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Monday, June 18, 2012

DAY 175!! LAST DAY OF 6TH GRADE!!


June 8, 2012 Day 175  Last Day of Grade 6
Maine Studies Project:
Maine Studies 10 Coolest Places in Maine
Sophie’s Blog: Last day of school, last day as a 6th grader—thoughts? Feelings? Reflections? Hopes & Goals for 7th grade?

Wow, this has been a great year I have learned so much, in and out of school. I can’t believe this is it for 6th grade already. I can’t wait for 7th! It has been an amazing journey and I thank everyone for helping me. I love you mom thanks for another year of teaching. My favorite subject this year was definitely the Civil War followed closely by Lewis and Clark.
I had so much fun once again and am ready for a whole new year of learning wonderful things. I feel smarter than any other 6th grader on the planet, everything I have learned which has been 175 days worth of knowledge has been put in a folder in the back of my brain and forever shall be there. Like I said I have learned a lot of lessons other than school this year.
This has definitely been a really tough year for all my family and I admire every one for staying strong through these tough moments.
My hopes and goals for 7th grade are for learning as much as this year. I can’t wait to go to Wales in October. It will be an amazing journey full of educational adventures. My goal is to learn everything I can about the United Kingdom before my trip and to know even more after. Thank you I love every one.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Day 173 Geology & Moosehead Lake


June 6, 2012 Day 173 June 7, 2012 day 174

Math: Review of Standard & Metric measurement

Latin: Chapter 3 Infinitive Verbs

Greenville & Moosehead Lake

Sophie’s Blog: We went up to Moosehead Lake yesterday in Greenville. I thought the lake was absolutely gorgeous! We saw a beautiful rainbow going from the lake to the clouds, we went on a walk threw a campground at Lily Bay State Park and played on a playground. We had a deer come up to our car and we saw a moose, it was super neat! I think it’s definitely on the coolest places in Maine, I loved it.

Geology of the Eastern Coast 6 x 6 SIX
pages 83-88 and pages 92-98 and pages 104-
6 Vocabulary
1. Mouth (of a river): where a river empties into another body of water
2. Dredge: equipment that scoops up objects and mud from the bottom of a river
3. Hydroelectric energy: electricity generated from the energy of flowing water
4. Renewable resources: any natural resource that isn’t used up that can be replaced
5. Invasive and native species: invasive = not native to an ecosystem; native = belongs to an ecosystem
6. Estuary: a partly exposed body of water which has rivers and streams running through it

6 Sentences
1. The mouth of the Mississippi River is at the Gulf of Mexico.
2. The Army Corps in New Orleans operates and run seven dredges that go all the down to the bottom of the Mississippi River.
3. The Tennessee River has dams that generate hydroelectric energy.
4. Since water is a renewable resource, people believe it’s safer than fossil fuels and more efficient.
5. Invasive species can quickly multiply to large numbers, that’s why (unlike native species), they do not belong in an ecosystem.
6. Chesapeake Bay is a large estuary on the Atlantic coast.

6 facts/ Details
1.Delta is the fan-shaped deposit of sediment at the mouth of a river
2. There are about 240 different kinds of fish in the Mississippi
3. The Ohio River is the largest tributary of the Mississippi
4 . Brackish water is a mixture between salt water and river water
5. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the US
6. Acadia is known for its tidal pools

6 Questions
1. What do barges do and how are they good for the environment? A: They transport heavy loads on river instead of roads and they don’t need much gas
2. Who are John Chapman and what did he do on the Ohio River? A: Johnny Appleseed and he planed apple trees along the Ohio River Valley
3. How does Hydroelectric Energy work? (page 88) A: A dam is built across the river to hold back all of the water, the water backs up and forms a reservoir, the dam funnels the water into a tunnel called a penstock, the penstock releases the water at a steady rate into huge turbines then the water flows back into the river the turbine blades are connected to a metal rod with giant powerful magnets and it creates electricity
4. What are the Everglades and where can you find them? A: In Florida, a National Park and collection of ecosystems
5. What is the Gulf Stream and how does it work? A: A major ocean current that travels from the Gulf of Mexico
6. Where and what is Old Sow? A: In Acadia, a whirl pool

6 Facts & details about Moosehead Lake *go on-line

1. Moosehead Lake is the largest lake in Maine

2. Moosehead Lake is the largest Mountain Lake in the whole eastern United States!

3. The largest island on Moosehead Lake is Sugar Island

4. There are over 80 islands on Moosehead Lake

5. Moosehead is situated in the Longfellow Mountains

6. Moosehead lake is approximately 40 by 10 miles in area

6 Images from our trip to Moosehead Lake





Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Days 171 & 172 Maine Studies & Geology

