About a week ago, we (my class and I) went to the field museum. We had a ton of fun! We were there from about 10:30 or so to 2:30 or so. The bus ride took a while, though we left at about 9:10. When, we finally got there, we learned our schedule and got to work. First, the time before lunch we spent at an ENDLESS evolution exhibit. And don't think it wasn't fun by the way I said it, because that was SO much fun! There were six major wipeouts, and when we saw red paint on the floors we knew they were coming up. Our tour guide told us lots of stuff about the world's first creatures, like for example what types of fish were there, or what the dinosaurs ate. Cool stuff like that. Turns out that one of the most successful fishes in the sea was a lightning fast shark-fish thing that was practically as large as I am! It was impossible to get away from it. Naturally, that fish was the top predator in the ocean for QUITE a while. After the evolution exhibit, we touched practically the oldest rock in history! I thought that was really cool. And if THAT isn't awesome enough, it was time for... lunch! Okay, maybe not the most novelty-type thing in the world, but hey, you can NEVER get tired of lunch. My friends and I spent lunch talking about what part of the exhibit we had liked best. We were in a group huddle on the floor (there wasn't any room at the tables left) and we loved it! When lunch was over, we had a quick bathroom break, and then came the best part. I was SO eager to see more about how Mr. Solarz had said we would see real live scientists, and he still hadn't explained to us, so when we were introduced to a new tour guide, I knew things were about to get REALLY interesting. And boy, they did. First the nice ladies we had just been introduced to were leading us down a regular museum hallway, next minute we were through a door titled "Museum Staff Only", and the second after that we were in an elevator with a CLEAR GLASS TOP! We looked up, and up. The elevator wasn't that full, we had split into two groups so that we could all fit, so everyone could have a good view of the glass, where we could see the mechanism speeding us up, up, and up! I was so amazed. We were traveling on a secret elevator, and I would bet that my mom and dad hadn't seen THIS part of the field museum. Oh, boy oh boy oh boy... and then suddenly we were at the top. I stepped out along with my friend Kelsey, and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, well at least at first. When I looked around more closely, I noticed that we were on a balcony with an awfully thin piece of metal keeping us from splatting 150 feet down. We could literally LOOK DOWN on the tall stone pillars up front, and a few people started to yell stuff like "HI!" and "Hello, down there!" and "This is SO cool!" and "I can't BELIEVE Ian's missing this!" Maybe I should give a quick explanation. Ian was sick for the trip, just suddenly out of the blue, and he couldn't come. Well, anyway, let's just say I got mysteriously freaked out. Taking my eyes away from the horrific site, I noticed that our other half of the class was now taking THEIR turn up in the elevator, so we started waving to them. The glass top was pretty clean, and they started waving back up at us, too. When they reached the top and stepped out, we were led through hallways for about 5 minutes, and then into a bright room with lots of space rocks and pieces of them in it. Then, we were introduced to Jim. He was the scientist Mr. Solarz had been talking about! We took a picture with him for the slideshow (above). After about 20 minutes, probably longer though I can't remember the exact amount, it was time to go. We piled back through the elevator and onto the bus, where we heatedly discussed wether Brian or Graham looked the weirdest with their coats inside their shirts. (We eventually decided Brian, his was more proportionate) All in all, it had been a GREAT trip!
