Summer Update

Hi All,

I am not sure if anyone reads this blog anymore but I wanted to post an update on the animals.

I'll start with the bad news first: One of the hermit crabs died so there is only one left. :( I am very sad about this because hermit crabs are so cool and they have such wonderful personalities.

The good news is that the goldfish seems to be doing very well as are the isopods. There are so many in that terrarium! It's amazing!

I hope everyone is doing well. I hope kids aren't watching too much TV and instead, spending time outside, playing and exercising, reading and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.

I miss you all!

- Ms. Bloom :o)

Thank you!

Hello Graham! I wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone for such a wonderful send off. I will miss you all so much! I will miss everyone and I will miss the opportunity to help all of you grow as scientists. Take care and keep working hard! - Ms. Bloom :o)

THANK YOU!!!!

Thank you to all the students who wrote cards and showered my with gifts for Teacher Appreciation Week. Thank you all so much! Thank you students! Thank you parents! Thank you PTA for such an AWESOME lunch today!!

I love being your science teacher. I love working at Graham. I really love my job and I hope that I will be able to teach at Graham next year. I'm hoping for the best!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!

Oh dear!

It's been a VERY long time since I updated the blog. Here are the latest Science Room happenings:

1. I mentioned it before but the millipede died several weeks ago. I am very sad. It seemed like it was sick starting about a year ago. When I first got it it would eat fruits (melons, carrots, apples) but later on it wouldn't eat anything. I hope it died of old age and not from anything I did wrong with it. :*-( I miss it. When it was healthy and active it was a really cool organism.

2. Science STAR testing is complete. Thank you to all the awesome, smart, genius 5th graders who tried their best on the test. Like I said before, I don't care how they do, I just wanted them to try their best. I think if everyone tried their best they could do pretty well and show people all the stuff they have learned. I hope I didn't make any of them nervous, I just wanted to pump them up so they would put effort into taking the test (sometimes some of those 5th graders can be lazy!!). So, now that the test is over I am happy. I am looking forward to seeing the results in August. Thank you guys for trying so hard. I am proud of you and I am very happy and proud to be your science teacher. Thank you for working hard.

3. Open House was a success! Thank you to everyone who stopped by the Science Room during Open House. It was great to see so many students having fun with their families in the Science Room. People were playing with oobleck, bubbles and Science Room animals, looking at specimens through the microscopes, and doing art projects like making twirlers and pinwheels. I hope everyone has been able to wash off the food coloring from the oobleck by now. I'm sorry the oobleck was so messy. If I am still at Graham next year I won't put food coloring in the oobleck again. That will keep hands cleaner!


4. I don't remember if I mentioned it before but one of the hermit crabs died awhile ago, too. The first half of 2009 has not been such a good time for the animals of the Science Room. :(

5. The Science Room looks a little different now. I moved all the items that were in the "pantry" to the storage room that Mr. Parenti gave me. Now the room is neater and there are not little nooks and crannies for the mice to hide in. :) I like how the room looks and I like how I was able to fit everything using the shelves I have. I also like how I was able to put up the shelf brackets by myself (not without some frustration though! -- see photo below).

Animal Update

Hi All,

It's been awhile since I updated! The animal situation has declined in the science room.

The hermit crab that stopped wearing a shell a few weeks ago died last week.

Today I came in and found the millipede dead. :(

I cleaned out the millipede tank and transferred the isopods to that big 10 gallon tank. The isopods are the only organisms that seem to be able to survive in the science room. There are many teeny, tiny baby isopods. It's very exciting.