Looking Skeptically - April 1st is fast approaching

I saw an ominous post on my twitter feed this morning:  Chinese Space Station Likely to Crash this Weekend.  According to the tweet Tiangong-1 is "space junk" that may be re-entering the atmosphere.  I was wondering if this may be a April 1st joke?

I looked for a confirmation on the satellite tracking page Satview link to Tiangong-1.

The crash seems legit, and according to the Satview site will probably break up over the Atlantic Ocean.  Although this tweet appears accurate I'm cautiously optimistic that there is nothing to worry about.  Nearly 75% of our planets surface is water so most "space junk" that makes it to the surface is likely to land somewhere other than on top of me!

Just the same I've learned before that there are a lot of satellites orbiting Earth - and that is something I think about from time to time - check out the image at the post below to see just how much "suff" is orbiting our planet.

pic.twitter.com/zHCDe70j7T  — The Wire (@thewire_in) March 29, 2018

I have been troubled lately by the school violence and apparent polarization among people in our country.  Fortunately I watched an inspiring program last night on PBS called American Creed.  A vignette in the program showed people on the street pledging an Oath to America.

My commitment to continue to excellence in education every day is renewed when I realize that we have a common bond represented in the words of the oath.  Please read the Oath again as I have, and feel heartened that we can find strength in our shared American Creed.

You can grow new brain cells. Here’s how with Sandrine Thuret

You can grow new brain cells. Here’s how with Sandrine Thuret: Pre-thinking: Can we, as adults, grow new neurons? Neuroscientist Sandrine Thuret says that we can, and she offers research and practical advice on how we can help our brains better perform neurogenesis—improving mood, increasing memory formation and preventing the decline associated with aging along the way.   Why you should listen: Thuret’s work focuses on […]

All posts and comments on this site must be Responsible, Respectful, Honest and Caring

Being Thankful

Today I have set aside time to thank the donors who contributed money so that we could purchase a high quality 3D printer for our classroom.  Expectations from the DonorsChoose organization are:

An excellent way we can demonstrate our character traits of being respectful, responsible, honest and caring is to fulfill our obligation to the donors who supported our classroom by completing the actions suggested by the Donors Choose organization.

1.  We will take a picture of each class showing objects that we printed.  We will also take pictures of student designed 3D objects or of objects that you felt were really neat or significant.  I will upload these to the website.

2.  Students will write thank you letters - creative and fun letters are great!  The letters should be appropriate and could explain how using Tinkercad and a 3D printer caused you to think differently about what is possible in our futures or how they encouraged you to be design or enjoy some object you created.  For example, do you remember the 3D printed heart we read about?  You don't need to mention the heart in your letter, but you might consider mentioning something else you have thought about.

3.  Mr. Delemeester will upload the pictures and read the thank you letters.  He will then write an overall impact statement thanking the donors.

Deer Season Update from the DNR

As many of you know, I have enjoyed deer hunting each fall with my family members since I was a teenager.  I appreciated the visit from Hannah Schauer, the DNR biologist who informed us about the management of game animals during her presentation at New Lothrop last week. Along with Hannah's visist, a video from the DNR on YouTube caught my interest so I shared it below.

 I have pasted the links that Hannah Schauer provided to guide student investigations in the space below:

Wildlife reports: http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10363_48664---,00.html

2016 Bear hunter harvest report: 
 http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/2016_mi_black_bear_hunter_survey_results_579049_7.pdf
2016 Deer harvest report: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/2016_deer_harvest_survey_report_575841_7.pdf
Bear Management Plan: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/Bear_Management_Plan__FINALwith_Director_signature_283047_7.pdf
Deer Management Plan: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/mi_deer_management_plan_547265_7.pdf
Deer Management Unit information used to make management decisions – summary for our area: http://www.michigandnr.com/Publications/pdfs/wildlife/dmu_info/DMU_419.pdf
Find information on any deer management unit here: http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10363_10856-428859--,00.html )

For life history information on different species, this is a good online resource to use:
http://animaldiversity.org/. 
For bird life history information, I’d recommend this site:
 https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search
Examples of some citizen science projects your students could participate in that help inform management decisions here in Michigan:

• Reporting reptile and amphibian sightings: https://www.miherpatlas.org/
• Reporting monarch sightings: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/
• Reporting invasive species: http://www.misin.msu.edu/

Hannah offered her assistance and provided her contact information in case we have any frther questions.

Hannah Schauer

Communications & Education Coordinator

DNR Wildlife Division

517-388-9678

DonorsChoose request

Hi Friends,

I want to make sure my students have the materials they need to succeed, so I just created a DonorsChoose.org classroom request.

High Quality and Easy to Use 3D Printer

In return, you'll get awesome photos of your gift in action and our heartfelt thanks.

Thank you so much,

Mr Delemeester

P.S. If you know anyone who may want to help my students, please pass this along!

The Eclipse!

Visit the Nasa Eclipse website at https://www.nasa.gov/eclipselive information about the August 21st 2017 eclipse.  If you see this post on August 21st you can watch streaming video of the event