June 4, 2012 Day 171 Maine Studies Project

Math: 2 pages
Maine Studies Project 2: 10 Coolest Places to visit in Maine to learn about our state
1. Town of Brunswick, need more pictures, do later
2. Fort Knox,
3. Moosehead Lake
4. Maine Wildlife Park
5. Acadia National Park
6. State of Maine museum & capital, Augusta
7. Portland Freedom Trail
8. Popham Beach & Fort Popham
9. Cribstone Bridge & Bailey Island
10. Sugarloaf
Open Power Point Presentation and begin PPP for Maine Studies.
Each place should have at least 2 slides including pictures & personal facts/details, plus Hyperlink

June 5, 2012 Day 172
Geology of the Eastern Coast 6 x 6 FIVE
pages 64-71 and pages 77-
6 Vocabulary 1. Nor’easter: A storm blowing from the north east usually along the North eastern coast of the United States. It often brings high winds and cold temperatures.
2. Hurricane: A severe tropical storm with winds greater than 74 miles per hour!
3. Watershed: The land area that drains into a river and stream
4. Gorge: A narrow valley between hills or mountains usually with steep rocky walls and a stream running through it
5. Niagara Falls: huge waterfalls in New York that flows from the great lakes

6. Crops: plants grown for food and other uses
6 Sentences 1. Nor’easters are made when all four climate zones meet and it creates a huge storm of rain and wind and snow across the mid-Atlantic.  
2. There are many hurricanes coming up and down the mid-Atlantic coast in the summer as well as scorching heat waves.   
3. A watershed is like a big bathtub, the sides of the tub are high ridges or elevation points, and the drain is the river at the bottom.
4. Niagara Falls has moved about 7 miles since they were formed; now there is a big gorge where they were before.
5. Niagara Falls formed about 12,000 years ago, the entire region used to be covered with glaciers and as they moved they dug depression in the land.
6. The Erie Canal opened up a faster and easier route for men (especially farmers from Erie) to go to New York to buy crops.

6 Facts/ Details     
1. Hurricane season lasts from June to November 30, the peak months are August and September.
2. The average hurricane releases 200 times as much energy in a day as the energy produced by all the electric power plants in the world! That’s as much as 10,000 nuclear bombs.
3. Hurricane Katrina wasn’t the most powerful hurricane ever to hit the United States, but caused about 125 billion dollars in damage.
4. The word hurricane comes from the Spanish word huracan which comes from the Mayan word Hunraken; this was their god of storms.
5. When we drove down to Disney we traveled through all four climate zones
6. There are about 240 different kinds of fish in the Mississippi river.

6 Questions 1. Why is Florida warmer than Maine if they both receive the same amount of sunlight? A: Florida is closer to the equator, the latitude is different
2. What is the difference between weather and climate? A: climate is the average weather of a region where as weather can change
3. Describe the life of a hurricane: (page 68) They are born as tropical storms, The water needs to be at least 80 degrees, but the air above needs to be cooler than the water. The water warms up enough to evaporate and create water vapor. The Vapor rises up creating large clouds filed with moisture, the most dangerous part of a hurricane is right next to the eye, the eye wall.
4. What is the Erie Canal and when did it open? A: The Erie canal is a man made canal which opened in 1825. It goes from Lake Erie and Erie Pennsylvania and runs to Albany New York; it was an eight year building process
5. How long ago did Niagara Falls form? A: 12,000 years ago
6. Why are Niagara Falls slowing moving upstream? A: Because the softer rocks erode underneath causing the waterfalls to move slowly upstream


6 Images of Hurricanes & Niagara Falls & Erie Canal





6 Images from our trip to Niagra Falls in 2007







Day 170 Webquest: Restoration (only 5 more days of 6th grade!)

June 1, 2012 Day 170
Math: 2 pages
Latin: review flashcards

Webquest: Restoration: The Second Civil War

A.      Click on link on left: A New Birth of Freedom: Reconstruction During the Civil War

B.      Read and List 3 Facts/ Details you learned:

1. 650,000 men died during the Civil War including 260,000 confederates more than one fifth of the white men population in the South 

2. There were more than 200,000 black soldiers that served in the Civil War

3. The Emancipation Proclamation also gave authorization for slaves to enlist in the army

                C. Click “Next” at bottom of page & Read and List 3 Facts/ Details you learned:

4. The disintegration of slavery was one of the many considerations that led President Abraham Lincoln to the Emancipation Proclamation

5. The Emancipation, which only applied to areas outside of Union control, did not immediately abolish slavery but it but it made emancipation an irrevocable war aim.  

