December 31, 2010 - Happy New Year already???

Good morning! It's 7 o'clock on Friday, December 31, the last day of this year, 2010.  I just had breakfast and, while I was finishing my orange juice, I hopped on the computer to wish a Happy New Year to my brother Mark who is working in Antarctica. Because right this minute, while I'm still in slippers having my Friday breakfast, Mark has already started his new day - Saturday, January 1, 2011. It's already tomorrow and it's already the new year where he is! Isn't that odd? It's because my brother Mark is in a different time zone.

Time zones are man-made technology. Back in the old (old!) days, people measured time by noticing where the sun was: it appeared in the morning, it was overhead at noon, and it set in the evening. But then clocks were invented to tell time and that created a real problem. How could the sun be overhead at 12 o'clock noon in places like New Hampton, California, Africa, Japan - all at the same time? It can't, because the our Big Blue Ball turns in space and the sun is overhead in different parts of the world at different times. So someone invented time zones so that it's 12 o'clock noon in whatever places on Earth the sun is overhead. And, because there are 24 hours in the day, there are 24 time zones on Earth - and 24 noontimes! That also means there are 24 midnights - which is why my brother Mark has already had his midnight and it's already tomorrow, January 1st!

This is pretty good technology but it can also be confusing. Here's a short video that tells about time zones. And click here for a world clock that will show you what time it is where you live and in other parts of the world.

So Happy New Year to all you kids in New Hampton - in about 17 hours!

My brother in Antarctica-

that's a sleeping seal on the ice behind him!

Vacation!

Finally we have some snow to play in - and for vacation, too! I hope everyone gets outside and has some winter fun!

This is from a comic strip I read. I thought this one was funny so I emailed the creator and he said I could share this with you! I hope you're all having as much fun as this kid!

Holiday Fun

There are lots of places online where you can play games with a Christmas theme. Here are a few activities you might like to try:

Make a gingerbread friend at Jan Brett's website:
http://www.janbrett.com/trim_a_jan_brett_gingerbread_friend.html

Decorate a Christmas cookie here!
http://sprintsweets.com/

Even though there's not much snow this December, you can still make a virtual snowman at this site:
http://cyke.com/snowman.swf

Check out the Christmas fun on Kidopop. Looks like lots of other fun there, too! http://www.kidopo.com/

See where Santa is in his travels using this NORAD site. Track Santa using Google Maps or Google Earth. Just be sure you're sleeping when he passes over New Hampton! Merry Christmas!

A Gift for You!

In school, we use many free programs but our favorite one is TuxPaint! It's introduced at the kindergarten level, then used quite a bit by the primary grade children for projects and work and also for "play". Even the older kids love TuxPaint - though they don't use it for class at that age!

TuxPaint is a free download for Windows, Mac, or Linux operating systems. You can find more about this program at the TuxPaint website - and you can download your own copy to use at home!

Lunar Eclipse

Fifth graders, here's the time-lapse video of the lunar eclipse that we were unable to watch in ICT class. When the photographer put these pictures in sequence, he added some music to his show to make it even more interesting.

Be sure to watch how the shadow of the sun slowly covers the face of the moon. And why do you suppose the moon appears so red at total eclipse stage?

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse from William Castleman on Vimeo.

The next total eclipse of the moon will be in June 2011! But you won't be able to see it from anywhere in North America. Too bad!

The Winner!

The winner of the 2010 Ladybug Award is Princess Hyacinth, the surprising story of a girl who floated. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Princess Hyacinth!

Princess Hyacinth is a girl with a strange problem. She floats. So she doesn't float in the air, she has a heavy crown. She has heavy clothes. These weight her down so she doesn't float away. One day, she takes off all the heavy clothes and off she floats in her Royal Underwear.

This book has wonderful pictures by Lane Smith. Author Florence Parry Heide tells a very funny and unique story. When she writes, she uses a writing technique called voice. It sounds like the author is talking directly to you, the reader. Here's an example: "Well, you're saying, everyone has a problem. But this was an unusual problem."

Even disappointed kids who voted for other books believe that Princess Hyacinth was a good choice for this year's Ladybug Award. If you want to see the voting results for the rest of the nominated books, just click here.

FoodPlay

That FoodPlay show you all went to sounds like it was fun! It also sounds like you all learned some new facts about food and how the choices you make can affect your body. Good to know!


If you want to see more FoodPlay, visit their website at www.foodplay.com/. There's lots of food related information there and so much to see and do - there's even a video you can watch if you want to learn to juggle! Keep making those good food choices!

Countdown to Christmas

Some of you might like the website below. For each day in December, there's a link to information about how Christmas is observed in different countries. For instance, in the Netherlands, children put carrots in their shoes! Why? Click around this website to find the answer!

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/calendar/index.html