Friday we went outside for an activity on natural selection. Students (birds) had been swept to a new island with a new food source (beans). Variation in the birds' beaks proved that the traits for a spoon-shaped beak would be beneficial in the new environment. Over time the species would change to be best suited to their new environment.

I wanted to take a moment to thank all of the parents and community members who came out to support our students and school in this year's budget. I/we truly appreciate it. A major part of the proposal included drastic improvements to the district's technology plan; something that I, personally, think is an important step in developing competent citizens in the 21st century global arena.

Thank You again.

Today we continued our chapter on evolution by looking at the evidence for evolution. For part of class we examined several ancient homonid skulls that Cornell was generous enough to let us borrow.

Today the 1st half of the 7th grade braved the cold, wind, and rain to spend the day on Cayuga Lake and Salmon creek doing water studies. We spent 1/2 of the day collecting aquatic macroinvertebrates and studying the chemistry of Salmon creek. On the Floating Classroom we went through four stations to study the chemistry of the lake and we also looked at microscopic phyto and zooplankton that we caught. Tomorrow the second 1/2 of the 7th grade will go...hopefully with warmer weather.

Monday and Tuesday are the days for the 7th grade field trip to Cayuga Lake's Floating Classroom. Please remember to bring a bagged lunch and to dress appropriately. We will be leaving after 1st period and returning sometime during 9th period.

We finally got one! After 3 consecutive days with no luck in our mammal- trapping lab, we finally caught 1 white-footed mouse last night. Remember...tomorrow we have our genetics test.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to accompany the 6th grade to Lime Hollow Nature Center. They have been reading Hatchet and took part in 4 outdoor survival stations at Lime Hollow. They were fire building, edible plants, shelter building, and finding a reliable water source. Thank you to the Lime Hollow staff for putting together an awesome trip and thank you to the 6th graders for representing Groton positively.

This week we've done our small mammal trapping study. We are trying to get a better idea of what type of habitat these animals prefer. Unfortunately we have not gotten any data yet. Last year, along the same line we caught several. Can anything think why this might be the case? Here, ERIC P., JASON S., and KEITH B. set the traps in the afternoon.

Saturday the Sisterhood of Science traveled to the museum of science and technology in Syracuse to tour the exhibits and watch an IMAX film. Pictured are the 7th grade members that attended.

What an amazing success science night 2008 was Thursday night. 46 students from 7th grade alone attended along with hundreds of other students, parents, and community members throughout the night. Larry and Joel did terrific presentations relating to ocean life. I was very impressed with the posters everyone made and I'll hopefully have them graded by the end of the week. State Senator James Seward was also in attendance and stayed for over an hour.

Today in class we will be learning more about genetics and DNA.

Step 1: Open another tab in explorer. Run though this groovy animation about apples. Please pay attention and read the descriptions carefully.

Step 2: On the same tab bring up this website.

Step 3: We are going to play all three games. Please do not spend more than 10 minutes on one game.

Step 4: Check out this site. View the animation.

You're done for the day. I hope to see you tonight at Science Night.

Today we were outside setting up our transect line in the woods for the small mammal trapping study next week. Just a reminder that I will be in lunch friday for signups. If you would like to be on a trap checking or trap setting crew make sure you check in with me Friday. Above you can see members of 4th period measuring out our trap locations. DUSTIN S. ties a marker at location E.

Today I decided to ride my bike to work to reduce my "Carbon Footprint" May 16th is Nation Ride you bike to work/school day in case you'd like to be involved. In some of the classes today I mentioned this story. If you'd like to email your thoughts about this principal's decision feel free. His email is jriccobono@brrsd.k12.nj.us

Wow! We're on YouTube!

Today we started going over the small-mammal trapping lab that we will be doing next week. If you're interested in reading about last year's study check the grotonsciencegeek archive. There are pictures and video for viewing.

Hey guys...remember - library on Monday to finish up our projects for science night. Make sure you bring your supplies to school.