Rock Museum Day!

We concluded our Rocks and Minerals unit with Museum Day! We invited the students to bring in their personal collections of rocks and minerals. It was great! We had a special guest in attendance! The  President of the West Suburban Lapidary Club! Ms. Karen Dave brought in some amazing specimens of her own to look at!

We touched a petrified dinosaur bone, petrified wood, a large piece of Tiger Eye, and a hunk of copper! 

Petrified dinosaur bone! See the marrow in the middle?

Ms. Dave was an amazing resource to have for our Museum Day! She was able to identify some of our unknown rocks and minerals!










We had so much fun looking at many different types of rocks and minerals. Thanks to everyone who participated and a big thanks to Ms. Karen Dave!

Rocks and minerals

Greetings!
When most of you think about rocks and minerals you might not consider your own backyard as a great place to start looking. But it is! Illinois has some fascinating rocks and minerals! We have some great minerals like mica, quartz and fluorite! Here is a list of the common ones found in this state.

Did you know that some minerals change color or even "glow" under ultraviolet light? This is due to specific "activators" within the makeup of the mineral. When the wavelengths strike the minerals, the light is then reflected back in a longer wavelength by excited electrons. Only about 15% of minerals have the ability to glow, or fluoresce. Here are some great pictures and more background on the way it works.

http://geology.com/articles/fluorescent-minerals/

Plate tectonics and Cartography

We will wrap up our plate tectonics and cartography unit next week. We learned about reading a map and a compass this week with a great scavenger hunt around Eldridge Park! 

We also discussed what "paces" are. Paces are a way to measure distance using parts of your body.

 A pace (or double-pace or passus) was a measure of distance used in Ancient Rome. It was nominally the measure of a full stride from the position of the heel when it is raised from the ground to the point the same heel is set down again at the end of the step. Thus, a distance can be "paced off" by counting each time the same heel touches ground, or, in other words, every other step. In Rome, this unit was standardized as two gradūs or five Roman feet (about 1.48 metres or 58.1 English inches). There were 1000 passus in one mille, and a mille was sometimes referred to as a mille passuum. (Wikipedia)

Measure your pace at home using a tape measure or ruler. Everyone's pace is different and may change over your lifetime!

A great online resource

There is a great, free educational resource called Khan Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/  I would invite you all to explore the site and the many subjects of learning it offers. The mission behind this organization is incredibly inspiring, as well.

It is a wonderful learning tool that can aid any level of student in a variety of subjects.

Landform models!

The landform models are finished and they look great! We are so happy to see that many students went above and beyond the required number of landforms for their project. Here are a few pictures of some great projects. Pictures of each project can be found at facebook.com/EPDnature 

Next week we will be presenting our projects and getting ready to end landforms and move on to our next topic! 

Week 6 - Landforms project

We got a great start on our landform projects this week. We will continue working on them for the next class where we will begin painting and labeling our landforms.

We are happy to see alot of students going above and beyond the required number of landforms for their project! Great job!

As you move around in your daily lives, take some time to notice all the different landforms around you.  You may be surprised at how many you find.

Whats the difference between and river and a creek?? Whats the difference between and lake and a pond??  Can you figure it out??

Miss Beth and Mr. Dan

Week - 5 Landforms & play dough recipe

We started our land-form unit today.  The older students were challenged with a 25 word match game.  The younger students made land-form books.  These will be used to help the students create a diorama next week.  Dioramas will be 3 dimensional and will take a few classes to complete.  I'm including the recipe for the play dough the students need to make.

4 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of salt
2 tbs oil (veg, canola, etc) anything really
1 cup warm water
food coloring

Mix the flour and salt in a large zip bag or bowl.(dry mix)

You can do this in one of 2 ways now.  In one big batch or 4 little batches.  That's up to you.
For one big batch: Add water, oil, and food coloring to a large bowl.  Then add dry ingredients to the bowl.  Stir until it's dry enough to handle with hands.  Finish forming into a ball and wrap in plastic or place in zip bag.
For 4 small batches: In 4 smaller bowls, add 1 tea of oil, 1/4 cup of warm water, and food coloring.  Now add one cup of dry mix to each small bowl.  Stir until it's dry enough to handle with hands.  Finish forming into a ball and wrap in plastic or place in small zip bag.

