simple machines was given out. The Talent Show was given one more time today for members of our community. Inside Schools will was there also. On Saturday is our first Open House of the year. Parents of students that wish to come to our school next year can come in and look around the school.

December 2, 2010 - Most students were working on their graph today for their class 1 lever experiment. While the students were working, I went around the room to look over any work that the students had to hand in or work that was re-done and glued into their notebooks.

December 1, 2010 - We continued with our experiment today on the First Class Lever. In this experiment we are moving the Effort while keeping the Load in a stationary position at 10 cm from the fulcrum. Most teams collected all their data and finished creating their graphs. Some teams have completed the entire experiment. We are trying to prove in this experiment that efforts closer to the fulcrum require more force than efforts at the end or far edge of the lever. Journal entries for this experiment should be written onto pages 53 and 59 of Bob.

November 30, 2010 - Today was a half day for Parent Teacher Conferences. We began our experiment in Bob on page 54. We have no written procedure. We only know that the load is to be 10 cm from the fulcrum and the effort keeps changing distances from the fulcrum on the other side of the lever system. We will continue with this experiment for a few days. At Parent Teacher Conferences I saw 69 parents.

November 29, 2010 - We talked about the fact that not all lever systems have the fulcrum in the middle like a see saw. Other things like the load or effort could be in the middle making different classes of levers. our new experiment has us moving only the effort around in a class one lever system. We then looked at a set up on page 52 of Bob. Since the spring scale, our force measuring tool, has its own mass, when we pull downward, we get an error. We will get the force of the pull plus the weight or mass of the scale added to it. We have to do something about this. After this we then said that we needed to really figure out the mass of the scale, so we brought in triple beam balances. I sent home a PDF picture of the Bob notebook setup for pages 53 to 59 that was on a chart in the classroom.

November 26, 2010 - Thanksgiving Recess - School Closed

November 25, 2010 - It is Thanksgiving and school is closed. Mr. Grambo sent out an e-Mail about Thanksgiving this morning. Mr. Grambo also sent out an e-Mail to remind everyone about the work that needed to be handed in already for Monday. Click on links were in the e-Mail to go to worksheets students may have missed because of absence from school.

November 24, 2010 - Everyone hade their Science Fair Project ideas checked by Mr. Grambo today. He went around the room and checked over page 7 of the Jake notebook (Your Ideas - PDF) . While he was checking our book and talking with us he had us working on a reading called Creating a Winning Display (Reading -Create A Display - PDF). In the morning he went around and gave out copies of worksheets all students that had not handed them in in the past two week.

November 23, 2010 - We looked at some science fair projects from previous years. We then finished up page 51 on how to use a Spring Scale. Tomorrow is Pajama Day, so wear your pajamas to school. In the evening we hosted the Talent Show for the Parents at 6:00 PM. This was the most incredible show. Everyone was terrific and everything went so well. Hats off to everyone that made this show such a success.

. November 22, 2010 - Mr. Grambo walked into a door this morning and left the building to go get stitches in this face. How can you walk into the doorway? Just ask Mr. Grambo. Mr. Levin watched his classes until he got back from the doctor, He left a reading about Archimedes. This Greek scientist and mathematician born around 273BC came up with so many ideas about physics and math that we continue to use today. He was killed by Roman soldiers for being in the may and mouthing off to them. We also received page 7 of Jake. On this sheet we are to pick and talk about the Science Fair Topic we will work on for this years project. We will check and sign off on this sheet on Wednesday of this week. Tomorrow night is the evening performance of the Talent Show for parents at 6:00 PM. Hopefully, Mr. Grambo does not walk into anything else.

November 19, 2010 - We went over our vocabulary words again to make sure everyone had them in their glossary and that all classes had similar meanings for the words. We looked at the chart on the hallway wall. In class we began to work with the Spring Scale. We looked at how a rubber band stretches when the 240g mass is hung from it and how it stretches even more when a 1000g mass is hung from it. With a ruler measuring the stretch of the rubber band, we could use the rubber band/ruler contraception as a mass measuring tool. We then passed out spring scales and looked inside. The spring replaces the rubber band, but stretches in a similar manner when a mass is hung from it. We will be using this new tool to help us measure mass and force. In the morning, classes went to the auditorium to watch the Talent Show.

