Oh, what a year to remember!

Wow.  What a day!  Sixth grade graduation in Fusion was amazing.  Thank you for your thoughtful and reflective speeches, sixth graders.  You will go on to shine in middle school, of that I am certain! 

Thanks to the Memory Committee for helping me get the pictures for this Animoto tribute.  Enjoy!

- Mr. Barnes

Museum of Glass Field Trip - by Nina, Lily and Hannah (edited by Mr. Barnes)

You walk into the Hot Shop and.. Boom!  You're hit with immense heat.  As you look down you can see a team of about five people gathered around something with tons of concentration.  What are they working on?  Someone moves out of the way and you see someone holding a long, tube-like stick (blowpipe).  At the end is a giant blob of molten glass.  From far away it looks like a plain color of red, but if you look closer you can see swirls of different colors all combined.  We're at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma.

Click here to see work taking place LIVE in the Hot Shop (if it is during regular working hours).

Inside the galleries there are three foot tall glass goblets of all colors.  Some have chains, others have different objects in between them, and others have strobing, colored lights attached to them.

In a different room, there are different sized glass balls and squares filled with nature that seems to be suspended in time.  Each piece is so intricate that it seems to be real, but, in fact, each object is hand-crafted by artist Paul Stankard.

We also saw glass art made by Dale Chihuly.  He had pieces of glass that seemed to move; all the vibrant colors made his art even more interesting.

Later, we saw glass pieces made by two artists from the world-famous glass art capital of the world, the island of Murano in Venice.  Their works were inspired by the earth, sky, moon and sun.  Each exhibit showed the unique way they view those elements of the universe.

Overall, the Tacoma Museum of Glass was a great experience.  We can't wait to visit again soon!

Colonial Boston Town Meeting

As part of our studies of American history, students are involved in a simulation of colonial Boston.  Each student has taken on the persona of a colonial character.  Ask your child who he/she is! 

Yesterday Boston citizens gathered at the local pub to debate British taxation.  The heated debate is chronicled below by one of the participants.

It’s the year of 1765. The town of colonial Boston is empty all except Spiffy’s Pub. You can hear many angry, upset and annoyed voices coming from inside. Let’s go take a look.

Inside many people are crowded around tables while one person stands in the middle trying to get everyone’s attention. It’s a Town Hall Meeting. In this meeting each family discusses how they feel about being taxed by England. There are Patriots, Loyalists and undecided colonists. Many people have  made signs  to show  their  opinions. If you look around you can see Patriots holding signs that say “Taxation without Representation”. The Loyalists are making points about feeling that they are represented by Parliament. They say the British military will keep people safe. The patriots are making points about being unfairly taxed.  Felicity Schneider says that the meeting is crazy and loud.  People were getting up and arguing with each other. People were shouting.

Overall, many citizens thought this meeting was vital and important for sharing points of view and figuring out who is on each side  of the debate.

Submitted to the Colonial News by Faith Hendricks (Hannah Smith) and Grace Kuhner (Lily Moore)

Rock Talk Pictures and Blurbs

Today we were happy to host Eric Ferguson, one of our student's parents and also an experienced geologist, for a "Rock Talk."  He shared several highly interesting rock samples with the class and told us the rocks' "stories."  We also learned about the tools a geologist uses for fieldwork. 

After enjoying Eric's informative presentation, students were asked to write detailed paragraphs about key concepts in our study of Earth's history.  Please enjoy student work below!

The Rock Cycle

By Natasha, Sabrina, Sofia, Sarah, and Zoumi

The three types of rocks are: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed by cooling magma or lava. They contain large or small crystals depending on cooling time. Sedimentary rocks are formed by deposited sediment, and generally have clearly visible layers. Metamorphic rocks are basically changed rocks. They are morphed by heat and pressure.  Every type of rock can change into another type of rock.

Sedimentary Rocks

  By Dan, Chase, Allison and Maria

Sedimentary rocks are rocks that generally have visible layers. They are formed by deposited sediment. Some examples of where you can find them are mudflats, beaches, the sea floor, sand dunes, across a mountain valley and swamps. Sediment is deposited, then compacted and cemented to form sedimentary rocks, this usually makes visible layers. Sedimentary rocks rock!