6. The Emancipation proclamation ensured that Union victory would create a social revolution in the south, reconstruction

D. Click on link on left: The Meaning of Slavery: Black and White Responses to the End of Slavery

E. Read & Click “Next,” then write 3 good sentences about what you learned:

1. After the Civil War, the meaning of freedom became a conflict in the South during Reconstruction, former slaves did not know what to do with themselves because it was the first time they had ever been free.

2. Most Southern families reacted to the defeat and freedom of their slaves with dismay, they also mourned over the loss of loved ones and made memorial grounds and cemeteries all over the region.  

3. Reuniting separated slaves was hard but was essential to the black meaning of freedom .

F. Click on link on left: From Slave Labor to Free Labor. Read & Click “Next,” then write 3 good sentences about what you learned:

4. Former slaves believed that their many years of hard labor would give them their own land, “forty acres and a mule” was what they were promised but never truly received it. 

5. During the Civil War many white farmers were thrown into poverty because of destruction, there was a major change in their lives when after the Civil War they focused on growing food and growing a family.

6. As under slavery, many freed blacks worked for land owning whites but were aloud control over their personal lives and they could come and go as they pleased.  

G. Click on link on left: Rights & Power: The Politics of Reconstruction. Read & Click “Next.”

H. What were the 3 main questions of the national debate over Reconstruction & what were the answers?

1. On what terms should the confederate army be reunited? They had to admit that they lost the Civil war and that slavery and secession are dead

2. Who should establish these terms, Congress or the President? The President

3. What should be the place of the former slaves and the political life of the South? The Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendment gave the federal rights for black men to vote under restrictions

I. Click on link on left: The Ending of Reconstruction. Read & Click “Next,” then write a good 6 sentence paragraph summarizing the end of Reconstruction.

In the 1870s, violent oppositions are in the south. As soon as blacks got the right to vote the Ku Klux Klan established which created violent terrors in the South and killed any republican leader. Soon the federal marshals and U.S troops brought the organization to an end. Many republicans thought that the south should solve their own problems without any interference from Washington, but then republican Rutherford B. Hayes became president and they quieted down.

J. What does the Epilogue say about “The Unfinished Revolution”? A: it means that really reconstruction didn’t end until the mid twentieth century.




Monday, June 4, 2012

Day 169 Fort Knox & Robots!

May 31, 2012 Day 169 Fort Knox

Sophie’s Blog: *Go on-line too and get some facts & details about the Fort—list 6. Then write nice, long, journal about visit with complete sentences.

1. Fort Knox was built from 1844-1869, just as the Civil War ended
2. Fort Knox was manned during the Spanish American war by volunteers from Connecticut
3. Fort Knox was never actually used which is sad because it is such an impressive fort
4. The State of Maine bought Fort Knox for 2, 221 dollars and made it a state park in 1970
5. Fort Knox was the first fort in Maine built of granite.
6. The Fort is named after Henry Knox the first US secretary of war





Yesterday we went to Fort Knox in Prospect, Maine. We took Gamma with us and she said she had a lot of fun. It was a long car ride because it is about two hours away. This fort is definitely on the 10 coolest places to visit in Maine, it is so cool because the top is covered with grass and there is a hill right in from of the fort so you cannot tell the fort is there. When you walk around the hill you can see this huge amazing fort that was never used, yep that’s right it never saw battle. It took 25 years to build the fort, and it was the first fort in Maine built using granite instead of wood. The fort entrance was really pretty and big, it opened up to a big open field of grass and it was pentagon shaped. All the way around the left side were small rooms were the cannons went and they were facing the river. On the other side were where the sleeping quarters were to be. On the north side was were the officers quarters was and the powder magazine which was not a magazine about skin care which I thought it was but it was where they kept the ammunition (I didn’t really think it was a real magazine). We went through a really dark hallway almost underground that went all the way around the fort. It really REALLY creeped me out and I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could but I went through. Then there were two rooms with dirt floors which was were the privies or bathrooms were. There were two spiral staircases that went up to the top level were there were more cannons. I loved going to the fort and it is definitely super cool.

