Leawood Middle School blogs

Educational blogs from Leawood Middle School

Leawood Middle School blogs

Inquiring Minds Want to Know How to……

Posted by  on Wednesday, March 16th 2011     
http://www.tagxedo.com

http://www.tagxedo.com

The results are in from our self-survey...you were asked…what do you most want to learn about blogging in the upcoming quarter.  I’ve tabulated all the answers and

The class #1 priority is to learn more about images…how to edit them, how to find them and how to put them into posts.

The class #2 priority is to learn more about how to add onto what they know about blogrolls…specifically how to re-arrange them, how to add onto them and how to use them

The class #3 priority is to do more brainstorming about how to grab people’s attention when they read posts and how to be creative in thanking people for reading what you’ve written.

To me, this seems like a very manageable list.  Actually you’re all very good at the basics in these areas and I think it will be finding a partner/mentor to buddy up with, setting some goals for that work and then make a list of things that are specific enough to cover what you want to learn.

The #1 thing most of you feel like you can share with someone else is how to make the basic blogroll and how to use a ClusterMap widget.

Sort of the neat overlap here is that many students wanted to learn more about widgets…where are they, what are they, where are the “good” ones and so on.  One student wrote that they’d like to have a page on the blog where everyone could post their best widgets ideas so if you were looking for ideas, you could go there and see what other people had to offer as suggestions.  I think that will be a terrific way for us to get started.

Action Plan

Over the spring break, I will create the shell for this page and then we’ll elect two editors for the page….one from each hour.  From your experience, we’ll start to collect widgets that are good prospects, have you write a review and then your class editor will post that information onto the Widget Gallery Page.

I will talk with all the people who volunteered to be mentors/teachers on anything related to images and get a list posted of things people are offering to teach.  As soon as the Student Blogging Challenge is over, we’ll work on getting buddy assignments and writing learning plans.

Lastly you will be responsible for following the Student Blogging Challenge each week and completing at least two of the learning activities offered there.  More details will follow on that each week on SchoolCenter.

category: Blogging, Student Challenge
tags: 

John Brown’s secret is moving….finally

Posted by  on Monday, March 14th 2011     

NEWS FLASH…NEWS FLASH

John Brown’s secret has made significant progress on it’s journey eastward. It was mostly recently seen near Sacramento California.

http://www.geocaching.com/track/map_gm.aspx?ID=2966845

http://www.geocaching.com/track/map_gm.aspx?ID=2966845

If you have a chance to go the Geocaching website, you’ll find all the details about it’s journey so far.

category: Geocaching
tags: 

Wonder how archeologists find villages?

Posted by  on Tuesday, March 8th 2011     
http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/deep-into-the-big-pit-and-beyond/

http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/deep-into-the-big-pit-and-beyond/

You may remember that the archaeologists were working in Ceibal .  They were having trouble because they found loose stone fill that preventing them from continuing.  These are deep pits and they can be dangerous as they can come down on the scientists while they are excavating.  Their plan for Ceibal is to build a few larger pits and multiple smaller pits.  They will use wooden planks to keep the walls from toppling over on them.

By digging down deeper, scientists reached 6.5 meters where they were able to discover how the early Mayans were able to make large buildings.  It was so dark at the bottom of the digging pits, the scientists used lanterns to see the clay walls.  The scientists discovered that people from all around Ceibal came with a basketful of clay and mud to contribute to the building.  They could tell this because the clay was not only 80cm thick and it was different colors.  That means the clay didn’t come from one area;  it came from all around the city’s area.  It was different colors like black, tan, brown, tan and grey.

Scientists found lots of amazing things at this level…such as ceramic pots and two burial sites.  They were so excited to find all this that they made one of the scientists climb up into a tree to take pictures for all the world to see.  The pots came from the Mayan’s ritual when they new layer of the building.  They threw pots at the floor to break them and to stand for the end of the old and the beginning of the new.