0 Comments
Today, we are doing our fourth mystery Skype EVER! Well, not exactly "ever" since this is our fourth one, but you get the idea. And, we're off and running! Here we go. Our greeters are going first. After a short greeting (of course) our sharers went. They told the other class about our ice cream social, our energy debates, our fun fair, and asked to hear about their school just a little. Then, they told us about a few of their things. Like for example they told us they were in the fourth grade, and had the best teacher in the world, which of course we disapproved of. We settled it by saying they had the best fourth grade teacher, and we had the best fifth grade teacher. And then, the questions began! Us first. "Are you in the United States?" Yes. Our followup. "Do you live in the Midwest?" Yes. Their turn. "Do you guys live in New York?" No. Our turn. "Does your state border a great lake?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in South America?" No. Our turn. "Does your state border Iowa?" Yes. Our followup. "Do you guys live in Iowa?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in North America?" Yes. Their followup. "Do you live in Montana?" No. Our turn. "Are you south of Iowa?" Yes. Our followup. "Do you live in Missouri?" Yes! Their turn. "Do you live in the United States?" Yes. Their followup. "Do you live on the Missouri border?" Yes. Our turn. "Does your county start with the letters a through l?" Yes. Our followup. "Does your county start with the letters a through g?" Yes. Their turn. "Are you surrounded by land?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in Illinois?" Yes. Our turn. "Do you guys live on the south side of Missouri?" No. Their turn. "Do you guys live in Chicago?" No. Our turn. "Do you live in the northeast region of Missouri?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in the southern part of Illinois?" No. Our turn. "Does your county start with the letters a through c?" Yes. Our followup. "Does your county's name start with the letter a?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in Schaumburg?" No. Our turn. "Does your county's name start with c?" Yes. Our followup. "Is your county Clinton?" No. Our turn. "Is the second letter of your county a?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in Bloomington?" No. Our turn. "Is the second letter of your county l through o?" Yes. Our followup. "Is the second letter of your county name o?" No. Their turn. "Do you guys leave in Waukegan?" No. Our turn. "Do you guys live in Clark County?" No. Their turn. "Do you guys live in Oakland?" No. "Is your county name two syllables?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in Elgin?" No. Our turn. "Do you guys live in Clay County?" YES! Our followup. "Is the first letter of your school's name a through f?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in Evanston?" No, but close. Our turn. "Does your school's name start with g through m?" Yes. Our followup. "Does your school name start with the letters g through k?" Yes. Their turn. "Do you guys live in Highland Park?" No. Our turn. "Does your city's name start with the letters a through l?" Yes. Our followup. "Does your town's name start with the letters a through g?" No. Their turn. "Do you guys live in Gary?" No. Our turn. "Is your city name Halt?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in Grenville?" No. Our turn. "Do you guys live in Carney?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in Lincoln Wood?" No. Our turn. "Does your city's name start with an l?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in Arlington Heights?" Yes! Their followup. "Do you go to school near a shopping center?" No. Our turn. "Does your city name start with the letters h through j?" No. Their turn. "Are you in the Arlington Heights School District?" Yes. Their followup. "Do you go to Riley Elementary School?" No. Our turn. "Do you guys live in Kansas City?" Yes! Our followup. "Are you guys in the southern part of Kansas City?" No. Their turn. "Do you go to Dryden Elementary School?" No. Our turn. "Do you guys go to a public school?" Yes. Our followup. "Is your school district # 33?" No. Their turn. "Do you go to Green brier Elementary School?" No. Our turn. "Do you guys go to school district # 74?" Yes. Our followup. "Does your school name start with the letters a through j?" Yes. Their turn. "Do you go to Windsor Elementary School?" No. Our turn. "Is your school's first letter a through c?" No. Their turn. "Do you go to Patton Elementary School?" No. Our turn. "Is your school grades kindergarten through 5?" Yes. Our followup. "Is your school name two words?" No. Their turn. "Does your school's name start with the letters a through m?" No. Our turn. "Is your school name l through o?" No. Their turn. "Do you guys go to Westgate Elementary School?" YES! We had to keep guessing, though. "Does your school start with r through w?" No. "Do you guys go to shoco Elementary School?" No. "Do you go to Gracemoor Elementary?" YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES! We guessed it!
Today in science class, we had rather an unusual science experiment; breathing through straws. First, we tried the wider straw, which everybody found pretty easy, and then we tried the thin straw, which was practically IMPOSSIBLE! The only activity we had to do with the thin straw was sit, because you can't breathe very well through a thin straw while sitting, just imagine the difficulty while running! The activity where breathing through the wide straw was hardest was jumping jacks, where I panted a lot and took several breaks. I think this is because I didn't have enough air to do the activity properly, so my lungs were kind of going "Hey, there's a little problem here?" Either way, it was MUCH harder to breathe through the thin straw, and I think I took like 20 rest breaks because it was so hard, even sitting down. I was glad we didn't do other activities other than that. If we had, my lungs would have burst! As I got more active, I noticed my breathing got faster and more difficult since I was breathing through a straw, which restricted the amount of air allowed in. My lungs needed to fill up faster, but they couldn't because of the straw.
