"Rayo de Zeus" by Christian Frausto Bernal, licensed through Creative Commons

The following post is an example of a completed “Weather Myths and Realities” blog post.

People often refer to late summer evening lightning storms as “just heat lightning.”  The impression is that there is no danger from this lightning.  They think that because there is no accompanying sound of thunder, the lightning is not actually striking the ground.  I have even heard this lightning explained as “just light in the clouds” not electric discharges.

The reality is, heat lightning does not exist.  “Heat” lightning is regular lightning which occurs too far away for the thunder to be heard.  Sound and light travel at different speeds, so the light can travel further, and the sound eventually dissipates to a point where it cannot be heard.  Since it’s so far away, there is rarely any direct danger from the lightning for those viewing it, but it does indicate that a storm is in the area and could move in quickly.  All lightning is electrical discharge within clouds or between the clouds and the ground.  Though the “heat” lightning does not pose much danger to the person calling it such, it is dangerous to those experiencing it within the sound of the thunder.

Many people probably refer to heat lightning because they’ve never fully grasped the differences in the speed of sound and light.  Since it poses no immediate danger, they feel they can stay outside doing whatever activity they are participating in at the time.  Thunder and lightning are so closely related that people think they can’t have one without the other.  Therefore, if there is no thunder heard, the lightning must be something other than what we normally experience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_lightning

http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/274/

For our Chapter test, you will complete the Chapter Review on pages 68 and 69. You may use your book or your notes to complete the test. You will complete all questions except #24.

• #1-6 Complete Sentences
• #7-15 answer only
• 16-27 Two to three complete sentences
• 28 and 29 answers only
• You will also complete #1-3 on page 71 under Interpreting Graphics

This is to be turned in Wednesday at the beginning of class!

On Thursday, October 15th, I had what I have dubbed Meteorology Day in my classroom. Students from each of my classes participated in Skype interviews with meteorologists from across the United States and one in Australia. The focus of the conversations was the difficulty of forecasting in the various locations across the country and world. Students were given the opportunity to ask questions of each meteorologist, and the recordings of the conversations are posted below.

My first group talked with Jo Hart from Western Australia. Though she is not a professional meteorologist, she gave us some very interesting insights into the weather factors affecting Western Australia. She also shared with us an album of Flickr photos detailing weather in her region. That album can be viewed here:
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Jo Hart Western Australia Weather

The rest of the day we had chats with Les Still from New Bern, NC, Sonja Stevens from Macon, GA, Tom Green of the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, PA, and Jason Myers from Richmond, VA. The recordings below are also available for download from my PodOmatic page.

Les Still Talks with my 1st Core

Sonya Stevens Talks with my 2nd Core

Tom Green Talks with my 3rd Core

Jason Myer’s Talks with my 4th Core

Today in class we worked with the topics of Radiation, Conduction, and Convection. We discussed the way that all three allow for the transfer of heat energy in the atmosphere. On page 40 in your notebook, you should have a diagram that resembles the following slide:

Students were also asked to complete the Reflection of Solar Radiation activity. The questions and diagram go on page 43 of your notebook, and the answers (in complete sentences and with explanation) should go on page 42. I am including a scan of the sheet here on the blog for any of you who have lost your copy.

Today in class we will be setting up your Edublog.  The purpose of today is simply about setting up your blog and getting a feel for the interface.

Signing In

1. Go to http://www.edublogs.org
2. In the center of the page you will see the login box.  Enter the Username and Password given to you by Mr. Williamson.
3. Once you Log In, look back in that area for the “Your Dashboard” Link. Click this to go to the Dashboard for your Blog.

Your Dashboard (click the thumbnail for a full size image)

Your Dashboard is the main area for editing your blog.  From here you will Add Posts, Change your Theme, Moderate Comments, and posts links.  The following sections will give you a brief idea of where everything is in your Dashboard.

Overview

This section of the page tells you your post count, number of comments, tags, remaining storage, and other important information about your blog.  It provides a quick glance of your activity on your blog.

Quick Press

This section lets you create a quick blog post with little extra. It is possible to add images or video, but there is no option for adding links or modifying the text of your post.

Changing Your Password

By clicking on your username in the top right corner, you can change your Profile Information, including your Password. Remember your First Name, Last Name, and Nickname information should not give away personally identifying information like your full last name or your address.  Please do not change your email address, it is one that I set up for you to create your Edublogs account.  There is no way to recover your password if you change this email address.

At the bottom of your profile is an area to change your password.  REMEMBER…YOUR PASSWORD MUST BE SOMETHING YOU WILL NOT FORGET!!  IT MUST ALSO BE SOMETHING NO ONE ELSE KNOWS!