To help celebrate the discoveries, the local villagers are throwing them a festival.  The scientists were served turkey stew in honor of everything that’s happened so far.  Some of the villagers have worked with the scientists for over 20 years and have suffered hard lives…they came to this area during a civil between guerillas and the government.  Once the war was over, then the criminals moved in and there was lots of violence around selling drugs.

http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/behind-the-scenes-at-ceibal/

http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/behind-the-scenes-at-ceibal/

Now all these people work to save the ancient arifacts by helping tourists come and enjoy the dig sites.

 

Written by Patrick and Mrs. Ratzel after reading the most current blog posts for the New York Times Scientists in the Field series.  Read all about it at Notes from the Field.

category: Maya, patrick
tags: 

Everything is Shang!

Posted by  on Wednesday, March 2nd 2011     

Shang, Shang, and more Shang! There Religious Capital, there Dynasty, and even their god Shang Di. The Shang was a military powerhouse and yet was also very religious. There most important god was Shang Di, but they had many more such as the god of the Sun, Moon, Seasons etc.  They would take captured enemy soldiers and sacrifice them.  Sacrificing them would bring pleasure to the gods.  Even if the King decided to move the geographical capital, the Religious capital stayed the same, Shang.

The Shangs military was the most technologically advanced for the time.  They had two great achievements for war.  First is the chariot.  The chariot is a two wheeled cart that is horse drawn.  Second is bronze which is made up out of copper and iron.  That gave them the ability to forge weapons out of  bronze, which is more than any other army.  There army could tell the future from oracle bones which would tell them how many soldiers to send to battle.  They could send about 13,000 men and capture up to 30,000 enemy soldiers.  They would become slaves or work on the Great Wall of China.

The Chinese in the Shang Dynasty were very smart.  They knew how to make bronze and also they were the ones who made the Great Wall of China.  If you have a test on the Shang Dynasty you can pretty much just guess Shang on one of the questions!

category: assignments
tags: 

What are Plate Tectonics?

Posted by  on Wednesday, March 2nd 2011     
  • Explain plate tectonics-(what are plate tectonics?)  Plate tectonics are  the things that make up Earth.  They are the cracks in earth that most earthquakes and volcanoes are.  They have contact with each other and that’s what creates mountains, convergent boundaries and also divergent boundaries.  Convergent boundaries are when two plates are moving together and divergent boundaries are when they pull apart.
  • How plates and earthquakes are related-  Plates and earthquakes are related in the sense that plates smash together.  When the plates hit together and then pull apart they create earthquakes.
  • How plates and volcanoes are related-  Plates and volcanoes are connected in a way.  When divergent boundaries occur then volcanoes may form.
  • or pick something in your research that relates to these topics about which you are passionate-  I think earths layers are really cool.  It starts with  the crust or the thinnest layer on which we live on.  The second layer is the mantle which is the thickest layer.  It has two layers within a layer,  the lithosphere and the asthenosphere.  As we progress downward to the core we see iron and magnesium, which makes the mantle more dense than the crust.  After the mantle is the core.  The core is divided into two parts.  The inner core and the outer core.  The outer core is made of molten rock.  That creates Earths magnetic field because of its movement.  Then comes the second layer or the inner core.  It is almost as hot as the sun.  It was left over from earths creation.  The following is a picture of Earths layers 

    •     

    category: assignments, cole
    tags: 

    Don’t eat too much or you might erupt!

    Posted by  on Monday, February 28th 2011     
    visibleearth.nasa.gov

    visibleearth.nasa.gov

    Plate Tectonics are the plates in the lithosphere there are many different types of plates. These plate theories were created when the continents were discovered to look as if they would fit together. The plates are able to move on the asthenosphere which would cause the continents to move and spread away to make our continents. Before that there was a huge piece of land called Pangaea which means all.

    The cracks were the plates separate are called boundaries. If you studied the ocean floor you would find a rift valley a rift valley is where the plates separate. I f two plates collided they would make a earthquake. Most earthquakes are so small they can’t be felt, but some will cause huge devastation.

    If a oceanic boundary and a continental boundary  (types of plates)collided there is a possibility of the oceanic boundary sliding under the continental down to the center and adding water to the mantle to make lava and it would spring up and the lava would harden to make a mountain-like shape and create a volcano.