Today is our third mystery Skype! Our greeters are going first. "Hi, we're Kelsey and Joey."
"Welcome to our class. We're glad to be doing this with you. We have some sharers." "Hi, We're Katie, Lily, and Ian." The sharers told them about our fun fair, ice cream social, and science projects. Then the other class told us they had Saturday School, which helped them get ready for the skate test. Here come the questions!" They asked if our state bordered any oceans. When the answer was no, it was our turn. They took one more question, does your state border Virginia, and then our turn. "Are you in the US?" YES! Our follow up. "Do you border an ocean?" No. Their turn. "Is the temperature cold where you live right now?" Yes. Their follow up. "Does your state border New York?" No. Our turn. "Is your state east of the Mississippi River?" Yes. Our follow up. "Are you in the southeast region?" No. Their turn. "Are there any dangerous animals where you live?" Not many, but some. Our turn. "Does it snow a lot when you're in winter?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in a famous city?" No. "Do you live near a famous city?" Yes. Their followup. "Do you guys border New York?" Yes. Our followup. "Do you border east side of New York?" No. Their turn. "Do you have any rivers in your state?" Yes. Their followup. "Do you border Colorado?" No. Our turn. "Are you in Pennsylvania?" Yes! We guessed their state, plus we get a follow up. "Does your county name start with the letters a through l?" Yes. Their turn. "Does your state border any lakes?" Yes. Their followup. "Does the name of your state begin with a vowel?" Yes. Our turn. "Is your county on the east side of Pennsylvania?" Yes. Their turn. "Is your state west of Louisiana?" Yes. Our turn. "Are you in the Southeast area of Pennsylvania?" Yes. Our followup. "Does your county start with the letters a through g?" No. Their turn. "Is your state Illinois?" Yes. Their followup. "Is it real windy where you live?" Sometimes. Our turn. "Is the letter that your county start with j through l?" Yes. Our followup. "Does your county start with the letter l?" Yes. Their turn. "Does your city end with a vowel?" No. Our turn. "Is the second letter in your county a v?" No. Now, since we're running out of time, we're taking a few more questions. "Do you live in Lancaster County?" Yes. Now, the other class is going to say their county their way. Laincister. We told them about where we live, in Arlington Heights." Today, we are doing our second EVER mystery Skype! Their greeters are going first, and they say "Hi, my name is Katherine." "And I'm Connor." They told us a few cool facts about their school, and then it was our turn. "Hi, I'm Kelsie." "And I'm Joey." "And we have a couple sharers to share some things about our school."
