Dear Parents,

 

     Good afternoon!  We just needed to remind you of a few things before tomorrow's field trip.  First of all, please remember to bring a bagged lunch to school tomorrow.  We will be returning to school late in the day and we will have to eat our lunch in the room. 

     It has also come to our attention that the Marriott now charges $5.00 for parking near the riverboat for the first time.  Third grade will be working hard to fit all of the chaperones on the buses in order to spare this added expense. 

      The end of the year is fast approaching and we have many events planned between now and the end of the year.  Field Day will be one day next week.  We will be sending you additional information regarding this next week.  We will also be sending you information about our end of the year party on Friday, May 22. 

     We have also been asked about FCAT scores.  As soon as we have them, we will be contacting you with them.  As always, thank you for your continued support!

 

Thanks,

Mrs. Cowan and Mrs. McGeachy

Fwd: Secretary Clinton Launches the Virtual Student Foreign Service Initiative

     I recently signed up to receive e-mails from the White House Blog.  I really like the way President Obama is utilizing technology to keep people informed and to get people involved.  The program below sounds like a very interesting program.  Feel free to read more about it.  As a sidebar, I am posting this via email rather than actually going to the blog and posting.  Blogger now has a wonderful feature that allows you to post entries from email and from texts.  Check it out some time!
 

 

Secretary Clinton launched a new initiative today to allow for a rising generation of citizen diplomats to conduct digital diplomacy.

Virtual Student Foreign Service (VSFS) Internships, announced by Secretary Clinton at the 2009 New York University commencement speech, are part of a growing effort by the State Department to harness technology and a commitment to global service among young people to facilitate new forms of diplomatic engagement. The VSFS Internships will be developed over the next year and will seek to harness the energy of a rising generation of citizen diplomats.

Working from college and university campuses in the United States, American students will partner with our embassies abroad to conduct digital diplomacy that reflects the realities of our networked world. By combining the talents of young people across America and the right technology, we can forge the solutions that our century demands.

Sign up to receive more information and updates on Virtual Student Foreign Service Internships.

Join the Virtual Student Foreign Service Facebook community.
 

 

Read more…

Lunar and Solar Eclipse

Our class has been learning about lunar and solar eclipses. A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth is between the sun and the moon. The earth then casts a shadow on the moon. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is between the earth and the sun causing the sun to appeared to be blocked out. These events occur only when the three are perfectly lined up. Below are some videos that demonstrate these events. You will also find some links below and even a few games. If you have a chance, please feel free to check it out.



Links:

NASA: Lunar Eclipse

Sky and Telescope

Mr. Eclipse

BBC Kids

Compare and Contrast Lunar and Solar Eclipse


Videos:








Games:

Here are Sheffield's newest additions!

The Lionfish Invasion

     Today we read about species invading areas that are not their usual habitat and causing problems.  Apparently the lionfish is one of those species.  The lionfish has begun invading the eastern Atlantic Ocean (near the eastern coast of the United States).  This is now causing problems because the lionfish is a predatory animal that has few enemies in our waters.   It is consuming near 80% of the younger fish in coral reefs in the Bahamas.  Someone might think this is not a big deal but the slightest change in the food web of a habitat can be devastating.   The lionfish consuming that large of a percentage of the juvenile fish depletes the food supply for other species as well.  This ca cause those species to reduce in number and so on and so forth.  Please check out the video above as well as the ones below for more information regarding the introduction of a new species into a habitat and the effects of that introduction.

The Phases of the Moon

The class learned today about the phases of the Moon. Below are several videos that illustrate these phases. Please take a moment to check them out.

Phases of the Moon @ Yahoo! Video

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Shackleton's Antarctic Voyage

    Our current theme in reading focuses on voyages or journeys.  This past week was spent reading Trapped by the Ice by Michael McCurdy.  It describes the ill-fated journey of Robert Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic Expedition.  His ship ended up being crushed by the ice and sinking in the Antarctic leaving his crew of 27, including himself, stranded in the freezing climate.  Miraculously, all 27 members of the crew survived the ordeal.  What is even more miraculous was that this took place back in 1916 before computers, GPS, and all of those other things that would have made a rescue easier.

  
Here is a link to an even more in-depth video about the journey of the Endurance and its crew.   There are 11 additional videos of almost 2 hours in length total that you can view.  Check with your parents before visiting though.

     Here are some additional links relating to Shackleton's voyage:

Shackleton Expedition Photography

American Museuem of Natural History

Cool Antarctica

Ernest Henry Shackleton

The Earth's Seasons

     Our current unit of study in science is devoted to the Solar System.  The class observed a video today that described the causes for the seasons.  Please check it out.

The Great Wall of China

     We are also learning about the Great Wall of China this week during our studies of the ancient Chinese civilization.  The videos below provide some background knowledge on one of the greatest wonders of the world.  The Great Wall of China is over 5,500 miles long, stretching across grasslands and mountains to desserts and plateaus.  The first emperor of China, Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, had the wall constructed as a way of unifying the country.   Check out the videos below for more information regarding this amazing sight.

The Terra-Cotta Warriors

     We are studying the ancient Chinese culture this week in class.  The video above features the Terra-cotta Warriors that are currently on display in Atlanta, Georgia at the High Museum of Art.  The Terra-cotta army was discovered in 1974 by a group of farmers digging.   This first area of warriors was called Vault One.  Several years later, two more areas or vaults were discovered containing even more soldiers.  Archeologists were amazed by the fact that each Terra-cotta Warrior is different from one another.  They differ in facial expression, clothing, hairstyle, and even gestures.  Check out the above video to learn even more about this fascinating discovery.

A MUST SEE!

I watched this movie this evening and it was wonderful. It is a must see. If you have some free time this weekend, you may want to check it out.

Have a great weekend!