I'm home!

I am happy to be home! We had an interesting morning which included a Diet Coke and Mentos experiment, very fun! (And messy!) I am trying to figure out how to post my final presentation. so hopefully it will be posted soon.
Stay tuned for some information about a new blog for the upcoming school year!

Final Days

Linda Leigh, an original Biospherian! She is awesome! (Ignore my funny face)
My team and I doing research "under the glass". Above is the rainforest, below is the beach.
Behind the glass!

On July 1st, I will post my final research presentation. Be sure to check it out!
I wanted to share some new pictures. Linda Leigh, one of the original 8 Biospherians was our guest speaker tonight. She was very entertaining and inspiring, and has so many stories to tell.

June 30, 2010

I can't believe there are only two more days here! What a gift this has been.
My team and I are almost done with putting our research project together for presentation tomorrow. I will be sure to post our final project for you to see!
Tonight, one of the original "Biospherians" will be speaking to us!
Here are some pictures from the past couple of days!

June 28, 2010

My evening off - El Conquistador with my mom!
The view from the pool - beautiful!!
Teachers- above is where you can get your own set of minerals for your classroom!
Over 50 minerals - numbered, with a key! And tons of information about the mining industry!

We took a field trip to the University of Arizona today! We went to the Flandrau Museum and saw an amazing exhibit of minerals from the Copper Queen Mines in Bisbee, AZ. I know more about minerals and the history of mining than I ever thought I would! They were so beautiful!
We also saw a show at their planetarium which was very cool too. We went to the Steward Mirror Lab which is located under the U of A stadium. They make huge (I mean huge) mirrors for huge telescopes all over the world. Amazing!
It's movie night at B2 - we are watching Avatar!

June 27, 2010

Last night we loaded up the vans and headed to the Sonoran Desert Museum. I had not been there since I was young, and it brought back some memories. It really is a beautiful place. I was able to watch a bird show while I was there. We were there at night, and it was so beautiful!
We had a visit from a geologist from the U of A, and he showed us some very cool rocks and minerals! Today we were given a whole set of minerals to take back to our classrooms. Awesome!!!
Tonight we were given a night off, and my mom drove down to hang out with me! We are staying at a very nice hotel called the Hilton El Conquistador in Oro Valley. It is nice to relax a little bit and see my mom. :) I feel like I haven't been out in the real world for a while!
I will post some pictures tomorrow. I am having some computer malfunction. Good Night!

Friday

I have learned so much in these past eight days, and there is more to come! Crazy! My team and I are still working on our research project in the Biosphere every day. We have hit some snags, but we have recovered nicely. Hopefully it will all turn out okay. We are presenting to many people from the U of A, Biosphere2, and the people who fund this program, on July 1st! Just a little pressure!
Not only have I learned SO much about science, technology, math and engineering, but I have learned that moths are my friends, scented lotion attracts bees and wasps, shake your bedsheets out every night before bed, don't leave anything on the floor-EVER, and that if you stay really still bees will not sting you. I am adjusting to living in harmony with insects. :)

Newspaper Article!

share

This was published in the Ahwatukee Foothills News yesterday! :) Click on "share" to read the article!

Field trip!

Today we traveled to Catalina State Park to study macro invertebrates in streams. Macroinvertebrates are small living organisms that you can see with the naked eye and that don't have backbones. We caught little creatures from a stream and used a "key" to figure out what species we had caught. Today we caught damselfly larvae, dragonfly larvae, whirlygigs, Sunburst diving beetles, mayfly larvae, water spiders, and we even found tadpoles and frogs! The fact that this stream had so many species living in it, told us that it was healthy water and did not have many (if at any) pollutants. I have learned so much about water in the past two days! Check out my pictures! :)

Day 4

Thanks for the comments, I love to read them especially the ones from my students!! :)
Today was all about technology! I learned how to use my new Mac Book Pro, and video camera. A very long day, but I learned so much. Still awake playing with my new stuff!
We broke out and took a trip to Bashas today, that was kind of exciting to be out of B2 for a while.
Here are a few new pics!

Project decided!

My team and I are going to be studying how the absence of light affects the rate of photosynthesis in different biomes of the biosphere. We will be covering different parts of plants in each of the biomes in order to remove all light exposure. Then taking data on the photosynthesis. We may even have access to equipment that will help us "see" the photosynthesis process better than just with the naked eye. How cool with that be? I will keep you posted on our progress. :) :)

Biosphere 3!

Today I made my own Biosphere! It has water, land and air. Notice in the water, I have a fish (Sam I am) and some plants for him to eat. In the land part I have some worms and two different kind of plants. I am going to search for some other creatures in B2 today to add to my soil!!

I can't wait to make these with my class, it was really fun!

Today's experiments

Today started with an "Amazing Race" around the Biosphere area. That was fun!

We recieved prizes at every stop and our grand prize was.... A MacBook Pro laptop, a PRINTER to go with it, and we also got a digital video camera!! (along with some other really cool stuff)

It was an exciting morning!! :) I had the best team ever!!

We spent the rest of the day in classrooms doing some inquiry experiments:

1. Build a Tower, while staying on a "budget"

2. What do crickets prefer to eat?

3. Cricket Races

So, we are each required to do a research project that is due on July 1st. I am trying to decide between comparing water cleanliness, soil saturation, or comparing micro organisms in the biomes of B2. I will decide tomorrow!

Tomorrow we will be doing more inquiry experiments, then, at night, we have an astronomy lesson and night sky viewing. Fun!!

More night tour pics

It is really beautiful here at night!

"The Beach"

Night walk through Biosphere 2

We started with a "Hawaiian Night" reception and dinner, then went through the Biosphere at night. It was pretty cool!!!
The Ocean Biome
Coincidentally, I went through the teaching program at ASU with these girls (Ana and Jen). I haven't seen them in 11 years! Small world!
My roomie!

More pics - I'm learning...

Some pictures of B2

I made it!

After a very early drive, I made it to B2 at 8:15am this morning. I have met some very friendly people, and I have three roommates in my "casita. I am posting pictures of our rooms. They are pretty cute! It is cooler here, with a nice breeze, which I am loving. However, sunscreen is a must - we are definitely out in the desert! I can't wait to share my daily activities with you, they sound really fun! Today is a lot of getting to know each other, and the Biosphere. We are taking an nighttime hike later, and I hear that all of the creatures will be out!!! Most people here are really excited about that - I just look at them and said "oh well, that sounds interesting." However, I think I will become more comfortable and start to appreciate my surroundings (and all of the creatures in them),as the days pass.
More to come later!!

Why am I going to Biosphere??

I applied and was selected to attend a summer institute hosted by Arizona Center for STEM
Teachers. (STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)
I will be living on site in the student housing "casitas" from July 18th to July 2nd.
During my stay, I will be involved in many professional growth activities that I am sure will enrich my teaching, especially in the content areas of Science, Technology and Math. I will also be conducting research in the many "biomes" at Biosphere 2. I will be learning and working with many other K-3 teachers from Arizona, how many exactly, I am not sure.
I applied for this experience in hopes of recharging my passion for teaching and learning through Science, Technology and Math. This is way outside of my "comfort zone", and I'm sure it will provide a lot of challenge for me, physically and mentally.
But, I am "Learning into Discomfort" and I am looking foward to the challenge and bringing my new learning back to my first grade class in August. I am positive that I will have lots of things to share with my students, colleagues, friends, and family, so stay tuned! I will let you know what crazy stuff I am doing each day and will post pictures for you to see!