Today in lab we took temperature data every minute as water went from solid to liquid to gas. Students will be showing me their skills in the graphing department. Make sure you label your axis and give it a title. Here, members of 1st period...PETER, TASIA, SIERRA, ASHLEY, LEVI, and ASHLYN...pose for a quick photo.

Tonight the boys modified soccer team spanked Moravia 4-2 with goals from GAGE B., DANA S., CHAD W., and QUIN W. Nice job guys! Who's that taking a nap on the field??
QUIN W. gets ready to stuff the ball down the goalie's throat.
COURTNEY W., EMILY F., MEGAN B., and SHYANNE W. even showed up to cheer the guys on. Looks like the boys soccer team will have to go to the next home cross country meet.

Saturday the modified cross country team competed at the 1.5 mile Baldwinsville Invitational. The girls finished 16th out of 25 teams and everyone had an excellent performance. You guys should be proud! Leading the way were SHYANNE W., ERICA S., ASHLEY M., COURTNEY W., and JENNIFER S. View the results at this site. ERICA and SHYANNE try to get the best position before heading into the woods. SHYANNE was Groton's best finisher, coming in 31st out of 184 runners. Also, just a reminder that we have a home meet Tuesday at Stonehedges and cross country pictures are this Thursday. Please bring your uniforms.

Friday we watched the IMAX film "Cosmic Voyage". This is one of my personal favorites because it makes you realize how small you are in relation to the whole universe. It can be viewed online here if you have a fast internet connection.

Thursday the modified football team hosted their first home football game against Moravia. Here the team receives some water and inspiration from Coach Conner and Coach Ott.
Apply that Red Zone defense!

ATTENTION PARENTS. If you have not received an email from me and would like to be on the list please email me at cdevoe@groton.cnyric.org and I will be sure to add you. ALSO, I am seeking empty computer ink cartridges and old no-longer-used cell phones for a classroom fundraiser to purchase bird seed and new binoculars for this winter's feeder watching season. Thanks to those who have donated already!

Today we briefly talked about the bad effects of mercury on humans and other animals. There is a high risk today of brain and other developmental problems, especially among pregnant women that eat tuna or swordfish. Coal-burning power plants in the Midwest are mostly at blame as their pollution is blown into the Northeast and deposited in our lakes, streams, and oceans.This website has a lot of information on the topic.

Wow! Great job to ASHLEY M, JENNIFER S, KATIE G, ERICA S, COURTNEY W, TYRONE C, SHYANNE W, EMILY C, DANIELLE S, MARY O, and HALLE S for running 3.2 miles today in cross country through mud, bushes, and prickers! You guys are tough. Come see us run tomorrow against Moravia, Lansing, and Southern Springs at the Moravia Golf Course at 4:45.

MIKAELA and KAITLYN show off their experiment where they tested the effects of food coloring on slug feeding preference. Today was the last day of Slugfest 2006 and now the students are busy writing up their results.

In other news...EMILY K, whom I had last year, donated a baby snapping turtle to our class. Now we need to come up with a name for it. Lets throw out some ideas in the comment section and we will have an online vote for the name.

Also...For those of you that would like to get a head start, we will be having a test this Tuesday on the scientific method and measurement. We will spend Monday reviewing but you can start looking through your notes if you would like. I don't think anyone will have a problem with this test.

It was great to meet all of the parents tonight at open house. I thought the turnout was amazing and I'm glad to see so many parents that are supportive of their child's education. You students should feel pretty lucky. I'm looking to finish the week on a positive note tomorrow. See you then.

OPEN HOUSE is TOMORROW night at 7pm! I am looking forward to seeing all of you there with your parents. No one has done anything terrible yet so I have nothing but good stuff to say at this point = ) Below we have a picture of day 2 of Slugfest 2006. GABE and BRETT are testing their slug's preference between lettuce and mushroom. I can't wait to see tomorrow's results.



Make sure you guys think about what you want to test in tomorrow's experiment on slug eating preferences. You could test the effects of light vs. dark, inside vs. outside air temperature, etc. You could soak your plant materials in something strange if you'd like. Remember you need a control though. This is your chance to get creative and to learn more about your slugs.

SLUGFEST 2006 is underway! Today we made observations and inferences about our garden slugs. Thanks to everyone that has been bringing in slugs for class. SIERRA K. gets special recognition for finding a (somewhat rare) Leopard Slug that measures almost 17cm (7") when fully stretched out! Below KRAIG and RILEY compile observations while MARY and MEGAN get a closer look using the dissecting microscope. Tomorrow and Thursday we will be setting up food preference experiments to get a better understanding of what slugs like to feed on. Who's excited???

Guys, I'm really going to be making the push for people to bring in slugs over the next couple days. They are more common at night and early morning on wet tall grass andother vegetation. Wednesday we will need about 200 of them. Right now we barely have 50. PLEASE!!!!!!

Today was just too nice to stay inside so we ventured out into the nature center to do a sketching/observation lab. We are pretty fortunate to have this area behind the school and everyone (for the most part) was very well behaved traveling too and from.
JESSIE and MALLORY search hard for a cool critter.
Tyler shows off his earthworm just before he begins his sketch.

Today we looked at a few tools scientists use to examine the natural world. The scanning electron microscope was a huge breakthrough that allowed scientists to view objects up to 200,000 times their original size. Here is a cool micrograph of a wasp. If anyone can find another cool image, please let us know in the comment section.

On Monday the "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin passed away so I thought I would do a post on him. He died at age 44 from a stingray barb in Australia's Great Barrier Reef leaving behind two young children. Personally I thought Irwin was kind of annoying, but his enthusiasm for nature and learning about different animals went unmatched...and for that I admire the guy. Animal Planet will just not be the same Steve...Rest in peace. For more information click here.

SHYANNE and JAI get to know their textbook during one of today's activities. One thing I'd like to point out. Please use only your first names when you leave comments. Anyone in the world can see these posts. Last year we had a lady from Australia leave a comment. Better safe than sorry.

Welcome to all of the new 7th graders! It was great to finally meet all of you today and I am looking forward to this year. Here is a shot of my (very sleepy) first period class. In case you forgot, the 3 sections for our notebooks should be labeled NOTES, HANDOUTS, and TESTS/LABS. See everyone tomorrow.