HAL 2011-2012

The Titanic

It was 100 years ago this week that the Titanic set out on her first (and final) voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.  Although much time has passed since her demise, the Titanic and her passengers continue to intrigue people around the globe.

This week, the HAL students will contribute to a book being made to honor the 100 year anniversary of the Titanic’s maiden voyage.  Each student will be researching and creating a page for our book.  Each page of the book will be devoted to a specific area of interest (of the students’) that relates to the Titanic.  Some interests will include:

- Fashion (ladies, gentelmen, children, first class vs. second class, etc.)

- Dining ( setting, tableware, meal choices for each class of passenger, kitchen/galley, etc.)

- Engineering (Why was it considered unsinkable?, What should have been changed?, How did it break apart?, etc.)

- Entertainment (smoking rooms, gambling, dancing, games, leisure time, etc.)

- Artifacts (What has been recovered?, What remains at the bottom of the ocean?, etc.)

- Passengers (Who was aboard?, How were they divided by class?, How many were on board?, How many survived?, etc.)

- Survivors (Who were they?, Why were/are they important?, What is their story?, What did they do with their life after arriving in New York?, etc.)

*please pick only one survivor per page

- People who perished ( Who were they?, Why were/are they important?, What is their story?, etc.) Again, pick only one.

-Medical (Doctors aboard?, How cold was the water in the ocean?, How long can a human withstand the cold water?, What did the people die of in the water…drowing or something else?, Did their actions affect how long they survived in the water?, etc.)

-Law (What is to be done with the remainder of the Titanic?, Who owns the articles left on the ocean floor?, Should anyone be able to explore the “ruins” as long as they can afford the trip?, If there was another ship close by and didn’t come to the aid of the Titanic, should the captain of that ship be charged with something?, Is the “women and children only” code of conduct enforceable?, etc.)

Geography (What is known about the area in which the Titanic was sailing?, What is known about the iceberg that caused the ship to sink?, What was the path the Titanic was taking and was there a better route?, etc.)

Technology (What form/s of communication were available on the ship?, Were there any ground-breaking forms of technology used on/in the ship?, Did the technology available on the Titanic serve as a precursor to another device we have today?, How long did certain forms of communication take to reach their destination?, etc.)

These are just some of the areas that might interest students.  As always, if a student has idea other than what is presented here, feel free to discuss it with me and we’ll try to make it work!  I look forward to seeing our finished product.

Please see the links to the right for further information on the Titanic.

The fourth grade students are currently researching the Iditarod.  They will be blogging about     specific mushers, the race in general, and any other interesting facts they find during their       research.  They will also be reading a book in class about a dogsled race.

If you are a fourth grade student, look over to the right of this post and see the “4th Grade Iditarod” links to help you find more information about your musher and the 2012 Iditarod.

Happy blogging!

The HAL students are currently using their talents to interview patients, diagnose, research, and treat medical conditions.  Each student is part of a team of doctors and has one teacher as their “patient”.  Several Dudley teachers have volunteered and been assigned roles and fictional medical conditions.

After the initial patient interviews, the students will be researching symptoms and possible diagnoses.  Each student is required to run tests to confirm their diagnosis and also consult another doctor for a “second opinion”.  In the end, it will be the students’ responsibility to treat their patient’s condition and then report their findings (via a multimedia presentation) to the entire “hospital staff”.

The students will also be responsible for keeping within their patient’s medical budget, displaying a respectful bed-side manner, and following up with their patients to ensure their treatment is working.

1 blue marble and 2 green marbles cost 16 cents.  1 red marble and 2 blue marbles also cost 16 cents.  1 green marble and 2 red marbles only cost 13 cents.  How much does 1 green marble cost?

The perimeter of rectangle ABCD is 36cm.  Suppose side AD is folded up so that D lies on the midpoint of side AB and AE is the crease as shown (see the second picture).  What is the area of figure ABCE?

Get ready for “Monster Genetics”!  Next week we will begin learning about a form of science known as genetics.  We will discuss dominant/recessive traits, alleles, phenotypes, and Punnett  squares.  At the end of the unit, we will be creating monsters from a given set of genes.  These monsters will go on display at Dudley!

If you are a student, please stop by our class blog to see more details! 

If you are a visitor to this site, please vote in the poll on the right and answer the question “Can you roll your tongue?”.  We will check the poll daily and check the statistics!  Thanks for participating!

During the month of December, the HAL students will be detectives! A crime scene will be on display in our classroom and it will be the students’ job to solve the crime and discover the main suspect. We owe a big thanks to the Dudley Elementary staff who have volunteered to help us by “playing” specific parts! We are anxious to explore our own version of CSI!  If you just can’t wait, or would like to do further research/games, see the links to my favorite forensic science websites further down this page on the right under “Forensic Science/CSI” links!

Be sure to ask your HAL student about the research they have be conducting in our class.  We will be receiving a “big” package from UNL on November 1st.   It’s going to be big, it’s going to be interesting, and it’s going to take some work!  Stay tuned…

Be sure to check out the continually-updated “Student Resources” link at the top of this page.  It contains many (if not all) the resource links students can access from any computer.  These links include HAL assignment templates and rubrics used for assignment evaluation.  Keep checking back for further updates!

Be sure to ask your HAL student about their blogging experience!  For our first couple of blog posts, the students are allowed to write/post on a topic of their choice.  Later, we will post on certain topics, our opinions, and the activities we are doing in class. As is typical for a blog, other HAL students have the opportunity to comment on posts by their peers.  I hope this will not only introduce them to a form of social media in an educational setting, but increase the positive exchange of ideas and creativity among our group.

In order to keep this a safe experience for our students, only teachers, students, and members of the administration will be participating in the blog.  Unfortunately, parents and others will not be able to post to our blog.  However, your student may always share what they are writing with you at home.

Stay tuned for further blogging topics as it will provide an opportunity for you to discuss the issue/topic with your student!

- Mrs. Harrison