EVENING SKY- Moon-Venus-Jupiter

Science is soooo cool - we live it every day. As I prepared to take my dogs out for a walk around 5:15 this evening - Wow! What a beutiful evening sky! I had to get my camera and snap this picture (even using a small tripod - I do not have an electronic shutter release - it is a bit blurry :( but that is OK you get the idea:.



You have to watch it tomorrow! An event that happens once very 10 years.

"you’ll see them slowly converge, as Jupiter drops lower but Venus climbs higher. The two will meet on the evening of December 1, when, as chance has it, the Moon is back to sit right next to those two brilliant evening stars. Mark it on your calendar — Monday, December 1 — the best Moon-planet conjunction in a decade. You don’t want to miss it."

MINERALS UNIT

This turned out to be a very interesting unit... Thank you National Geographic. Providentially there was an article in November's 2008 issue about the giant Selenite Crystals at theNaica mine south of Chihuahua Mexico - the article allowed me to create a very nice "hook" as I began to teach the Minerals unit. Here is a picture as we wrap-up crystals - the students built models of the crystal systems and they were put together with a display of mineral examples.


Advice? REALIA... very powerful - hand's-on very very powerful. Put the theoretical in context allow students to see the reality of what you are teaching. We are going to the Gemological Institute of America this coming week as an extra credit field trip... They will see professionals working with minerals and crystals - it honestly does not get better than this... :0 Thank you Jack for arranging this.

IT DOES NOT GET BETTER - GRANDCHILDREN!

My son and daughter in Kansas posted some pics - I had to post them here as well...

This reminds me why teaching is so very important - all my student's are someones grandchildren... :) Aren't they precious?