"Hi, we're Katie, Lily, and Ian." They told the other class about our Ice Cream Social and other stuff and they asked "Do you live in the US?" Yes. Their follow up. "Do you live near the Indian Ocean?" "No." Our turn. "Do you guys live in the US?" Yes. Follow up. "Are you east of the Mississippi River?" Yes. Their turn. "Do you live in one of the first 13 colonies?" No. Our turn. "Do you live in the Midwest Region?" Yes. Our follow up. "Are you on a state that borders one of the Great Lakes?" Yes. Their turn. "Do you live in the Midwest?" Yes. Their follow up. "Do you live near a great lake? Like close?" Yes. Our turn. "Are you in Illinois?" Yes. Our follow up. "Are you east of the Illinois River?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in Illinois?" Yes. Their follow up. "Do you live near Springfield Illinois?" No. Our turn. "Do you live north of Chicago?" Yes. Our follow up. "Are you east of the Rock River?" Long pause. Then finally... YES! Their turn. "Do you live in Rockford?" No. Our turn. "Do you live within a 65 mile radius of Chicago?" Yes. Our follow up. "Are you in a 45 mile radius of Chicago?" Yes. Their turn. "Are you within a 45 mile radius of the city of Chicago?" Yes. Their follow up. "Do you live in Evanston?" No. Our turn. "Are you within a 30 mile radius of Chicago?" Yes. Our follow up. "Are you within a 20 mile radius of Chicago?" No. Their turn. "Do you live within a 20 mile radius of Chicago?" No. Our turn. "Does your city start with the letters A through L?" Yes. Our follow up. "Does your city start with the letters A through G including G?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in a place that starts with the letter W?" No! Our turn. "Do you live in Liberty ville?" No. Their turn. "Do you live north of Chicago?" Yes. Their follow up. "Does the place you live in start with a G?" No. Our turn. "Does your town start with the letters H through L?" No. Their turn. "Do you live in a place starting with the letters A through H?" Yes. Their follow up. "Does your place start with the letter A?" Yes. Our turn. "Do you live in Cook County?" Yes. Their turn. "Do you live in Arlington Heights?" Yes. Their follow up. "Do you go to a public school?" Yes. Our turn. "Are you in Arlington Heights?" No. Their turn. "Is your school Ivy Hill?" No. Our turn. "Do you live in a city that starts with L?" No. Their turn. "Do you go to a middle school?" No. Our turn. "Does your city start with an I?" No. Their turn. "Do you go to Forest View?" No. There, we have to stop for today. Come back next time! In class, we have just started doing a period called Passion Time. During passion time, you can do whatever your passion is. This is my FAVORITE period, because nobody can accuse me of reading like crazy, although I often do. Speaking of which, lately I have been reading a book called Fairest which is by Gail Carson Levine. She has written several other books, and I read one called Ella Enchanted. In the book I'm reading, I often get lost. Not that it bothers me, I love getting lost in books. Once when I was in second grade, I got so stuck that someone had to poke me before I paid heed to the world. And then they laughed so loudly I was sure the whole world heard them. If not the whole world, then the whole galaxy. Either way, everybody says I'm a bookworm, and I'm kind of proud of it. This book is the best ever! Today in science class we tested how fast our heart beats were when doing a certain activity. Everybody got to choose which ones they wanted to do and then test our heart beats. I chose sitting still, standing, after running n place for 10 seconds, after jumping 10 seconds, and after doing 10 jumping jacks. The activity that increased my heart beat the most was the jumping 10 seconds. The one that increased my heart rate the least was the sitting still. I was trying to line everything up from least to greatest heart beat per minute, but I kind of messed up because the activity that increased my heart rate the most was NOT at the end of the line. I noticed that my heart rate went up and up as I kept doing the activities. This is probably because I was working harder, so it makes sense that my heart would be working harder too.
We spent a lot of time in class learning about the causes of the Revolutionary War. I think it's probably because in order to understand the Revolutionary War itself, you have to understand what started it. There's no point in figuring out what happened after a battle or whatever if you don't know what happened during and before it. Otherwise, you don't have much of an idea of what really happened. We learned that some causes of the Revolutionary War had multiple effects, and some effects had multiple causes. Like the Boston tea party was kind of started for two reasons, as you can see from my chart. Also kind of like the Townshend acts, that began the Boston Massacre. There were lots of different causes and effects, and sometimes they seem kind of tangled up in knots, but other times they come in crystal clear and you can see that one single cause had multiple effects, and you slap your forehead and go "Why didn't I THINK of that before?" That is probably another reason we studied the start of the Revolutionary War and causes so long, it takes a while before you really, truly understand.