November 18, 2010 - We worked in our Sally notebook today on our November entry for our My Piece of the Neighborhood Project. We were working on identifying the leaves from the tree on our site and making leaf and bark rubbings. We were using leaf identification books and cards. We had sections of trees for making the rubbings and had leaf samples also. By the end of the period we had finished up pages 20 and 21 of Sally. This morning in Homeroom we voted for President and Vice President of the Student Organization.

November 17, 2010 - We worked with page 49 in Bob making predictions where on a lever arm we should place our finger to lift a load with the smallest amount of effort. after making our predictions we tried the experiment, them made up a rule about what happens as we move closer or further from the fulcrum. We also attached some Science Fair sheets into our Jake notebooks and spoke about the science fair.

November 16, 2010 - We received a sheet about the Science fair. The sheet outlined a schedule for weekly due dates to keep us on task for our finished project to be handed in during the week of January 3, 2011. We started on Levers today. Students used a large 6 Foot lever to lift to me off the ground as indicated on page 48 of Bob. We filled out a KWL chart for levers also. We then looked at our new equipment and saw a demonstration of the setup for page 49. Our job is to predict the outcome then set up the experiment tomorrow, try it out and explain what happens. We took a Citywide Test (Aquity) during period 1 today.

November 15, 2010 - Today was a half day. We left school at 12:15. Teachers stayed in school for meetings in the afternoon. Mr. Grambo was working with the students running for President and Vice President of the Student Council in the auditorium all morning. During period 3 the 6th grade went to the auditorium to hear speeches from the candidates for 8th grade President and 6th grade Vice President.

November 12, 2010 - We gave back the quiz and went over the answers. We set up our notebooks for next weeks lessons on Levers and glued our quiz into our Bob notebooks. On page 44 of Bob we the wrote what we learned about force.

November 11, 2010 - There was no school today in remembrance and observance of Veteran's Day.

November 10, 2010 - All classes worked on their quiz in class today. The quiz was on force and motion. After the quiz we were given a reading on unbalanced forces. We have now finished with forces. On Friday we will write what we have learned about forces onto page 44 of Bob. During period 4, Mr. Grambo went to the auditorium to allow students to practice for the upcoming Talent Show.

November 9, 2010 - We reviewed for Wednesdays Quiz then worked on a reading about Balanced Forces. Mr. Grambo and Ms. Wolf went around the room collecting last minute work that could be included in the First Marking Period grades. Mr. Grambo sent his grades in today after looking over notebooks one last time and talking to students in each class. The Tug-of-War reading from yesterday was collected today.

November 8, 2010 - Working in Mr. Blum's room today we all played that wonderful force game called Tug-of-War. We discussed as a review that forces were pushes or pulls. We picked sides and made predictions on which team would win. More important than ort predictions were the reasons for our predictions. The games went on, we made our observations and drew force diagrams to show what happened in each game. We then watched a short video on the Strong man/woman competition. Everyone went home with a homework reading on the history of the game of Tug-of-War.

November 5, 2010 - This was the last day of the First Marking Period. Many students were handing in last minute assignments or handing in work to be re-graded. All progress Reports should have been handed in today. They were all due into class yesterday. We covered another two words on our list (perceive, perspective) and then reviewed the three types of Variables from page 28 of Bob. They are Controlled Variables, Independent Variables and Dependent Variables. We attached the half day period schedule into our planner and then worked in teams on an assignment from our Glencoe Textbook on Energy.

November 4, 2010 - We collected the signed Progress Report number 2. We also went over the next three words on our vocabulary list (illustrate, Infer, Interpret) We then finished the force diagrams on page 37 of Bob. Many students still owe items on the Progress Report. Tomorrow is the end of the First Marking Period and a missing work is due.

November 3, 2010 - Everyone received Progress Report number 2 today. This progress report shows all the work for the First Marking Period. We will be talking about ten new words each month and infusing them into all our work. We copied the ten words into our Glossary today, however, we only went over the meaning of the first three words (analyze, distinguish, identify). We will work on another three words tomorrow. We also worked on ways to show FORCE as a drawing - page 37 of Bob.

November 2, 2010 - There was no school for students today, as it was Election Day. In the afternoon, However, some students cane in from 1:00 to 2:00 to help the science teachers begin to reorganize the science lab, room 148.

