Geology ideas

In my district we begin the year studying geology. In Florida that provides challenges due to the lack of diversity in available rocks to study. Limestone makes up most of our state and it isn't the pretty rock on the planet. I collected rocks as a boy and try to encourage this through a great machine that hums along all year long - we run a rock tumbler. The picture is a two drum Thumbler that will run forever. We started with a really cheap tumbler that broke within six month and replaced it with this heavy duty machine. Two drums allow us to create complete polished rocks much more quickly since different materials (called grit) we added throughout the process. Everything you will ever want to know about rock tumbling can be found on the web. I bought How To Tumble Polish Rocks into Gems by Edward Smith and have found that it answers everything question I have had. We buy our rocks online and for very little investment you can create enough polished rocks for your entire class in a month. Just remember to only run during school hours - it takes longer, but is safer. This is a great tool to explain erosion in a very dramatic way.
In terms of erosion I don't have an erosion table, we create a huge hill of fill dirt on our concrete area to observe erosion. We measure the circumference at the base of the hill and and the height of the hill, then we observe and record changes daily. You will be able to see the effects of wind and water, weeds will begin to grow on your hill and children can observe how erosion patterns change. For those of us living on flat, sandy soil this has been an effective long term activity. Of course if I lived in an area of the country with hills, clay, rocks and other things, then daily walking field trips would be central to my geology studies.

Rain Totals

As most have read, Tropical Storm Fay has impacted Florida far beyond what any of us ever expected. If you have heard about flooding let me put it into perspective: Camelot Elementary was 45 miles from the storm's center when it was nearest us: my lab rain gauges measured 14.75 inches in a 3 1/2 day time period (beginning Wednesday, August 20th at 5:00 pm and ending on Sunday, August 24th at 11:00 am. At one point water flowed between our raised garden beds so quickly that there appeared to be a current! As huge levels filled the St. Johns River, Florida will continue to see flooding. The St. Johns is unique in that it's source is the south central part of our state and it's mouth is in the northeast part of the state - in other words, it flows north. So the impact of the high waters will be felt for the next week or so as the swollen waters flow north through much of our state on it's journey to the Atlantic Ocean.

Of course Tropical Storm Fay just begins our season. We now keep our eyes on the Atlantic and Caribbean for tropical depressions. The latest to strengthen is Tropical Storm Gustav.

A final storm bonus - while standing in the rain Thursday morning helping with bus traffic I found a crayfish crossing the bus loop. He is now in a shallow aquarium living under a rock and has been quite happy eating feeder fish. Every year at this time my students bring me six or seven rescued crayfish. We will see how many are found this year.

Rain Maker

Tropical Storm Fay continues to impact our school and area. Stalled about 46 miles away from us off Florida's coast we have seen dramatic changes. Initially we had light rain and moderate winds. When I left school yesterday I emptied my rain gauges. In the last 24 hours we have seen 6.5 inches of rain and winds that have gusted to over 35 miles an hour (according to my hand held wind gauge)throughout the day. My garden is flooded and there is a stream running between the flower beds. There is erosion at the base of my portable and we brought our students in from the portables all day due to the worsening conditions.

Ponds in our neighborhoods are filled and are now creeping up to the back door of houses, young trees are being uprooted due to winds and loose root systems, but we aren't complaining. Our neighbors in Brevard and Volusia county are having power outages, beach erosion and wide spread flooding.

This is really just the beginning of our tropical system and a reminder of the importance of being prepared. Should be an interesting season. And yes, for those that are wondering, all of my wind socks and wind chimes are safely tucked away for a sunnier day!

Tropical Storm update

School was out today but Orange County Public Schools reopen Wednesday. Tropical Storm Fay has proven to be a fascinating system. This storm made landfall as a tropical storm and has crossed Florida increasing intensity the entire path. The Everglades and Lake Okeechobee apparently furnished the moisture for the build up. Current predictions have this system exiting Florida near Melbourne (about 40 miles south east of my house) and building up to become a hurricane. It's path isn't completely clear, but most models suggest it will loop back and hit either north Florida or southern Georgia. This is quite unusual for a tropical system and will be studied and discussed for some time.
Meanwhile, we return to the second day of school a day late, a little damp, but ready to go! I have a lot of plants to check and wind socks to put back up. Such is life in Florida!

An exciting start to the new school year!

We start back to school tomorrow and are closely watching the path of Tropical Storm Fay. Almost exactly four years ago we were closing schools the second week of school and preparing for Hurricane Charlie, the first of three hurricanes we went through (I lost my roof and was without power for almost a week). We will be closely monitoring the National Hurricane Center (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov) for updates. At this time the predictions show this storm intensifying to a category one hurricane and a path to the west of Orange County. Unfortunately history has taught us that hurricanes rarely follow the exact projected path. The reality is it could pass us by completely with little impact or come directly through us. We will no within the next 48 hours.

If we experience this storm I'll try to have pictures on my blog and my classes will provide their descriptions of what is observed. In the meantime I will be spending tomorrow afternoon securing loose garden items, taking down my windsocks and "air toys" and preparing for some bad weather.

