Physics from a Mom's Perspective

First Law of Physics: A ball that is thrown in my living room will continue through the air until it hits my favorite (insert your favorite photo, vase, television screen, etc. here) and smashes it into 347 tiny pieces.

Second Law of Physics: When one child in the living room tackles another child in front of (insert your favorite photo, vase, television screen, etc. here) the second child will be propelled into the object and smash it into 347 tiny pieces.

Third Law of Physics: For every time a sister pushes her brother in the living room, he will push back knocking his sister into (insert your favorite photo, vase, television screen, etc. here) and therefore smashing it into 347 tiny pieces.

Fantastic Contraptions
This website has several games related to physics. A fun and educational way for students to gain a better understanding of the concepts of physics.



Crayon Physics
Crayon Physics is a fun little game that helps students employ their knowledge about physics to win. This is a free download that can be quite addictive!

It's No Mystery

Good teaching takes time. If a teacher wants to have a lesson go well, he/she has to do homework. If using a prepared lesson plan, the teacher must read through it to determine what pieces of the lesson she wants to emphasize, and what can be left out. She must also prepare materials in advance. To meet the needs of all learners, the teacher might need find a variety of resources, utilize various strategies, or plan several activities. All of this takes time.
It's no mystery. The real puzzle is, "where do they find the time?" My hats off all the teachers out there who have solved the time conundrum.

FFFBI
Fin, Fur, and Feather Bureau of Investigation is brought to you by National Geographic and WBGH. It offers mysteries to solve while teaching kids about world cultures. This humorous site integrates math, science, music and history.

ReadWriteThink
This popular sites has a couple of activities for students. The first one is called Make a Mystery Puzzle. This activity, which can be used for book clubs, has children and teens explore this popular type of writing in more detail by making a puzzle. It also encourages them to invent and write their own mysteries.
The second activity, Mystery Cube, is an interactive that helps students identify the elements of this genre.

Mystery! The Disappearance of Polleyanne Fishenchips
This fun interactive comes from PBS. Students follow the clues and use careful reading and inferences to solve the crime.

Trick or Treat

I love Halloween! Besides Christmas, it is my favorite holiday. When my kids were young, I would always make their costumes. I wasn't going to have them go through the embarrassment of wearing a cheaply made store-bought costume like those I always had to wear as a kid. The best costume I made was for my daughter when she was about 4 years old. It was a jack-o-lantern made from a big orange sweatshirt and some black and green felt. I will always remember how cute she looked in it!
I think I used to get just as excited as my kids about going trick-or-treating. Our Halloween tradition has always been that I cook chili for the first time of the season for supper. Then, back in the day, I would take the kids out in search of the best treats while Dave, my husband, stayed home and passed out candy. Once home, all the candy went into a big bowl for all to share. I loved walking around with the kids and a few neighbors. I miss those days now that my kids are big.

History of Halloween
Check out everything Halloween at http://www.history.com/. This site has the history of the holiday, videos to watch, games to play, information about Halloween around the world, and more. The site also highlights other holidays as well.

Hands-on Halloween Science
Check out Steve Spangler's site for some fun Halloween related science activities.

Countess Blood's Spooky Midis, Wavs and Mp3's
Cool site for students to visit to jazz up a spooky podcast or movie. Audio files in midi, wav, and mp3 format.

Blogging and Exercise

I have determined that blogging is like exercise. If you skip a couple days, it's hard to get back into it. My goal is to post M-F when we have school. Last Friday, my computer was in the hospital all day, so I was truly out of sorts. Then yesterday, I was playing catch-up with emails all day, as well as tending to schoolwide testing.
Excuses, excuses! Today, I feel a renewed energy to type and to sweat! I have my websites to share as well as my workout clothes in my car waiting for the bell to ring at the end of the day so I can head to the YMCA!
By the way, my hubby is a city firefighter and is participating in a plane crash disaster drill. Today's websites are disaster-related.

Masters of Disaster
The American Red Cross has put together several lesson plans for grades K-8 that deal with natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods. There are lessons for Science, Math, Language Arts, and Social Studies, and all are matched to national standards. Check them out at
http://www.redcross.org/disaster/masters/educatorsmodule/ed-cd-main-menu-1.html

Facing Fear
Also from the Red Cross is a set of downloadable lesson plans covering a range of topics related to disasters or other crises including personal feelings, stress, preparedness and the media's role. http://www.redcross.org/disaster/masters/facingfear/. You have to fill out a form to go to the download page.