Science Fair Awards

Here we go....

Biology Winners:
1) Trisha Dowd
2) Wade Schmidt - 6th Grade
3) Yessy Dominguez - 6th Grade
Honorable Mention- Daniel Vaca
Honorable Mention- Felicia Davidson

Chemistry Winners:
1) Macy Swink - 6th Grade
2) Shelby Woodward
3) Shelby Tweedy
Honorable Mention- Jose Rocha
Honorable Mention- Mikayla Fiorito

Earth Science Winners:
1) Irving Ceron
2) Trystan Faulkner - 6th Grade
3) Ana Hernandez
Honorable Mention- Karla Gonzalez
Honorable Mention- Jacob Porterfield

Physical Science Winners:
1) Katy Brisco
2) Grant Strickland
3) Kaylen Lang
Honorable Mention- Leanna Taylor
Honorable Mention- Alex Richmond

Best Presenter:
Biology- Garry Martinez
Earth- Blanca Dulito
Chemistry- Macy Swink - 6th Grade
Physical- Tristen Sumner - 6th Grade

The science fair consisted of grades 6th-8th, and I could not be more proud of our 6th graders. This was their first year to enter a science fair, and they were up against students that have had 1 and 2 years of experience. Outstanding job by all, and I am so glad to see that our 6th graders were able to pick up some awards along the way. Below are other notable winners. Congratulations everyone.

Best in Show - Trevyn Faulkner

Best in Grade:
6th- Trystan Faulkner
7th- Nariah Wilson
8th- Kyler Finley

Mr. McClung

Classroom Without Walls

Today we performed our normal microscope lab, except we did something a little bit different. Today marked our first test run of using chat as a discussion tool in class. Students were given instruction in our classroom as normal, but when they entered the lab room, they had to depend on my written instruction on Ning. Today we used Ning Chat to aide in our discussion. Students were given lab directions on Ning, and I would also use the chat to start discussions between all the students.

With this being our first test run, I am pleasantly surprised. The thing I was most impressed with was classroom discipline. I was fully excepting classroom disruptions, but students were glued to the screen. Students did not have enough time to be disruptive because I was constantly posting information on the chat. I found this to be an effective tool for directions and Q & A.

Below is a round table discussion that I had with 5 of my homeroom students (recorded on Vocaroo), please take a minute and listen to some of the great input from my students.



Mr. McClung

Live Lab Chat

On Thursday we are going to take our first official test run at using chat as a classroom discussion tool. We will be continuing our lab work by looking at Paramecium (riveting, I know). Visitors, feel free to stop by and check out our lab discussion by clicking here.
Discussion times (central standard):
9:30am - 10:10am
10:25am - 11:05
12:40pm - 1:25pm

Mr. McClung

Discovering Cells

With science fair behind us now, yesterday our classes were finally able to get back into our science lessons. We picked up right where we left off with microscopes. Yesterday we took time to examine Elodea Leafs. Above is a picture that I took of a leaf at a total magnification of 400x. Students were asked to not only draw their observations but also verbally describe what exactly they saw. As you can imagine, many described it as bricks or snake skin.

Our set up of the Elodea Leaf

Elodea at 100x total magnification

Our students were able to figure out what we have found were cells. Students were able to identify that there was definite boundaries (cell wall) between all the cells and that each one contained something between its four walls (cytoplasm). Below is a diagram of what exactly makes up an Elodea.

We will continue our conversations about the make up of a cell on Thursday, as I am out today for a Root Canal....yikes. On Thursday we are also going to conduct our first live lab discussion via Ning Chat. This will be our official test run and I will post more information about where and when you can check out our lab chat tomorrow.

Mr. McClung

Science Fair - "Judgement Day"

Ok, so maybe the title of this post is a little intense....but, nevertheless, yesterday was judging day of our science fair projects. In addition to their display boards, students were asked to provide an abstract of what your project was about, and perform a short interview with a judge. Below are the photos from yesterday, including majority of the display boards submitted by my sixth graders.

The science fair included all Noel students from grades 6-8, and were separated into categories: biology, chemistry, environmental, and physical science. Overall I thought it was a great showing for all students involved, and awards will be announced tomorrow during our Terrific Tiger assembly.

Mr. McClung

Vocaroo

Today my class and I explored a website called Vocaroo, a bit of technology that was shared with us by Mr. C. This is a website that can be used to record voice messages and post/embed them on to the Internet. I am very excited about his technology, this finally allows for a quick and easy way for my students to have their voices heard on our blog and social network. I decided to use a small sample group today to work out any kinks there may be and gauge their initial reaction to this technology. I asked these students to give a brief explanation of their science fair project that they will display tomorrow. You can listen to their responses by clicking here.

Mr. McClung

Medieval Studies

As a part of our student's ongoing study of Medieval Studies in their social studies class, this past week classes began learning a form of an old Medieval dance called the Minuet. You can view the steps to this dance by clicking on the Minuet link. Below is a video of a practice session that the students have been involved in as a part of their studies.


Find more videos like this on Mr. McClung's Class

Our students are working on some outstanding projects dealing with this particular time period, which will be displayed during our sixth grade parent's night. More information and practices will be posted as we move closer to parent's night.

Mr. McClung