Interview with a Tree Swallow

lab bench to park bench

Tree Swallow Nest. By Richard Griffin. Creative Commons. https://flic.kr/p/mjemAj

Amelia: This urban pond was a great discovery. Look, the community has even installed nesting boxes on tall poles around the pond. I wonder who’s nesting in them. Oh, a bird’s head popped out of that box- I’ll go check it out.

Tree Swallow: Hello, this nest is taken. You can’t use it. Goodbye.

A: Wait- I’m not interested in taking your nest. I just wanted to meet you. What kind of bird are you?

TS: I’m a Tree Swallow. I thought that would be obvious.

A: Why? We’re in the middle of a grassy field near a pond, nowhere near trees.

TS: (looks around) Oh, right- we’re nesting in a human-made box this year instead of a hole in a tree. Traditionally, we nest in trees. But humans have a bad habit of cutting down dead or rotting trees…

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Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Another EducatorAl Blog

Great blog posts from last week:

• Free Technology for Teachers: A Cute Series of Videos About Engineeering

  SciShow Kids recently published series of three videos about engineering. You wouldn’t normally associate engineering with cute, but in this case it’s an appropriate match. Like all SciShow Kids videos these are designed for elementary school studen…

• A Student’s Guide to Learning the Human Bones

  Most anatomy classes include a unit on the human skeleton. I have several disarticulated human skeletons and quite a few plastic models. Students use them to identify bones and structures on the bones.

• Student-led learning in Puerto Rico

  Staying ahead of the latest edtech can feel like a difficult task—especially in a region hit hard by the pandemic. Find out how educational technology teacher Lisvette Flores Quiñones implemented Minecraft: Education Edition for her students in Puer…

• Teachers Need a Genius Hour, Too – John Spencer

  In my hardest…

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Praxis Science Outreach Science Smarts – Ghosts flying around

Praxis Science Outreach Science Smarts Column

(October 30, 2021)

The latest Praxis ‘Science Smarts’ column in the Medicine Hat News (October 30): Another Halloween science activity -> Ghosts Flying Around!

Link in the Medicine Hat News: https://medicinehatnews.com/life/local-life/2021/10/30/science-smarts-ghosts-flying-around/

Ghosts flying around

Patty Rooks

Well, it would not be Halloween in southeastern Alberta if it was not going to be cold and perhaps snowy! As I write this article, the weather is supposed to take a change for the worse on the weekend, but that is OK. If anyone can do it, we can, as we know how to celebrate this holiday even if we have to wear a winter coat over your costume.

I am VERY excited to see all of the ghosts and goblins at my house in just a few days. In order to keep you busy until then, here is a frightful experiment that MUST be done with an adult. Let’s get started!

Remember…

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Praxis Science Smarts – October 23, 2021 – Ghastly ghosts!

Praxis Science Outreach Science Smarts Column

The latest Praxis ‘Science Smarts’ column in the Medicine Hat News (October 23): A Halloween science activity -> Ghastly ghosts!

Science Smarts: Ghastly ghosts!

Ghastly Ghosts!

I hope you all have been inspired the past few weeks with all of the Halloween science activities. We are fast approaching the scariest holiday of the year, so I hope that there is something here that you can use to frighten your ghosts and goblins with!
n keeping with the Halloween theme, I hope you enjoy this one!

Let’s get started!

Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment

Materials
• Large white
• Plastic drinking cup
• Thin butcher type string
• Buttons
• Sponges
• Scissors
• Water
• Nail

Procedure
• Take the cup and place it on a sturdy surface upside down. Using the nail, punch it gently through the cup. Do not force it too hard as…

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Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Another EducatorAl Blog

Posts you may have missed from last week:

• Free Technology for Teachers: What Does Indigenous Mean? – And Why Some States No Longer Celebrate Columbus Day

  While I was reviewing videos about Canadian Thanksgiving YouTube displayed a suggested video from CBC Kids News. The video is simply titled The Word Indigenous and it provides an animated explanation of what the word indigenous means when referring …

• An Alternative To Time-Out – Smart Classroom Management

  The thinking is that it’s too punitive. That it’s associated with sitting in a corner and wearing a dunce cap. Setting aside for now that the way we teach it here at SCM is wholly dignified and in the student’s best interest, there is an alternative.

• Take-aways from the ‘Facebook Files’ – NetFamilyNews.org

  What a week it has been, right? At least for those of us who follow and/or use social media.

• Free Technology for Teachers:…

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Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Another EducatorAl Blog

ICYMI: Great blog posts from last week!