Here is a link to the recipe I used:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2ytbSa3mPg

Sorry for the ad's on the video.

Mr. Dan and Miss Beth

Neat Videos to Watch

I love Bill Nye!!  Sorry about the short ads that may be attached to videos.

Erosion video (24min) close the add and video will start
http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=274944


Rocks and Weathering (23min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xv1DoqkARQ

Week 4 - Wind and Water

This week we took what we learned about erosion and weathering and tried to figure out how to stop it or at least slow it down.  The students made erosion blockers on a soil bed and watched the water wash it away.  We had a blast doing this project.  Then they made small posters about how to help farmers slow down the wind on their farms.  What a bunch of great ideas!!  I'm adding a link with a neat weathering and erosion video.  Enjoy!!

http://www.unitedstreaming.com/videos/dsc/externalApplications/interactiveVideos/index.html?vid=32

Mr. Dan and Miss Beth

Week 3 - Wrapped up how Earth changes...

This week we wrapped up "How the Earth changes".  Students made great posters depicting the change of a tombstone over a 300 yr. period.  We then finished everything up with a wonderful Jeopardy Game on weathering and erosion and the forces that cause them.  The students had a great time!!  Next week we will be focusing on water and wind and how they change the land.  This will be a short unit with landforms following.

Week 2 - Earth's History

Week 2 of home school is in the books.  We have been working really hard on Earth's History.  How the Earth changes sometimes very quickly and sometimes very slowly.  Weathering and erosion play a large roll in this.  We witnessed some weathering around Eldridge Park and started our own past, present, and future weathering posters.  We will be wrapping up this unit next week.  Thanks again everyone for all your hard work and see you on Thursday!!  Nice new link I've added.  Check it out!!

 Mr. Dan and Miss Beth

Week 1 - Home School Science Welcome!!!

Welcome everyone to the new EPEEC Home School Science blog.  This is an exciting year for us.  We have a brand new home school curriculum featuring a no-repeat format. This will enable the home school families the opportunity to continue to take part in a program year after year and not repeat topics, lessons, or curricular units.  The program, as designed now, will run for about 3-5 years with other options in the future.

This first year of roll-out will encompass Earth Science.  We will be covering many of the Next Generation Science Standards as adopted by the state of Illinois.  Here is the focus for the 2013-2014 school year:

Earth Science Year 1

30 week course - 2 hours per week

 A. The universe and its stars / Earth and the solar system

1.      Patterns of movement of the sun, moon, and stars as seen from Earth can be observed, described, and predicted.

B. The history of planet Earth

2.      Some events on Earth occur very quickly; others can occur very slowly.

C. Earth materials and systems

3.      Wind and water change the shape of the land.

D. Plate tectonics and large-scale system interactions

4.      Maps show where things are located. One can map the shapes and kinds of land and water in any area.

E. The roles of water in the Earth’s surface processes

5.      Water is found in many types of places and in different forms on Earth.

F. Weather and climate

6.      Weather is the combination of sunlight, wind, snow or rain, and temperature in a particular region and time.  People record weather patterns over time.

G. Biogeology

7.      Plants and animals can change their local environment.

H. Natural resources

8.      Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that have the things they need.  Humans use natural resources for everything they do.

I. Natural hazards

9.      In a region, some kinds of severe weather are more likely than others.  Forecasts allow communities to prepare for severe weather.

J. Human impacts on Earth systems

10.  Things people do can affect the environment but they can make choices to reduce their impacts.

We will be covering many interesting topics this year. We can't wait to meet everyone and begin this wonderful journey together.  Thank you for choosing the Elmhurst Park District.

Mr. Dan West and Miss Beth Kosson