OUR NEXT MEETING...
...will be April 25, 2000 <--- NOTE!
4:15 p.m.
Section A (K-5) meets in 111 LS
Section B (4-8) meets in 152 LS
Be sure to sign up for a presentation if you haven't already done so!
SECTION PRESENTATIONS REFRESHMENTS
111 LS A Sophia Watson Sophia Watson
(K-5) Virginia O'Brien
Iona Greenfield Claudette Rogers
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152 LS B Brian Cagle Brian Cagle
(4-8) Pearline Scott Pearline Scott
Kim Baker Kim Baker
SEE YOU THERE!!
AT OUR LAST MEETINGS (April 4)...
Carolyn McGee, Carolyn McBride & Claudette Rogers [all of
Manierre
School]
(handouts)showed us a book on Ecosystems, obtained from
Shirley Cesair (Henderson School)
passed out mystery bags to us, and asked us to figure out what we
could do with the stuff inside: pencil, rubber band,
wooden beads. In a short time we had demonstrated our
inventiveness by coming up with combinations of these
objects. But then she passed out tuning forks for us to
listen to, and talked about touching a vibrating tuning
fork to a hanging ping pong ball or bead on a string. What
do you think happens? If a vibrating tuning fork is
touched to the surface of water - what happens? (handouts
on energy and sound) What if touched to the top of a desk?
Vibrating rubber bands, rulers, etc make sounds too. What
makes the sounds higher or lower in pitch? Observations
are made by students, and outdoor and indoor sounds
characterized. Rich with ideas!
Christine Scott [Beethoven School]
got us involved with center-of-gravity (cg). She had us come up
to the table and take an empty pop can, then challenged us
to add just the right amount of water to make it balance
at an angle on the table on its bottom edge. We had to
measure the amount of water needed. (Some people got 40
ml. - A 12 oz can is about 340 ml.) All to a classical
music accompaniment! She also gave us a pattern for
producing "balancing children," and handouts illustrating
other hands-on cg stuff. You have to see it!
Ben Butler (L Ward School)
passed out C-Spectra film mounted on 3x5 cards. When we
looked at any lights through the film we saw rainbows or the spectrum
of color for white light. Using a 500 watt light scource and a
prism, Ben spread the white light into a rainbow spectrum
of color. Then he showed us how to make a "prism"
from a mirror immersed at an angle under a small
transparent tank of water, which resulted in a spectrum
projected so we could see it. Undeniably colorful! And
good science.
Sophia Watson (Manley HS)
passed out State Goals in science and described special booklets for
special needs students: Modification and Accommodation for Special
Needs Children, Vol I & II. Available from regional
office. Will bring copies to next meeting.
Ed Scanlon (Morgan Park HS)
placed some websites on the board and remarked on
how striking they were to him when he visited.
John Scavo (Richards Career Academy)
showed us some active stuff he uses when on the topic of weather
and air pressure. He filled a large glass cylinder (about 9 cm
diameter and 30 cm tall) with water, and then floated a
ball on top. He had covered the ball with duct tape so
that it would just fit into the cylinder, but without
significant friction. "What will happen if I turn the
cylinder over?" he asked. After some discussion - and some
good-natured "picky" questions about exactly how he would
do that from Roy Coleman & Lee Slick - John carefully and
quickly turned it over. He had a container below to catch
water that escaped from the cylinder when he did this. To
our amazement (at least most of us) the water slowly
escaped downward past the ball, while the ball slowly rose
to the top of the remaining (but draining) water column!
"What will happen if I keep my hand over the open end to
prevent the water from escaping?" he asked. After we had
made our guesses, John showed us. The water stayed in, of
course, and the ball more rapidly rose to the top of the
water column. Archimede's principle of buoyancy was at
work here; lower density rises, higher density sinks.
Next, John filled a 50 ml Erlenmeyer flask completely with water, covered its opening at the top with a paper card, turned them over together while holding the card in place, then released the card. He did this asking for our predictions about what would happen, before he did it. Even though some of us had seen this before, it is always somewhat surprising: the water stays in and the card stays in place!
Finally, John scaled the experiment up a bit. He used a much bigger 1000 ml Erlenmeyer flask completely filled. He had our visiting student, Terrence, sitting on a chair and protected with raincoat and cap underneath when he turned the flask over with a fresh card held in place to cover its top opening. Despite the fact that the water weighed much more than with the small flask, the water stayed in and the card stayed on when he released it. Terrence stayed dry. Great, John!
Janet Sheard (West School, Glencoe, 4th grade)
put us through the same set of ideas for two-digit
multiplication that she uses with her students. (Handouts)
Example: 75x84 = (70+5)x(80+4) = 5600 + 280 + 400 + 20 =
6300. Rather than following a rote system, the student
comprehends what multiplication really means this way. One
of the "games" handed out was Multiplication Wrestling.
Four digits are determined by drawing cards from a deck.
The problem is to form two 2 digit numbers to produce the
largest product (multiplication). Still another game is
Baseball Multiplication that uses 2 dice, 4 pennies and a
multiplication/division facts table or calculator. And
there are several others Janet gave us. All designed to
give students not only the facility to multiply/divide,
but to understand what it does - what it means. But it is
done in the format of games so students view it as fun -
and it is. When students seek homework help from their
parents, the parents would often not understand these
different ways of multiplying. So Janet had classes for
parents so they would understand and help. Usually
successful, but always a few recalcitrants. But as we know
- Learning is fun! Thanks, Janet!
Sally Hill (Clemente HS)
did M&M math with us. She had us form teams by passing out
numbered Prediction Sheets for taking data; the 2s formed a team,
the 3s formed a team, etc. And then each team picked up
one package of 3 types of M&Ms (plain, peanut, crispy). We
first guessed how many M&Ms in the package, then opened it
and counted, recording all observations in the spaces on
our sheets. Then estimating how many of each color, and
the actual number determined by counting. Sally created a
table on the blackboard; three columns across the top of
the table were labeled Plain, Peanut, Crispy. The rows of
the table were labeled with the colors: green orange, red,
yellow, brown, blue. Then she called on different teams
and placed their data in the table. Questions: For the
Plain, which color was the most common? For the Peanut?
For the Crispy? One could study ratio of orange to red,
etc. And results could be graphed to form histograms. See
http://www.m-ms.com- More good
learning-math ideas!
Estelvenia Sanders (Chicago Voc Career Academy)
informed us about a new method for teaching speech to
"hard of hearing:" - Cued Speech. Provides a transition to
speaking and understanding speech which is more natural.
Used in the last five years for the elderly by the
National Cued Speech Association.
Is there a website? Yes! Thanks to Porter: http://www.cuedspeech.org/cued-speech-definition for a definition: "The cueing of a traditionally spoken language is the visual counterpart of speaking it." Estelvenia showed us the sign language for "Happy Birthday to You" - which we tried to emulate, with some success. Thanks, Estelvenia!
Future Meetings
May 8 A Barbara Baker Barbara Baker
Chandra Price Chandra Price
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B Brian Cagle ___________________
Mikhail Siddiq ___________________
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