November 1, 2010 - We worked on a reading in class about Simple Machines while Mr. Grambo and Ms. Wolf looked at our Sally Notebooks. They were looking for specific parts of the My Piece of the Neighborhood Project. Page 5 needed to be signed. Pages 14 and 15 needed all the maps and page 20 needed two leaves attached. When we finished the first reading there was a second reading on Maps.

October 29, 2010 - today we experimented with unequal forces using the same POE method of writing from yesterday. We used pages 36 and 37 of Bob. Now we have to share our findings with the rest of the scientific world. How do we show force? We sat and discussed this before the end of the period. We gave out a sticker for our planner to remind us that our Sally notebook would be looked at next week. At the of the day, Mr. Grambo began setting up the cafeteria for the Halloween Dance.

October 28, 2010 - We went over what force was again and began the POE charts for force. We had to Predict- Observe and Explain what was happening. In today's two experiments we pushed on the bucket with equal forces on opposite sides of the bucket (25 pounds) and in the second experiment, we pulled on the bucket from opposite sides with equal forces of 45 pounds. We also talked about the force of Gravity pulling on objects sitting on the floor and how the floor pushes back on the objects with an equal but opposite force (wow, how abstract). We then took a walk down the hall to see the expansion joint in the hallway.

October 27, 2010 - Today we defined Force and used force to move Bucket Girl. Force is a Push or Pull. When we lifted the bucket we came to understand that lifting was either pulling upward or pushing up from under the bucket.

October 26, 2010 - We moved onto page 30 and came up with a definition for the word Simple Machines. It is an object or tool that decreases the work and makes our lives easier. We also talked about the group challenges and how being a team and team player is important. Our homework was to add our new word to our glossary.

October 25, 2010 - We finished our Group Challenge activities with the Mat Flip. We then signed the Contract for Building Big Things on page 29 of Bob and filled in the K and W of the KWL chart for simple machines on page 30.

October 22, 2010 - At the Library, we used Lap Top Computers to view the school web site to see our class science journal and to find places that Mr. Grambo has put our worksheets as PDF files that we can download at home. We also used Google Earth to find the Longitude and Latitude of out study site for the My Piece of the Neighborhood Project. We also learned how to access our g-Mail accounts and send e-mail

October 21, 2010 - We talked about our work on the My Piece of the Neighborhood Project and that everyone should be starting on the project. We then continued with our Group Games in the hallway. These games teach us to work together as a team. Today's games included the hoola hoop pass and mat flip activities.  These activities are to be written up onto pages 16 and 17 of Bob.

October 20, 2010 - Mr. Grambo went with 6-235 on a field trip to Dead Horse Bay. Dead Horse Bay is part of Jamaica Bay and is located in Brooklyn off of the Belt Parkway. Students went there to gather information on how plants, soil and animal life change in a region as you move from a woodland habitat towards a coastal habitat.

October 19, 2010 - Last week we glued several pages into our Sally notebooks for homework. Today we went over what these pages were for and started our year observation project for OPEX called My Piece Of The Neighborhood. For this project, students need to pick a space near their house with a tree on it that they can watch each month for the rest of the year. In our sally notebook we will be making note of changes we see from month to month. In October we need to pick our site and gather map information about our study site.

October 18, 2010 - It was a half day today. Students were dismissed at 12:20 pm. Teachers went to staff development meetings in the afternoon. In school we attached a few pages to our Bob notebook so that we can begin our work on Simple Machines this week. We also played one of the group challenge activities. This activity was called the can pass. Your group had to sit on the floor and pass the can from person to person on the team. A ball was inside the can. You could not let the can touch the floor and you could not touch the can with any part of your body above the waist. This means you could not pick it up with your hands. You really needed a plan. You will write about this activity in your Bob notebook on page 16.

October 15, 2010 - Today we took the What Do We Already Know About Science Test. Yes, The big K from a KWL chart. 40 questions based on what teachers will teach this year were asked of our students. Student answers were put onto computer scanner sheets made by Scantron. Hopefully by the end of the year, student answers on a similar test will show vast improvement and great learning on the part of our children.

October 14, 2010 - We took a Quiz today on the Scientific Method. There were some Multiple Choice questions and we had to know the difference between observation and inference. We had to make a detailed drawing of items on our desk and had to measure the length of some objects. While the class was taking their quiz, Ms. Wolf and Mr. Grambo were looking through the bob notebooks to see if they have been fixed up since they were collected and graded last week.

