Students – Keep up with what I am doing while on my trip around the British Isles.  We will be leaving soon and hopefully, I can post pictures like I did last year.  Go to my travel blog at http://travel.edublogs.org/ 

Hope you are having a great summer and will see you this fall.  I have reset our email accounts to accomodate for our upcoming students but if you have an account you can email me at amfine2@gaggle.net

I have created a new category in our links section to the right to add new websites as I find them for your enjoyment and learning. Check back often for new activities.  The new links are listed under A+ Summer Fun.

Many of you have asked me, “What are some great books we can read this summer?”  Well, here are some great ones that I highly recommend. 

1.  The Wright 3 and The Calder Game by Blue Balliett (remember our great book we read this year – same author).

2.  The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

3.  The City of Ember, The People of Sparks, Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne DuPrau

4.  The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

5.  The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

6.  From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiller by E. Konigsburg

7.  Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (or anything else by him)

8.  Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

9.  Any of  The Time Warp Trio books by Jon Scieszka

10. Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins

11.  The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and Dave Mckean (I have just started this and it has me hooked and this is the newest Newberry Medal Winner)

  1.  Where is the hottest place on Earth?  In 1922, it hit the highest temperature recorded anywhere on earth, ever. How hot was it?

 

2.            Where is the coldest place on Earth?  What was it coldest temperature and when?

 

3.    Where is the driest place on Earth?

 

4.    What is the highest mountain in the world and how high is it? Who were the first two brave people to reach it’s summit?

 

5.    Where is the wettest place on Earth? What is the average amount of rain?

 

6.    What is the deepest point on Earth?  How deep is it?

 

7.    What is the largest country in the world?  

 

8.    What is the longest river in the world?  What is the second longest in the world?

 

9.    What is the largest canyon?

 

10. What is the highest waterfall in the world?

 

11. Which of Earth’s ocean is the largest?

 

12. What is the largest animal on earth?

 

13. What is the largest lake in the world?

 

14. What is the world’s deepest lake?

 

15. What is the world’s largest island?

 

16. What is the largest lake in North America?

 

17. What is the highest, driest, and coldest continent on Earth?

 

 

This week, try these website during computer lab time (or at home). Be sure to read the instructions to get the most out of your activity.

Cyberchase Logic Zoo

San Diego Zoo  Dealing with Endangered Species

Kid’s Planet

Animals of the World

Build and Online Habitat

Arctic Adventure

Tundra

Rainforest at Night

Dive into a Barrier Reef

1.  Which whale has one long tusk? 

2.  What clings to the back of the gray whale?

3.  Which whale is called “wolf of the sea?”

4.  How did the right whale get its name?

5.  Which whale makes bubble nets to catch its food?

6.  What is a baleen whale?

7.  What is the real name of the killer whale?

8.  Why do whales use echolocation?

 9.  Click here to learn more about gray whales.  Name 3 new things you learned.

10.  Listen to whales here.  What do they remind you of?

Play this game about keeping our oceans clean.

 

Great website I found for us to try.

 

 This week we will continue studying success stories from the Endangered Species Act. This week’s animal is the American alligator. Answer these questions in your notebook. Don’t forget to title the page of your cyberhunt.

1. What is the origin of the word alligator?

2. How long can an American alligator grow?

3. Where do American alligators live?

4. Why did the American alligator almost become extinct?

5. What happened to keep the American alligators from becoming extinct?

6. What is the difference between an alligator and a crocodile?

7. Why should we save alligators from extinction?

1.     Why is the bald eagle called the bald eagle? 

 

 http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/bald_eagle.html

 

2.    What is the scientific name of the bald eagle?

 

http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/

 

3.    Where can you find bald eagles? 

 

http://www.atozkidsstuff.com/baldeagle.html

 

4.    Describe the American bald eagle. 

 

http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/eagle/eagle8.html

 

5.    When was the bald eagle declared the national emblem for the United States? 

 

http://www.eagles.org/moreabout.html

 

6.    Why was the bald eagle threatened with extinction?

 

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Bald_Eagle.html

 

 

7.    What do bald eagles eat?

 

http://www.enature.com/flashcard/show_flash_card.asp?recordNumber=BD0103

 

8.    What is the habitat for bald eagles?

 

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/birds/info/Eagle.shtml

 

9.    Why were bald eagles reclassified from endangered to threatened? 

 

 http://www.nwf.org/baldeagle/

 

10.  What can you do to help conserve rare, threatened, and endangered species and their habitats? Read the entire article and tell me your favorite.

 

 http://www.fws.gov/endangered/kids/resources/how_help.html#Awareness

 

 

I hope you are having a great spring break.  I came across this fun website while searching for new things for us to do.  Enjoy!

Build Yourself Wild