Tales of a Tandberg

UPCOMING EVENTS

2006-11-27T10:25:00.000-05:00

Mr. Kukulski's 3rd grade class will visit the Cleveland Zoo on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 from 1:00 to 1:45, and participate in a program called "A Bite-Sized Look at Sharks".

Roller Coaster Science

2006-09-29T10:18:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Hunt's and Mrs. Santoro's 5th grade class attended a "Roller Coaster Science" program hosted by Andy Campbell at COSI Toledo. The students learned all about friction, gravity, and centrifugul force. Mr. Campbell sent a kit to us a few days before the program containing all sorts of things to help the students do experiments to learn about these concepts. The students were actively engaged, enjoyed the experiments, and learned more about roller coasters than they ever thought they would!

Contact info:

Andy Campbell
COSI Toledo
www.cositoledo.org

Shark Snack Attack! at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota

2006-09-20T10:34:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Rice's and Mr. Kukulksi's third grade class enjoyed a fun science lesson today via the Tandberg. We connected with the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida and the students got to observe the morning feeding in the shark tank. Students saw tiger sharks, barracuda, bluefish, stingrays and more. An informative question and answer session followed the feeding and students learned about what sharks eat (fish, plankton, etc.), how big sharks can be (they range from 8 inches to 50 ft!), and where different species are normally found. Students enjoyed this videoconference, and completed a worksheet provided by Mote Marine Laboratory as a follow-up assignment.

To book this program:

http://www.seatrek.org/prog_snack.htm

Cost: $35

Read Across America - Mrs. Gomez' class

2006-03-02T14:35:00.000-05:00

Today Mrs. Gomez' 8th grade bilingual class videoconferenced with Mrs. Bauer's 8th grade class in New Buffalo, MI for Read Across America. Mrs. Gomez' class had a wonderful presentation about immigration, complete with a movie that they created to broadcast to Mrs. Bauer's class. Then, three of Mrs. Gomez' students read essays about immigration to the other school. When it was New Buffalo's turn, they did a great presentation about how to reach goals. Finally, each class had the opportunity to ask questions of the other group to find out how their schools are similar, and different. It was very interesting to find out things like how the length of school days compare, what each group likes to do for fun after school, and what subjects they like in school. Mrs. Bauer and Mrs. Gomez have decided to work on another videoconferencing project outside of the Read Across America program and have both classes meet again using the Tandberg!

Physics Rules, Louisville Science Center

2006-02-14T12:45:00.000-05:00

Today we had a wonderful virtual visit to the Louisville Science Center in Louisville, KY. Mrs. Navarro's 6th grade class had a great time learning about mass, acceleration, force, gravity, and friction. We received a kit that contained quite a few items to use during the experiments, the class was divided into four groups, and each was led through a series of experiments using the materials sent to us by the Science Center. The kids were very engaged, loved their experiments, and participated fully. This was an excellent program which was booked through the Tandberg Connections website. For an added bonus, we can keep the science kit that was sent to us for 10 days so that the students in Mrs. Navarro's class can do some more experiments. After 10 days we'll need to send the kit back. Loved this program!

Awesome Amphibians, Lee Richardson Zoo

2006-01-06T11:35:00.000-05:00

Once again, Ms. Hunt's 5th grade class had a great time visiting Ryan Schaffer of the Lee Richardson Zoo in Kansas. Today's topic was Awesome Amphibians, a topic that was highly anticipated by the class since recently adopting a toad as their class pet. Ryan taught us how to tell a toad from a frog, showed us several really neat amphibians, including the State Amphibian of Kansas, the Barred Tiger Salamander. We learned how amphibians defend themselves against predators, did an experiment using crackers and dish soap to replicate what a predator would think about eating a toad, and got to see just how far a bullfrog can jump. We're looking forward to the next visit with Ryan - the kids had a great time!

For contact information regarding this Virtual Field Trip, see the November 18 post regarding the Lee Richardson Zoo.

Animal Adaptations, Lee Richardson Zoo

2006-01-05T10:46:00.000-05:00

Once again, Ryan Schaffer of the Lee Richardson Zoo gave our students a great presentation about the ways that animals adapt to their environments. Along with lots of great information, we saw a bearded dragon, a chinchilla and a hedgehog. Seeing the animals up close, and watching Ryan interact with them was a lot of fun, and very educational. We also got to see some plastic replicas of animal parts, and some skulls and teeth. Mrs. Marshall's 5th grade class had a great time, and they are anxious to participate in another program with The Lee Richardson zoo in the future.

Contact information for this program can be found below in the November 18 post regarding the Lee Richardson Zoo.

Smithsonian American Art Museum - Native American Exhibit

2005-11-18T18:30:00.000-05:00

A class of 8th grade students attended a virtual field trip to the Smithsonian American Art Museum to view their Native American exhibit. These students had been learning about Native Americans in Mrs. Kelley's Social Studies class, and this field trip was an activity that allowed them to see artistic depictions of the life of Native Americans. Students were shown works of art by George Catlin. The works of art were shown one by one by the museum's docent, and students were asked questions about what they were seeing. The presentation was very interactive, and students saw many illustrations that depicted the lives and customs of Native American tribes during the 1800s. The presentation lasted about an hour, and was very informative. This was a great activity to enrich a unit on Native Americans.

Contact information to schedule this activity:

Email Colleen Brown at BrownC@saam.si.edu

Animal Adaptations - Lee Richardson Zoo

2005-11-18T12:02:00.000-05:00

Today we participated in a virtual field trip to the Lee Richardson Zoo in Kansas. Ms. Hunt's 5th grade class was in attendance, as was Mrs. Washington (Principal), Mr. Baxter (Substitute Assistant Principal), Mrs. Keegan (Library Media Specialist) and myself. Ryan Schaffer of the Lee Richardson Zoo did a wonderful 45 minute presentation on the ways that animals adapt to their environments. We were shown live animals, pictures of animals, animal bones and skulls, stuffed animals, and replicas of animal body parts. The kids loved the live animals and had lots of great questions for Ryan. I think their favorite was the adorable little hedgehog who rolled himself into a ball! The Animal Adaptations program that Ryan delivered was just one of the programs offered by the Lee Richardson Zoo at no charge to schools. We'll certainly be visiting them again, both for this program and for others.

Contact information for this virtual field trip:

Ryan Schaffer
Distance Learning Coordinator
Lee Richardson Zoo
620-276-1250
rschaffer@garden-city.org