October 13, 2010 - We finished up our work with the Scientific Method today by adding in our Conclusion and Variables. Tomorrow we will be having a quiz on the Scientific Method.

October 12, 2010 - We went over how to make a GRAPH for our Penny Experiment. We used an Overhead Projector. We also talked about fixing up our Bob Notebooks. All our Bob Notebooks have been checked and Progress Report number One should be signed by a parent and glued onto page 185 of our notebook. We will have a test soon on the Scientific Method.

October 11, 2010 - The was no school today. It was Columbus Day. I sent everyone some information this morning about Columbus by e-mail including an English translated copy of his 1492 log journal.

October 8, 2010 - We checked page 185 in Bob for a signature on our Progress Report. We attached pages into our Jake Notebook for a program next week on the Internet. We also collected several pages that need to be glued into our Sally Notebook over the weekend. We have now started using all three of our science notebooks. In Bob we have finished collecting Data for our Penny Experiment. We have finished writing the Procedure and the Variables. We are ready to make the graph.

October 7, 2010 - We have been collecting Bob Notebooks all week. Each day, one class of notebooks are collected. We are continuing with our Penny Experiment on the Scientific Method. We have been collecting data from heights of o, 4 and 9 inches. Today we talked about Variables.

October 6, 2010 - Mr. Grambo and Mr. Blum went to a meeting to plan the sixth grade overnight trip to Taconic Outdoor Education Center and Stoney Kill Farm. Mr. Grambo left a Reading on the Scientific Method that will eventually be attached to page 23 of Jake.

October 5, 2010 - We continued with our experiment on the Scientific Method. Students were busy dropping water on pennies from different heights and gathering numbers. Today we talked about the difference between materials and equipment and found out how to make an average from the numbers we were collecting.

October 4, 2010 - We Attached pages into our Bob notebook for the experiment on the Scientific Method and the went over Friday's reading. Most students did not know what a interpretation was and it was a question asked in the reading. We then started our experiment. Our problem involved dropping water on pennies until the water overflowed off of the penny. We are to try this experiment from three heights. One inch, four inches and nine inches. Our goal is to see if closer is better or if farther away is better. We will collect numbers, make an average and graph the numbers.

October 1, 2010 - Mr. Grambo was in school today, but he was doing auditorium programs about Student Activities in the school. Jennifer Wolf was working with us today. We did a reading on How To Read a Science Article. This was about bones on ancient animals found in Argentina. There was a question about the word Interpretation. This is an opinion. Miss Wolf gave out papers to students that needed to either fix their e-mail address or make their e-mail address over this weekend. Today we put many more comics into the school library for circulation.

September 30, 2010 - During our work on Inference skills we had to observe and then draw in a missing picture. Scientists are always drawing and sketching. Today we spent some time on page 20 of Bob making different types of drawings. We started with a Blind Contour Drawing where we could not look at the drawing paper while making the picture. The drawing was to be a continuous line and was drawn in 2 minutes. In our second drawing type we were able to look at the paper. We called this a modified contour drawing. We then made some very fast 30 second sketches before the period was over. We received a Progress Report today. A test e-mail was sent out in the evening to everyone that gave in a e-mail address.

September 29, 2010 - We went over pages 12 and 13 of Bob to make sure everyone understood yesterdays lesson about writing a procedure (making the tomato sauce). We then went back to pages 10 and 11 to finish up our work on making a hypothesis. We came up with a definition for Inference using the Think/Pair/Share method. Mr. Fahey came in for a few minutes during period 5 and hung out at team 6. We then collected the homework from yesterday.

September 28, 2010 - Today in Mr. Blum's room (315) we worked with the idea of writing up a procedure for doing something. That something was making tomato sauce. All sixth grade classes met with us in this room throughout the day to find out how to become really specific when telling someone how to do something. We started with a KWL Chart on tomato sauce and then the event began. We made the sauce as the students explained what to do. What a mess we kept making, but only because we did as we were told. Smashing and bashing, cutting with saws and power tools until we were told to use a knife and to cut tomatoes into dime size pieces. Everyone had a wonderful time. including all the teachers that brought their classes to the room. We wrote out a procedure on the smart board. everyone copied the procedure onto page 14 of Bob. Our homework was to write out a procedure for doing something onto a worksheet that was given to everyone as they left the room.

