Science Fairs

I saw this post on Facebook the other day about how much parents dislike Science Fair projects, because they end up doing all of the work. When I told my mom that I was doing a Science Fair in class her response was, "What do I need to do?" I find it extremely interesting that parents feel the need to complete said projects for their students instead of simply helping their student come up with a topic and guiding them through the process.  Here is the picture that I saw and the mother's (Susan) explanation of why she made this board can be found here.

So for those of you that plan on doing a Science Fair in your classroom or maybe even one at your school when you get there, check out some of these sites for helpful tips for your parents. The worst thing that you can have beside an unhappy student is an unhappy parent!

http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr220.shtml

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/parents_resourceoverview.shtml

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/sciencefaircentral/?pID=fair

Planets, Stars, and the Moon

I so wish that I had a lens for my camera to take a picture of the stars! I can't believe how much clearer you can see them at my new house compared to how hard it was at the old house. I remember telling my husband how much I loved to just look at the stars now. It reminds me of when I was a little girl and could see them in my backyard in Georgia.

While I can't show you pictures of the stars from my house, I do have a friend who took this awesome picture of the moon from his house.

As science teachers, we teach about moon phases. Here are several links that are great, including a video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWeaQctUp1c

http://www.planetsforkids.org/moon-moon.html

http://www.kidsastronomy.com/astroskymap/lunar.htm - This site has games that your students can play to learn about the constellations and moon phases!

There is also a song by The Raging Idiots, on their album Raging Kidiots, about the planets. You can download it from iTunes now.

I can't wait to teach about the planets, moon, and stars. This was one of my favorite sections of science.