Sophie’s Blog: Write about visiting Fairchild and driving the robots.
The other day we went to Portland to see dad at work. Fairchild is sponsoring some of the Maine robotics teams this year because I think their using their software. They had the robots in a room and kids were allowed to drive them around, that’s what Lily and I did. There were two different kinds of robots that were supposed to play basketball, there was hoop set up that was about my height and robots could shoot the balls in to the net. One of the teams, the riot crew had a huge robot that had a ramp and belt that carried the basketballs up. It was controlled with an X-box controller. That robot, “The red robot” had wheels that made the robot move sideways smoothly, it was really cool. The other teams robot which we called “the blue robot” had a joint stick that controlled the robots. This robot didn’t work as well as the riot crew’s but it was still pretty awesome! I liked the red robot better and it was easier to drive. However Lily liked the blue robot.


Day 167 & 168 USS Constitution Visit + Geology 6 x 6

May 29, 30th 2012 Day 167 & 168

Math: 2 pages--Temperature conversion
LA Book: Finished!!
Sophie blog:  My language arts book taught me about a lot of stuff. It started with teaching me about elections and presidential campaigns, and it finished with a page on Atoms. I liked how my LA book told a story when it moved from subject to subject, It flowed quite nicely (example) I learned about St. Patrick’s day and why we celebrate that and it had about 6 pages on that. Then the next page talked about Ireland, and the next page about Poetry in Ireland, and then it brought me to the subject of poetry. This continues throughout the book and it is one of the main reasons I enjoyed it so much.
Geology 6 x 6
Geology of the Eastern Coast 6 x 6 FOUR
pages 48-59
6 Vocabulary
1. bedrock: solid rock under loose soil, sand, clay
2. floodplain: an area around a shallow winding river where the land is lower than the other areas
3.limestone: a type of rock that often forms from the shells of sea animals
4.speleothems: a distinct cave formation such as a stalactite or stalagmite
5. chasm: a deep crack or hole in the Earth
6. Ice Age: a period of time when large ice sheets cover the land

6 Sentences
1. Bedrock on the coastal plain is mostly sedimentary rock.
2. The Chesapeake Bay in Maryland used to be a floodplain.
3. Most of the caves on the Eastern coast are made of limestone.
4. In Lookout Mountain in the cave to Ruby Falls there were speleothems.
5. A slave named Stephen Bishop explored Mammoth Cave and he found a chasm.
6. An Ice Age can include shorter periods when glaciers retreat.

6 Facts/ Details
1. During one glacial  period of the Ice Age, about 30 percent of the land on Earth was covered in ice up to two miles thick.
2. The highest point in Florida is only 345 feet high
 3. Florida’s average elevation is only 98 feet above sea level.
4. In caves, draperies are formed where water runs down a slanted ceiling or wall.
5. Popcorn formations are the clusters that look like popcorn that form on the ceilings, floors, and walls of caves
6. Twice in the long-ago past scientists believe the Earth was covered with ice sheets.


6 Questions
1.What are the 3 most famous caves on the Eastern Coast? A: Mammoth Cave, Lury Caverns, and Russell Cave
2. What is a karst landscape? (page 51) A: A region where bedrock is limestone dissolved
3.How many of the rock formations described on page 52 did we see in Ruby Falls cave? A: 5
Stalactites, stalagmites, draperies, columns, and flowstone
4.List and describe some of the sinkholes found on the Eastern Coast:

5. Who explored Mammoth Cave and when? A: Stephen Bishop in 1838, a slave
6. What are the two main types of glaciers? A: Erratics and Eskers

6 New Rock Pictures






6 Observations from “Make Your Own” Activities
1.We took a medium sized poster board created a visual representation of an earthquake
2. First we shook the poster board when it was smooth and it moved like a wave, that’s how earthquakes on the eastern coast move like most of the time
3. Then we folded the poster board and made creases which are the faults, then I shook that and it moved in all sorts of different directions, that’s how earthquakes on the western side of the United States seem to look like or move
4. To make a weathering station I took an empty jar and filled it with water, closed the lid and put it in two bags, then I put in the freezer overnight to see what happens
5. Nothing happened exept the water froze in the jar, we think it it's because we didn't fill the ar ALL the way full of water.
6. What is supposed to happen: The jar is supposed to break and demenstrate that weathering is strong enough to break glass.

Field Trip: USS Constitution:
Today we took Emma to the airport in Boston. We left early so we could see the USS Constitution a war ship used in 1783 all the way through to the Civil War. We were in a guided tour with over 90 people. Our tour guide was named Bianca but she was kind of hard to understand, lucky for us we had Emma who was at the ship with her friend a couple weeks ago and got to go in the restricted area of the ship. You probably don’t remember me talki9ng about the USS Constitution when I was learning about the war of 1812. Well I did and this ship has never lost a battle and gave us a major victory against British troops in 1812 when we won an 11 minute battle. We went down into the Gun deck and saw all of the cannons; I’m not sure if the cannons were original or if they were replicas. The Captain had a big room on the gun deck that Emma got to see when she got her tour. Below the gun deck was the berth deck were all of the crew slept.  We saw many hammocks and hanging from the ceiling, again she didn’t tell us if the hammocks were original or replicas; I’m guessing they were replicas considering this was 217 years ago. The USS Constitution was super cool and I would love to go back again some other time.