September 27, 2010 - We added Observe to our Index and noted that pages 6, 7, 8 and 9 of Bob ( this work is about our Observation Experiment) needs to be finished for homework if it is not already finished. Bob Notebooks will be collected and graded this week. Today we started our work on Inference. We started with a scenario about Mr. Grambo being a cartoonist and leaving his comic strip on his editors desk, When the envelope was opened the middle panel of his three panel strip was missing. Our job was to draw in the missing picture using clues from the pictures we still have. In Language Arts we call this using Context Clues to help us; here we call guessing at the middle picture with the help of the existing pictures, making an inference or hypothesis. We worked in bob on pages 10 and 11 today.

September 24, 2010 - We learned about what it is to make an Observation today. We look at things, but never really stop and observe them. Using a dollar bill we discovered that we knew a few things about the bill, but there was soooo much we did not know or remember about it. This experiment can be found on pages 6, 7, 8 and 9 of our Bob notebook. Today's student Journal Entry will be on page 7.then also added the word observe to the glossary in the back of our notebook. Homework is to have our parents work on the paper found on page 6. Also finish the Dollar Bill Scavenger Hunt on page 8. 

September 23, 2010 - We added two pages to our Bob notebook and went back and labeled all pages in our notebook. We then added a paper to our planner that tells us how to access our Science Textbook on the computer as a PDF file on Glencoe's web site.

September 22, 2010 - We added five rules to our list on page 200 of Bob. We wrote our third Journal Entry for the year onto page 25 of Bob and we received our Textbook today. After receiving our textbook we worked on a scavenger hunt that we have on pages 18 and 19. At 5:00PM our parents came in for Meet The Teacher. Mr. Grambo talked to our parents about what to expect for this school year. After this meeting there was a PTA Meeting in the Auditorium.

September 21, 2010 - We set up page 25 in Bob for writing our Journal Entries and talked about scientists writing in journals. We looked at sample writings that we put into our notebook yesterday onto pages 194 and 195 of Bob and discussed what a good Journal Entry looks like. During period 7 we had a Fire Drill. We then attached more pages into our notebook including a Glossary onto the inside back cover of Bob.

September 20, 2010 - We reviewed the signatures from Friday and went over the Laboratory Safety sheet we attached to pages 190 and 191 of Bob. We then went over the safety features of our Lab room (246). we looked at the fire extinguishers and the eyewash sink. We collected the lab safety homework reading.

September 17, 2010 - We checked many pages in Bob for signatures today. We attached pages about Lab safety, Textbook Tour and into Bob. We will use these pages next week when the glue dries. We then went on to finish our class rules and glue the rules to page 200 of Bob. We received a reading on lab safety for homework.

September 16, 2010 - Some students began to type their new e-mail address into one of the classroom computers to log this information onto a data base. We got through three groups. Tomorrow teams 4-6 will type in their information. Many items we have glue into Bob need to be signed by Mom/Dad. These signatures will be checked on Friday. A reminder list was given out today.

September 15, 2010 - Today we put our Grading Policy onto page 198 of Bob and a Grading Rubric for our work onto pages 192 and 193. After attaching our Supply list to page 199 we started to work on our Class Rules.

September 14, 2010 - We started setting up our Bob notebook today. We attached the Library Card Contract to page 187, the Phone List to the inside of the front cover and a booklet for our parents to sign onto page 1. We also put in Contents Pages onto 2,3, 4 and 5 of Bob.

September 13, 2010 - Students came in today and we started by numbering the book we would call Bob. This is the book we will use all year for our experiments in class. We gave out two papers for our planner. One was the time schedule for the Queens Libraries. The other was information about Dial-A-Teacher.  

September 9-10,2010 - School was closed

September 8, 2010 - Students came in today. It was their FIRST Day Of School. We gave out Supply Lists and talked about what we would be doing this year.

September 7, 2010 - Today was the first day of school for teachers. We had a few meetings in the morning. The rest of the day was spent on fixing up our classrooms.

week of August 30, 2010 -Teachers went in this week to fix up their classrooms if they wanted to. Mr. Grambo went in this week to work on his classroom.