Teaching the way students learn…

Our solar system does some AMAZING things! Winter Solstice is when there are equal days of day and night — and it is the official start of winter. We will learn next semester that an eclipse is when a planet (usually the earth or the moon) blocks our view of another solar body (moon / sun). Last night there was a Lunar Eclipse….where the Earth came in between the sun and the moon. Tonight is referred to as a “Winter Moon”. We’ll talk more about this in January — but for now, enjoy this video!’

Being a science teacher, I am always intrigued by “sciency stuff”. Today I found something that is TRULY MAGIC! I needed to do some cleaning, so I decided to get some supplies! So….I went to Target and purchased a MAGIC ERASER (c).

My friends told me “Be careful! You’ll start using it and won’t know how to stop!” So…why am I sharing this with my students? Well, simple. It seems that the Magic Eraser is made of Melamine foam. According to Wikipedia, it has been “I… used for over 20 years as insulation for pipes and ductwork, and has a long history as a soundproofing material for studios, sounds stages, auditoriums, and the like. The low smoke and flame properties of melamine foam prevent it from being a fire hazard” …. and there’s more!

Wikipedia’s explanation of how the Magic Eraser works is FASCINATING!

Read THIS interesting article from Wikipedia to learn more!

SCIENCE IS MAGIC!

Get ready to turn back those clocks! This Sunday, at 2 a.m., we revert back to Standard Time! That’s right…Daylight Savings Time is about to come to an end for another year

Here are some interesting articles about time:

Learn about Daylight Savings Time (DST)

Learn about Coortinated Universal Time (UTC)

Learn about International Atomic Time (TAI) <— It's really cool!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what makes people give up and stop trying to pursue their dreams, continue an activity, etc. etc. I was lucky to come across this video. It reminded me that even those people we consider to be “heroes” often had failure. Thomas Edison made THOUSANDS of light bulbs before getting them to work. This video is taken from a Honda Series entitled “Failure: The Secret to Success” Watch and learn…I’ll post more of these in a few days.

Are you looking for a great review? The Integrated Science Videos viewer has been placed on the main EdLine page for each of the Integrated Science and Biology sections I teach. If you haven’t taken time to view the videos…check them out here…