Tag - pumpkin carving patterns or pumpkin carving or Chemistry or Teachers

September 24, 2008

Carnival of Education, #190

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We are honored to periodically host the Carnival of Education. Hats off to our good friend Jane Goodwin for all of her work on the latest Carnival. - editor It's time to put on our thinking caps and experience the 190th Carnival of Education, right here at Steve Spangler's blog! All learning is scientific, you know.  The world is a giant laboratory, and every day, we are all, regardless of our ages, making discoveries never before known to mankind. Perhaps some of you will make some discoveries right here at the Carnival of Education! Remember now, we don't all necessarily have to agree on everything to appreciate it, or realize that it has a value. Let's begin with some Games for the Brain.  That will make us alert and ready for some educational action. Over at Three Standard Deviations to the Left, there is some discussion about low expectations.  Mr. IB lets us know, in no uncertain terms, that HIS expectations are high. (more...)
June 12, 2008

Easy Science Experiments on the Carnival of Education

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Every once in a while I stumble across a new resource or website and say, "Why didn't I know about this before now?" If you're a teacher and you don't know about The Carnival of Education, check it out! As I understand it, the Carnival of Education is hosted on a new education site each week, and it has an amazing readership. Brew a second pot of coffee because once you start reading, you'll get roped in for a few hours (each time you check it out).
May 14, 2008

Wild About Tie Dye

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Filed under Teaching Moments

Uncovering the Science Secrets of Tie Dye Lots of kids learn how to do tie dye, but the fifth graders at Wilder Elementary got a dose of art and science today when yours truly and art teacher extraordinare, Jill Day, approached the activity from a slightly different angle. You won't find the science of tie dye in the fifth grade curriculum, but today's lesson was both a gift from the Wilder staff and PTO and a rite of passage as these students move onto middle school. From the science perspective, the students learned about three "secrets" of tie dye, and on the art side, Mrs. Day covered the coolest way to use colors in a tie dye pattern. In addition to washing their tie dye t-shirts tonight, the students were invited to share some of the "secrets" they learned and some of the finer points of learning the "real" tie dye methods (as one of the students said, "Direct from the tie dye hippie artists to our classroom!") The students will be posting their comments all night long... check back tomorrow and we'll even have some pictures and video up … (more...)
July 11, 2007

Exploding Watermelons

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Filed under Teaching Moments

7607-watermelon.jpgI love Halloween. One of my favorite activities is to "carve" pumpkins using a simple reation inside the fruit. First, you carve the face then carefully replace pieces. After creating a reaction by generating a gas inside and igniting it (ask your local chemistry teacher for the details) the face pieces are blown off with a small explosion. Halloween is more than 100 days away and I just couldn't wait. So I initiated the new weather anchor at the local Denver television station by introducing her to carving watermelons. The problem was, we didn't really carve the watermelon, it exploded. Watch the Video to see how we skipped right over the carving and went straight to exploding.
December 14, 2005

Colorado Science Teacher of the Year

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Shannon KoppenhaferJust stick your head above the crowd and someone will shoot at it. One Colorado elementary teacher is getting hit in the head with flying film canisters powered by water and Alka-Seltzer... and the kids are being praised. Colorado Association of Science Teachers selected Shannon Koppenfafer as the Science Teacher of the Year for the state's elementary school teachers. She was nominated by John McConnell, the Grand Valley's version of Mr. Science who runs the Western Colorado Math and Science Center. Here's a secret that I learned years ago... constantly seek out amazing teachers. Read about them... watch them in action... study their writings... find out what makes them tick. As teachers, we all benefit when one of our own receives this type of well-deserved recognition. (more...)