• The Absence of COVID-19 | Stories From School

  The Washington State Department of Health issued guidelines for the 2021-2022 school year in regard to how schools may best mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in their facilities. This document seems to put a tidy bow on the layered measures school can…

• California Eliminates Word “Alien” From State Laws | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

  California Gov. Newsom signs law to replace term ‘alien’ with ‘noncitizen’ or ‘immigrant’ is new article from NBC News. As I indicated in an earlier post about similar changes to federal law, more substantial changes to support immigrants is needed,…

• Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » Side effects in education: Taxonomy of educational outcomes

  I co-authored this article with Daniel Yiorgios Rigney, which is just published. Below is the abstract and you can read the…

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Lampreys: Terrifying Alien Monsters or Fascinating Ancient Fishes?

Canadian Museum of Nature Blog

Lampreys get a bad rap.Their tooth-filled oral disksdefinitely look scary. Elongate squirmy exoparasites aretrulyfrightening. But here’s the thing:theseancientfishesare ancient survivors thatareakey component of freshwater ecosystems.

Experts disagree, but there areanywherebetween42and48 species,all butfivefoundin northern temperate areas. They occur from Alaska to Newfoundland in North America,and Portugal toSiberia inAsia.Although theymaylook like eels, they are very different from modern bony fishes.These cartilaginous fisheslack jaws, scales,and pectoral and pelvic fins.Most are small, around 15 cm,butone species—the Sea Lamprey—reaches120cmin marine environments. Different species can be identified by tooth pattern.

The oral disc of a Sea Lamprey collectedat theSt. Lawrence River at Saint-Vallier, Québec. Thisis anadult specimen of the seagoing form ofPetromyzon marinus.Image: Brian Coad © Canadian Museum of Nature

During their life cycle,lampreyspass through two stages:larval and adult. The larval form—called anammocoete—burrows in mud and silty areas in rivers and streams.They live there for anywhere between two and 19 years, filtering feeding microbes…

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Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Another EducatorAl Blog

Here are some great blog posts from last week:

• Here Is A Good STEM Website to Use with Your Students in Class | Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

  Brilliant is an educational platform to use in your teaching to help students in their STEM learning. It offers hands-on and interactive lessons created by teachers and educators from MIT, Google, Microsoft, Duke, and several other renowned platform…

• Who Created Maslow’s Iconic Pyramid? – Scientific American Blog Network

  Abraham Maslow’s iconic pyramid of needs is one of the most famous images in the history of management studies. At the base of the pyramid are physiological needs, and at the top is self-actualization, the full realization of one’s unique potential.

• Math Giraffe

• Free Technology for Teachers: The 2021 Fall Foliage Map – And Explanations of Why Leaves Change Colors

  The 2021 Fall Foliage Prediction Map is a feature of the SmokyMountains.com website. The…

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Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Another EducatorAl Blog

Here are some great blog posts from last week:

• Create Beautiful Newsletters for Your Class Using These Editable Ready Made Templates | Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

  A classroom newsletter is an important pedagogical tool that bridges classroom learning with school engagement.

• Microsoft Store Events – Minecraft Education Edition!

• #GridGames – Brave In The Attempt

  Welcome to #GridGames! Now what does that mean? Well, I’m glad you hypothetically asked. For years I have long been using games (game-based learning and gamification) to make learning deeply engaging for students and more recently doing the same for…

• becominghuman.ai

  As of today, almost every field, domain and industry has been impacted as well as transformed by AI when it comes to processing efficiency and improvement. However, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning hold considerable promise for the field…

• Mountaintop Mining Causes 40 Percent Loss of Aquatic Biodiversity | Duke Today

  DURHAM, N.C. – Trickling…

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Sharing Diigo Links and Resources (weekly)

Another EducatorAl Blog

Here are last week’s picks of amazing blog posts in case you missed them:

• For Copepods, there is No Free Lunch when Coping with Climate Change – UConn Today

  The world’s oceans are becoming increasingly stressful places for marine life, and experts are working to understand what this means for the future.

• Using Pear Deck in K-12 Math Classrooms — Pear Deck

  When I think about my mathematics classes as a K-12 learner, I think of desks in rows, independent work, worksheets, and — most strikingly — a distinct lack of technology to do my schoolwork.

• Why “Handholding” Is Bad Classroom Management – Smart Classroom Management

  Classroom management isn’t micromanagement. It isn’t narration and correction. It isn’t guiding, advising, or praising students through every this and that.

• MLK LTM on Fortnite Creative – Classroom Powerups

  First of all… Wow. Fortnite currently has a Limited Time Mode (LTM) called “March Through…

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