Wind Toys

When I first came to Camelot I knew that I needed to sell science to my students, parents and my administrator. So the first thing I did was to create a visually appealing entrance which allowed us to also learn about wind and weather. Over the years my "air toys" have grown and become an aesthetic part of my outdoor learning lab. My windsocks are attached to 30 foot telescoping fiberglass poles, my six foot spinner is on a twenty foot pole which comes with the spinner. I find my stuff online, craft stores, hobby shops, garden shops and kite shops.
Today my "air toys" are an integral part of my units on air. I can teach about wind direction, wind speed,wind energy, textiles and the effect the sun has on fabrics. Of course my poles can be seen almost a half mile away and advertise the excitement of science!

Rain Barrels

With much of my garden sitting on an old basketball court it frustrates me to water plants and watch so much end up being wasted as it evaporates from the surface of the concrete. I have also watched with amazement at the amount of water which drips from the air conditioners that are attached to our portable classrooms. So I went to a workshop held by our local county extension office and learned to make rain barrels. The pictures are the result of my efforts. This one fifty five gallon rain barrel fills up with the dripping water from the air conditioner in under THREE DAYS!!!!! I will have a complete section on rain barrels, how to make them and how to use them in the garden within the next two weeks.

An updated look at the garden...

I've spent the last month and the heat of our Florida summer getting things weeded and back into shape. Expect regular updates regarding the garden, but let me begin with a few updated pictures. We've planted a lot of purple and yellow plants as attractors. In each bed can be found fennel, dill, parsley, milkweed or other food plants for caterpillars. We currently have a rather large population of Swallowtail and Sulfur butterflies.

It's Over!

Last night was the gala celebration and announcement of the 2009 Florida Department of Education/Macy's Teacher of the Year. Congratulations to Jean Lamar from Nassau County. Jean now represents the 180,000 teachers of Florida for the upcoming year. I have previously share what a wonderful teacher Jean is and the FLDOE website (listed on this site) has a wonderfully comprehensive overview of her many accomplishments. I wish Jean a fulfilling year; I congratulate the four finalists; and give my thank you to the teachers of Florida for allowing me such a wonderful year.

This has been the single most humbling and rewarding experiences of my life. I will have more to share later, but for now thank you all.

A First Pitch

My last official function as Florida Teacher of the Year will go down as one of my favorites! I THREW OUT THE FIRST PITCH FOR THE TAMPA RAYS! With the help of Michelle Todd with Governor Crist's office and the Tampa Rays I got to live a dream and throw out the first pitch at the Tampa Rays vs Kansas City Royals baseball game at Tropicana Field this afternoon.

Accompanying me onto the field was my wife, Susan; my best friend, Jim Lange; and my favorite former principal, Andrew Taylor. Andy has spent the last year battling colon cancer and it was great to see him looking better and having the energy to enjoy a day at the park. His progress has been followed by hundreds of his former teachers and colleagues in Orange County and he is an inspiration to us all.

I slept very little last night; my rotator cuff is torn; I don't throw very well anymore; and I desperately wanted to throw a strike. It just didn't happen. Whether it was the nerves, the sore arm, or just no talent - who knows? I threw it straight, flat and pretty hard. But it one hopped at the plate and I was a bit disappointed with myself. However, I had a great day and enjoyed myself immensely. My ball is in a place of honor and my bat is being signed by the entire team and will be sent back to me so that I can share it with the kids at Camelot Elementary.

The pictures: me with Evan Longoria; our motley crew of field rats; the jumbo tron; and one last look on the field!

Say Hello To My Little Friends

Being on the road this year meant postponing a few things in our family. I have had dogs all of my life until I married Susan and was introduced to cats. With all of the animals in my lab, my students are always amazed that I don't have a zoo at home. In fact we have only had two rescued cats for many years. Penner showed up at our door one day and decided that he would adopt us. We named him in honor of the wonderful children's songwriter, Fred Penner. He became the constant companion of our devoted baseball cat, Sox. Unfortunately Sox was an old cat and last summer (right before the Teacher of the Year thing started) he passed on. So poor Penner has been alone and moping and my mother in law, Gert (who lives with us and is 95 years old) was also lonely. As summer approached and we knew there would be a more normal life ahead we began to search for a cat or dog to join the family.

I was very close to getting a dog when we found out about a litter of very young kittens that had been abandoned in a dumpster. One of the ladies at our veterinarian office was hand feeding them and desperately looking for homes for them. So we agreed to take both of the boys! Say hello to our newest family members: Radar (the little black cat named in honor of Radar O'Reilly from MASH); and Chairman Meow Meow (the Siamese who lives up to his name). Penner and Gertie are very pleased!

Austin, Texas

I spent the better part of this week at the Education Commission of the States' National Forum on Education Policy. This gathering of governors, state policy makers, and education stakeholders met to share ideas on reshaping the future of education in this country. The national state Teachers of the Year were invited to provide insight and input and 24 teachers participated.

In addition to all of the heady discussions, having the chance to talk with Secretary of Education Spellings, and spending time with my NSTOY family there were a few opportunities for socializing. We dined at the Texas Museum of History; watched the 1.2 million bats leave the Little Colorado Bridge (I was five feet above the swarm of fur and wings!) as dusk approached; and listened to incredible Austin City Blues in an establishment (Antone's) that was made famous as a frequent venue of the late great rock and roll bluesman, Stevie Ray Vaughn. The group I listened to for over two hours was incredible!

And of course I spent a lot of quality time flying and sitting in airports reading. It's good to be home!