Editing Settings (required changes in red)

• Under General you can change the Name of your Blog and your Tagline
• Under General, change Week Starts On: to Sunday
• Under Discussion: Change “Before a Comment Appears” to “An Administrator Must Always Approve the Comment”
• If you add a Blog Avatar, DO NOT use a real picture of yourself.  This avatar will appear for all comments you post while logged in, and whenever anyone views your profile.

Changing Your Blog Appearance

Your theme is the visual presentation of your blog to the world.  Some themes are very simple while others are more intricate and can have up to 3 columns.  Edublogs offers 99 different themes.  I strongly recommend a theme with at least two columns as later in the year we will be adding Links and Widgets like ClustrMaps which will go in a sidebar.  Your theme CAN be changed later and will retain any changes you have made that can be displayed within the new theme.

Posts Tab

The Posts Tab gives you the option of Editing Old Posts, Adding New Posts, and Editing Tags and Categories.  We’re going to focus on Adding a New Post for now.

Your First Post

This blogging project has been made possible by the North Carolina Middle School Association (NCMSA).  They provided the funding for your blogs to be Ad-free, keeping your readers from having to figure out what is your writing and what is an advertisement. For your first post, I’d like you to write a quick thank you note to NCMSA.  Be sure to include:

• Post Title
• Message of thanks
• A Link to NCMSA’s website, http://www.ncmsa.net
• A brief description of what you want to accomplish by using your blog this year.  Ideas include: sharing what you’re learning in classes, posting podcasts/videos/presentations you create, make connections with students across the country/world, or anything else you think the blog will help you do this year.

This year, one of the new things we will be trying out is a service called Edmodo. Edmodo is a private microblogging network, similar to our own private Twitter network. You will be part of two groups on Edmodo. The first group will include all the students in your Core. The second group will be all of the Sunfish team students. Today in class, you will be signing up for your Edmodo account, joining your Core group and the Sunfish Group, and completing an assignment examining three different websites.

To Sign Up for Edmodo

1. Go to http://www.edmodo.com
2. On the right side, near the middle click “Sign up now, I’m a STUDENT”
3. A student sign-up form will pop up.  In it, enter the following information:

• Group Code: found on the board for your Core
• Username: Your username will be your first name followed by your first initial of your last name and the number 15…for example my username would be: toddw15
• Your password is up to you, but make sure it is something you will remember as I CANNOT RECOVER YOUR PASSWORD!
• DO NOT ENTER AN EMAIL ADDRESS
• Enter your First Name
• Enter the first INITIAL of your LAST Name

Once your account is created, log into Edmodo using the Username and Password you just set up. When you Log In the screen will look something like this:

This area is very similar to a Facebook Wall.  You can type messages in the box at the top, select who to send it to (generally to the whole group rather than an individual), and see the messages appear in the bottom half of the screen.  On the left, you have an area of with the groups to which you belong.  Clicking one of these groups will filter the messages in the list.

Across the top of the Edmodo Screen you will see several options:

• Edmodo – takes you to the main Edmodo Screen
• Calendar – is a calendar where events can be added for groups or individuals
• Files – is an area where files (presentations, documents, etc) can be uploaded for groups
• Settings – Allows you to put in an email address for receiving notifications, set up Edmodo to send notifications to your phone via text message, change your password, or upload an avatar image (please don’t use a REAL photo for this)

Once you’ve logged into Edmodo and looked around, post a quick Note to our class group to let me know you’re up and running.  Then look for further instructions for the day’s activity in Edmodo.

The presentation above is from our discussion of Facts, Laws, Theories, Hypotheses, and Opinions.  The image which shows Theory above all else in the Prezi should bring together some of the ideas in a visual way.  One of the hardest things in science is to “re-train” your brain to think about Theories as much more than a hypothesis.

Feel free to refer back to this presentation to refresh yourself on the ideas presented in class.

In schools we often ask the question: “How smart are you?” even when we don’t realize it. When students compare test scores, grades, GPAs, SAT scores and many other things they’re really asking that question. The real question we should ask is: “How are you smart?” Everyone has different areas of strength and different ways they learn best. Today you are going to take a survey that will help you understand the ways you learn best.

After you complete the survey, read about your two strongest intelligences. Come back here and post a comment about your survey results. What were your strongest intelligences? Were they the ones you expected? What kinds of activities could we do that might help you learn well?

To access the survey, click the following link:
Multiple Intelligences Survey

Glad to have you joining us this year! You’ve had a couple of days to get to know the teachers and you have a whole lot more in front of you to learn from us and each other!  Don’t forget to get all of those packet pages signed and returned.  We’re going to the computer lab on Friday so you have to have that Internet form filled out to be able to participate on the computer. Otherwise you’ll have to do the work on a paper handout.  Enjoy these first few days with little homework and be ready for the fun to really begin soon!

Here’s the video of my 1st Core Paper Roller Coasters. The others will be posted as soon as I get to them. Hope you guys enjoyed this project!