Today during class my group made a model puzzle of a skeleton. I didn't get an actual picture of the puzzle, but it looked a little like the skeleton at left. We named the feet, the fibula, the tibia, the humerus, the ribcage, the pelvis, the skull, and the hands (of course). Every group in our class (we pulled sticks to choose them so it was totally random) chose an activity out of a few buckets my teacher put on a table in our classroom and we chose the skeleton. Well not me exactly. My other group members chose it before I was selected to be in their group. It didn't take us too long to put the skeleton together although I did get a bit confused when the arm bone wouldn't fit. It turned out that the arm bone I was trying to fit in was the arm bone for the other side! In other words, I was trying to put the left arm bone in the right arm socket. Once we figured that out, however, the rest of the puzzle didn't take that long. Website for this image Today, we are doing our first official mystery Skype! The goal is to find out where our partner class is. First, we say hello with our greeters. This time, they greeted with "Hi, I'm Kelsie."
"And I'm Joey." "And we're going to have a lot of fun doing this together." "We have some sharers." The sharers told the other class about our variety show and fun fair. The other class told us about their diet coke and mentos science project from this morning. We told them about our energy debate stuff, and they said there was one more student to share some stuff. She told us about when they would have THEIR fun fair. Our first question was "Are you in the US?" When the answer was "yes", we asked if they were east of the Mississippi River and they said yes to that also. We asked them if they were in the Midwest region, and they said yes! So we kept asking. "Are you in a great lake state?" "Yes!" This time our questioners consulted their notes before asking a question. "Is your state on the border of Lake Michigan?" Yet again, they said yes! "Does their state start with the letter "i"? Yes. "Are you in Illinois?" Yes. "Are you in an urban area?" No. So it was their turn to ask a question. "Hi I'm Joey. And do you live in the US?" Yes. "Does your state border an ocean?" No. So it was our turn again! "Are you east of the Illinois river?" No. Their turn. "Are you in the Midwest region?" Yes. "Are you in Illinois?" Yes. "Are you east of the Illinois river?" That one took awhile before we figured out the answer was no. So it was our turn. "Are you north of Chicago?" Yes. "Do you guys live in a rural area?" No. So it was their turn. We were going back and forth like this when they asked "Do you live within a 50 mile radius of Chicago?" We looked it up for a while and said yes. For their next question, they asked "Are you in the 30 mile radius of Chicago?" That time took just about as long, and we eventually said yes. So they asked "Do you guys live in Chicago?" No. Yet again it was our turn and we asked "So are you guys in a suburb?" Yes. "Are you west of the Rock river?" They weren't, and next they asked "Are you south of Chicago?" I was pretty sure we were, but since my job is to type everything in, I didn't say anything. The answer was no. "Are you guys within a 50 mile radius of Rockford?" We asked. The answer was no. Their question was "Are you in Lake County?" No. Then, it was our turn and we asked "Do you live in Lake County?" When they said yes, we were very ecxited and got to ask a followup question and it was "Does your city in Lake County start with any letters before "l" including "l"?" The answer was yes, but according to new rules, it was their question. "Do you live in Cook County?" Yes. Their turn again. "Do you live in Palatine?" No. Our turn. "Is your city a two word city?" Yes. Our follow up question. "Do you guys live in Lake Forest?" No. Their turn. "Are you guys in Arlington Heights?" Yes. Their turn again. "Does your school start with the letters from a through l?" No. Our turn. "Do you guys live in Lake Zurich?" Yes. Follow up. "Are you guys at Sarah Adams Elementary?" Their turn. "Are you guys in Olive Mary Stitt?" No. Our turn. "Are you guys in School District 95?" Yes! Follow up. "Does the first letter of your school's name start with an s?" No. Their turn. "Do you guys go to Thomas Middle School?" No. Our turn. "Do you go to "Issac Fox?" YES! WE GOT IT! They still hadn't figured us out, so they kept asking. "Do you go to Patton?" No. "Are you north of Lake Arlington Park?" We looked it up, and the answer was no. We broke the answer like this: Are you guys ready for the answer? YES! Okay, here it is: no. Everybody laughed. "Are you guys in Westgate School?" YES! Both classes had gotten it! |
AuthorCorinne--writer, reader, musician, skater, horseback rider, 10 years old, big sister, dog lover, member of Mr. Solarz' awesome 5th grade class. Archives
May 2013
Categories |