Day 166 Geology 6 x 6

May 24, 2012 Day 166
Math: 2 pages—calculating measurements
Latin: Review Chapters 1 & 2
Field Trip Report: Joshua Chamberlain house—delayed until next week when the house is open

Geology of the Eastern Coast 6 x6 THREE
pages bottom of page 36-41
6 Vocabulary
1. paleoliquefaction: Evidence of liquefaction that has occurred in the past
2. fossil fuels: oil, natural gas, and coal, which are natural fuels that formed a long time ago from the remains of living organisms
3. carbon: an element found in all living things
4. horizontal drilling: drilling for oil and gas where the well is horizontal or very close to horizontal
5. hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”: a process where liquids are pumped down a well at high pressure to fore the surrounding rock to fracture or crack
6. raw material: a material that can be used to make a new or useful project

6 Sentences
1. Paleoliquefaction shows that liquefaction has happened; liquefaction is when soil flows like liquid which usually happens after a big earthquake.
2. The Eastern Coast has a lot of fossil fuels because there were a lot of little organisms over here that later became fossil fuel.
3. Coal is mostly made of carbon and it can be burned to make electricity.
4. When drilling, drillers first drill vertically and then turn horizontal and use the horizontal drilling method.
5. After the horizontal drilling method is completed, the drillers use the hydraulic fracturing technique where high pressure is used to “frack” the shale and release natural gas.
6. Natural gas is used for many different things, it can be burned to create electricity and used as a raw material.

6 Facts/ Details
1. The USGS shows earthquakes in the United States for the last seven days on its web site
2. Stalagmites are a clue of big earthquakes; we saw stalagmites on the “ceiling” of the cave we were in on the walk to Ruby Falls.
3. There is a town in Pennsylvania that was burned out of existence the land beneath the town started burning in 1962 when a fire started near an abandoned coal mine, the coal must have started the fire since the miners did not extract all of the coal.
4. The first natural gas well from shale in the United States was in New York, in 1821
5. Unlike more recent drilling, drilling in shale, shale wells in 1821 were shallow
6. Oil was first pumped from a well on August 27, 1859

6 Questions
1. What do geologists do to help predict earthquakes? A: They can read the record that a significant earthquake leaves, they can look closely at the faults that have spread apart in the past 10,000 years, the geologists look at paleoliquefaction and stalagmites
2.How can studying stalagmites help understand earthquakes? A: If the Earth moves in an earthquake, the source of the drip moves too, that makes the growth of the stalagmite shift, and you can see where it changes
3. Describe how fossil fuels are formed: Most fossils formed before the dinosaurs, first plankton or sea plants die and sink to the bottom of the ocean, layers of the organic material are covered by sediments, heat and pressure then turn the material into coal, oil, or natural gas, the difference is in the different kinds of organic material, coal comes from trees and plants, oil and gas are formed from plankton
4.What is the “lost town” and why is it lost? A: Centralia Pennsylvania was began burning in 1962 because an abandoned coal mine caught on fire. It wasn’t noticed to the people of the town that under their feet there was a massive fire until 1981, a sinkhole, 150 feet deep opened in a backyard and a 12 year old boy fell in. Luckily his cousin saved him, After 30 yeaars of the town burning the state claimed the town demolished, the fire is still burning and scientists think ir might burn for another hundred years
5. When was the first oil pumped and where did that happen? A: August 27, 1859 in Titusville Pennsylvania
6. What is the Marcellus Shale and what happens there? A:a huge area of shale containing natural gas deep beneath the surface of Earth, many people drill from New York, through Pennsylvania to Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, West Virginia, and it is one of the the largest areas of natural gas in the world

Read pages 42-44 and write a 6 sentence paragraph summarizing the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Two years ago in April, a geyser of water shot almost 300 feet up in the air. Then came an eruption of natural gas, oil that caught on fire causing a series of explosions and killing eleven people. Oil from the well than gushed deep underwater creating the largest oil spill in the history of the United States. When Oil spills from a well, it is very hard to clean up. Oil is also very harmless to wildlife after a spill here are some examples: Bird feathers can get covered in oil making it difficult to float and stay warm, Marine animals become coated with oil, Some marine mammals swallow the oil, Sea corals get coated with oil and die.