Gifted & Talented Services

Little League season is in full swing. The Science of Baseball is a great resource to understand how a bit of science and mathematics is involved in the game. The Science of Baseball includes video and audio clips of baseball players and scientists explaining how the weather affects the flight of the ball, the physics of various pitches, and reaction times to thrown and batted baseballs. Try the activities from their website – Science of Baseball. Share any new information that you learned from this site.  You just might inspire someone else to learn!

Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are, passed away yesterday at age 83. Where the Wild Things Are was not one of my favorite books as a child. The drawings actually scared me. I was always afraid the monsters would turn on Max and eat him. This did not stop my older sister from reading it to me over and over again. She loved the book! What is your opinion? Post your thoughts to this post. Include your favorite or least favorite part of the book.

April was a very busy month at Cottage Lane. From Earth Day to State Tests  to Poetry Month, students and staff continue to make our school a great place to learn.  Please watch "Our Three Words" video to get a sense of our days at Cottage Lane.

Watch this video created by Steven Spangler.

Let's analyze and share what our sugar intake is for one day. We will all be amazed! Read all the labels of drinks and food you consume in one day.  Record the sugars. Post your findings to this blog.  If some foods you eat do not have a label use this website to find out its nutritional facts – Calorie King. You can be anonymous.  Use "anonymous" as your first name. Your teacher's email address and leave website blank.  Thanks for participating. Here is an example:

Breakfast:
1 cup Orange Juice – 22g
1 cup of milk (2%) – 12g
2 cups of Apple Jacks Cereal – 24g
Snack:
1 granola bar – 6g
Lunch:
2 slices of wonder bread – 4g
2 tablespoons of peanut butter – 3g
2 tablespoons of grape jelly – 24g
1 bag of potato chips – 1g
1 Gatorade – 14g
Snack:
1 Hershey bar – 24g
1 can of coke – 25g
Dinner& Dessert
1 slice of pizza – 5g
1 can of coke – 25g
1 bowl of cookie dough ice cream – 100g
TOTAL – 289g

Research and find out how many grams of sugar a child should consume in a day?  Post your thoughts too.

Sunday, April 22nd was the 42nd annual Earth Day celebration. The New York Times offered 10 ideas for commemorating the day.  My favorite idea was "Embrace a Sense of Place."  I thought we could try it out and post our findings to this blog.  Please include pictures too.

What does it mean to have a sense of place? Visit the Web site Embracing a Sense of Place: “While most of us recognize where we live by its cities, buildings, places of business, even sport teams, how many of us identify with and understand the beauty, wonder and actual functioning of the natural ecosystem which supports us, and of which we are a part?” How might you get to know the natural features of the place where you live, like rivers, lakes, woodlands, fields, rock formations or even mountains. Can you identify the common plant and animal species that live near you? Select one or all and post it to this blog.  It would be great if you uploaded a picture.  Have fun!

Here is an expert who writes the Scientist at Work blog post “Biodiversity, and Green Slugs, in Action,” Check out the number of species the author lists in her column!

Let's have some fun…Take Two!  Try and create 101 questions that would go along with this photo.  Post your question to this blog.  Let's see how creative we can get! (To post: Type your first name and last initial.  Use your teacher's email address. Leave website blank.)

Media for Math analyzes the sinking of the Titanic. Why did it sink so quickly? Could anything have been done to keep it from sinking? Read and watch the slides below. 

Geography, Class, and Fate is website dedicated to passenger data from the Titanic. The map shows where each passenger was from, which class they were traveling in, and whether or not they survived the Titanic's sinking. Click the placemarks on the map to learn the passengers' names, where they were from, and the class of service in which they traveled.

To mark the 100th anniversary of Titanic's fateful maiden voyage, the BBC has brought together 250 photos of the ship's crew in one of the biggest collections of its kind. Find out more about the people who worked on the ship by rolling over the images. Go to Titanic: Faces of the Crew.
 

Let's have some fun.  I saw this experiment on a blog and thought we could try it here at Cottage Lane.  Each week I will post a picture.  Together we will try and create 101 questions that would go along with the video or photo.  Post your question to this blog.  Let's see how creative we can get! (To post: Type your first name and last initial.  Use your teacher's email address. Leave website blank.)

Do you wonder why Mrs. McBride lets you struggle with a difficult concept. Watch this video!  It's okay to feel frustrated and know that feeling won't last forever.

IMAGINE: How Creativity Works from Flash Rosenberg on Vimeo.

"Each leaf,
each blade of grass
vies for attention.
Even weeds
carry tiny blossoms
to astonish us."
- Marianne Poloskey, Sunday in Spring

Cottage Lane Elementary continues to astonish others with projects, programs, and ideas.   Please watch "OUR THREE WORDS – MARCH 2012" as we vie for attention!