Deposition

By Jacob, Zoumi and Maya

Deposition is the first step to a sedimentary rock. It is the process of the sediment moving with water or with mud. It’s when the sediment settles down on the other sediment and rocks.  Then it’s compacted and cemented to become a sedimentary rock. So deposition is the settling of sediment. Deposition can happen anywhere there are rocks and some form of water or mud. Sediment could be moving down a stream, in the ocean, or even through a waterfall!

Compaction

By Annabel, Isaac, Adrian, and Quinlon

Compaction is when sediment, a rock or multiple rocks are squished together.   A type of compaction is when sedimentary rocks or soils are set on top of each other and all of the weight compacts the rocks or soils into one.  Think of a a garbage compactor crushing garbage down into a smaller form.

Cementation

By Justin, Lilly, Kaylin and Erin  

Cementation is when sediments get stuck to each other and crushed to each other.   Sometimes this can form crystals. When they are crushed together, different layers are formed.  Cementation is when sediments are “glued” together to form rock.

Metamorphic Rocks

By: Bridget, Jared P, Lily M and Solomon

                Metamorphic rocks are “changed” rocks. They are morphed by heat and pressure. Metamorphic rocks are made when rocks are buried in the crust where it is hot. The heat from the ground added to the pressure from other rocks helps create a new metamorphic rock. Metamorphic rocks are part of the three rocks in the rock cycle.  In our opinion, metamorphic rocks are the most interesting rocks because they can be made of any kind of rock.

Geologist’s tools By Hannah, Luke, Nina, Lelan

 When a geologist goes out to do field work there are many tools he or she must bring including:

A chisel (for chipping the rocks), a Brunton Compass (for keeping track of your location), a hammer (to break the rock and collect samples) a belt to hold everything, a field book (to record every rock you come across and other observation), an altimeter (which tells the elevation above sea level), a special ruler to show orientation on a map, maps (to mark where you are), and colored pencils (to color code rocks).

We enjoyed getting to see the tools of a geologist today!

Strata

By Andrew, Sten, Patrick, Caleb

 Strata are all the exposed layers of a sedimentary   rock.  Strata are developed when sediment is deposited and compressed into a rock.  Most of the time, strata is not visible from the outside of the rock.  Usually you have to expose a part with a hammer and chisel. A layer is one of the parts of the strata, as strata are built of layers.

Sandstone       

By: John and Devin

Sandstone is a very interesting rock.  Sandstone is made when sand and sediment are deposited. Sandstone will not react to acid; also, there are very many types. In the Grand Canyon there are many layers of sandstone. This week we observed samples of sandstone during science.

Limestone

By Trifon, Alexa, Autumn, and Cam

Limestone is made in salt water only. Because of this sometimes shells and fins and rocks and other sea creature parts are in limestone. Limestone contains calcium which means when you put acid on it the limestone fizzes up. It can also form around an island. If limestone is morphed it will become marble. People use it for statues and even fertilizer.



Acid Test

By Maxwell, Meredith, Christopher, and Stephany

      When you are doing an acid test you are testing for a reaction with the rock samples. If it foams or gets a bit bubbly where you put the acid, the rock contains calcite. The acid we used for the test this week is called hydrochloric acid. When we did an acid test in science class we learned that limestone rocks had calcite while the sandstone and shale didn’t.

Scientific Method

By Ben, Lauren and Cooper

The scientific method is what scientists use to correctly do an experiment. The scientific method is made of six parts: making observations, asking questions, forming a hypothesis, making a procedure and doing tests, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions.  Scientists use this method to correctly to a test.  In class we learned a song called “The Scientific Method” to help us remember all the steps.

 

A Standard of Excellence

Today in class we discussed excellence.  I encouraged students that they are capable of EXCELLENCE.  To reach this new standard will require more effort and commitment than just "good" or even "great."

Please chat with your student about excellence to help reinforce our new

STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE

Here is a short montage I created for the class.  Note the individuals who led excellent lives.  Consider the dedication required to do something truly excellent.