    Special thanks to Meena for the cool title!  :D

    category: annas, assignments
    tags: 

    More about earthquakes, volcanoes and earth’s plates

    Posted by  on Sunday, February 27th 2011     
    Inside Earth Wordle

    Inside Earth Wordle

    If you are looking for more information about earthquakes and the tragedy that struck Christchurch, take a look at this blogger’s report.  It has interesting information that you might use to spiff up your plate tectonic post.  the USGS gives us some excellent information about the plate boundaries or even how the inside of the earth works.

    Can you make a Wordle of your own that explains everything you learned?   Use the information you’ve already gathered and written as the words the Wordle uses.   You can make a screenshot cut and paste it into Paint where you save it as a jpg.  Then you can include it here on our blog.

    If you’re working on Scratch….you can use it to make your own version of the animations of earthquakes and volcanoes.  Post or link them into the class blog.

    category: assignments, Geology
    tags: 

    Shang, a dynasty, people, god, or city?

    Posted by  on Friday, February 25th 2011     

    The powerful, wealthy, but evil Shang, Shang is used to name many things, the dynasty, the people, their main god, and the capital city.

    http://apwhwiki.pbworks.com

    www2.hawaii.edu

    I am the king of all the Shang. My home is the capital city, but since I am struggling with power I have decided to move. My great ancestor, Chang Tang founded the Shang Dynasty after he overthrew the Xia Dynasty. Finally we have arrived. My capital is the seat of power. It contains our most sacred temples and tablets and my finest clothes. Our wars are with the groups outside the dynasty. Our armies are made up of up to 13,000 men. If we are victorious, we will take home up to 30,000 prisoners to become laborers or sacrifices.

    I am Shang Di, the main god of the Shang people. My most important subjects are the gods of the sun, moon, rain, wind, and nature. The ancestors of the Shang live in heaven and help me watch over the Shang living on earth, but sometimes they become disrespectful and the ancestors will send disasters to teach them a lesson. Priests will sometimes carve writing on an oracle bone and heat it up till it cracks to talk with their ancestors. They would answer by putting cracks into the bones and the priests would read the cracks. Burials are very serious. If someone died they will be buried with relatives and servants. If someone served you in life they will also serve you in afterlife. The tombs they make for the nobles are vast and elaborate.

    Hello I am Lee I work as a noble for our king. The Shang people have made many great achievements, but four really stand out. They are the stratified government and society, writing, bronze technology, bronze weapons and chariots for war. Most of our writing is written on bamboo and silk, but we also have some on oracle bones and bronze items. Writing is an important tool in our political system it allowed our king to communicate with everyone. Most of the stuff that was written were the laws, talking about mining ore, war, building city walls, building palaces, and tombs. Bronze is the symbol for wealth, power, and luxury. It was put into weapons, and ceremonial vessels. The vessels were for ritual burials and ceremonial worship. It is defiantly not for everyday use. A bronze item would weigh over 2,000 pounds. If you made bronze items you would have a clay mold then you would pour the molten bronze in and when it is ready you simply break the clay mold. Bronze weapons include halberds, bronze tipped spears and bows, and chariots.

    The Shang Dynasty finally ended in 1050 B.C.E. The Zhou dynasty was established and the evil and immoral king was overthrown.

    category: annas, assignments, China
    tags: 

    Let’s talk Shang

    Posted by  on Thursday, February 24th 2011     

    www.

    artsmia.org

    What religious beliefs and practices did the Shang tombs reveal?

    How was Shang government organized?

    What achievements did the Shang create that made a difference in the world either at that time or now?

    category: assignments, Blogging, China
    tags: 

    Earthquakes and Plates…Oh My!!!

    Posted by  on Thursday, February 24th 2011     

    So much fuss over plates, earthquakes and volcanoes….so my question is this

    using everything you’ve learned this week, please

    1. explain plate tectonics
    2. how plates and earthquakes are related
    3. how plates and volcanoes are related
    4. or pick something in your research that relates to these topics about which you are passionate
    category: assignments
    tags: 
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