Archive | April, 2016

Pyramids around the World

27 Apr
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Mexico

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Sudan, Africa

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Sudan, Africa

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Guatemala, Central America

Pyramids are not only in Egypt! Check out some of the pyramids in these photos and take a look at some of the articles here. Also, watch the playlist of video clips below. If you have any good links, videos, or photos, please send them to Mr. Martin. Thanks!

Ancient Pyramids around the World (Smithsonian Magazine)

The World’s 15 Most Amazing Pyramids (Weather.com)

World Pyramids

Pyramids (British Museum) – try the challenge activity!

4,600 Year old Pyramid Discovered  Read all about it!

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Google Hangout with Paul Salopek

26 Apr

Students – I watched the live Google Hangout with Paul Salopek, hosted by NatGeo Education. He answered one of our questions and you can hear it if you skip to 43:30 in this video. I encourage you to watch and listen to Paul’s entire talk and to learn more about him and the Out of Eden Walk. We will be doing another footstep project as soon as we finish our ancient Egypt project.

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Questions for Paul?

24 Apr

ideaThanks for your interest in participating in the Google Hangout with Paul Salopek on Tuesday night. I had 17 students who expressed interest in coming to school at 8:30pm for this question and answer session with Paul. Unfortunately, our school was not among that three finalists when they randomly selected the schools. I still plan to watch the Google Hangout live and I would be happy to Tweet or email any questions to Paul on your behalf. If you have a question, please email me or post your question in the comment section below. I need the questions by Monday at 8:00pm. Thanks! – Mr. Martin

 

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Paul Responds to Ted’s Post

24 Apr
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Photo by Yejune (Ted)

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Photo by Yejune (Ted)

I received a message from Out of Eden Learn telling me that one of my students received a personal message from Paul Salopek on their project. This excerpt come from the Out of Eden blog post by Liz Dawes Duraisingh:

“…Paul is getting ready to set off across the bleak and remote steppes of Kazakhstan. According to Paul, this part of his journey has been one of the most demanding because of the logistical preparations necessary to walk across terrain that hasn’t been traversed on foot in decades. Nevertheless, he recently found time to browse through and respond to student work from Out of Eden Learn. In an email to us he commented, “I’m blown away—as usual—by the quality and thoughtfulness of the students’ work. Intellectually, it’s fascinating to see the cohesion of observations—and enthusiasm—among kids from all over the globe.” Twenty lucky students recently received a direct comment from Paul via our platform, including three who received a comment in Spanish (Paul is bilingual having spent much of his childhood in Mexico).”

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Image source: Yejune’s ‘Documenting the Everything’ photos and post

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Image source: Screenshot of Paul’s reply to Ted’s project

Congratulations to all of my students for their hard work on Out of Eden Learn. I think it’s fantastic that Paul is looking at student work while on his journey. 

 

 

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Go Athletes!

21 Apr
Track and field

Hanut, Masataka, and Ryotaro (Photo by Rob Martin)

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Good luck track and field athletes! We are proud of you.

Writing our Documentary Scripts

19 Apr

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Research is complete! We are now working on writing our scripts for our video documentary project. We are storyboarding our stories, finding images that support our stories, and planning for the next stage…creating our videos! This project will be due on Wednesday, April 27 (B/D) and Thursday, April 28 (G/H). 

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A Cartoon for Monday

18 Apr
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Image source: Bizarro by Dan Piraro

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Image source: Bizarro by Dan Piraro

Cartoon

Image source: The New Yorker

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Ancient Egypt Project – Research Tools!

11 Apr

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Students,

In addition to finding information about your topic in the library books we have in class, I would like you to use one (or both!) of the following sites:

  1. World Book Online – You have been provided the password! Click on the link here, or you can also find it under ‘Classroom Resources.’

  2. Web Path Express (no link) – This is connected to our CIC/Library website. Rather than use the library ‘catalog’ to find books, you can find great websites, according to your reading level. Click websites, filter by grade, and get results….you will find good websites for your topic! The link for the library catalog is the first one under ‘Class Resources,’ at the bottom of my blog, or on Moodle (CIC).

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The Orphan Bike Project

11 Apr

Students,

If you enjoyed STEM, like biking, and want to help others, this project might be for you! Here is a video I created last year for the project. More information is in the student bulletin!

Did you know bikes are one of the most efficient machines in the world? Are you interested in helping local kids? Mr. Ryan (8th grade) is putting together a team of students to pair up with a local orphan. You can work together with another kid to rebuild their bike. Don’t know how to work with bikes? No problem. We can learn together! The Orphan Bike Project will take place on 4 Saturdays here on campus. Here is the schedule:

April 23rd- Introductions, Clean bikes, Note what needs to be replaced, pictures and interviews           

May 14th- refurbish bicycles (brake pads, brake cables)

May 7th- refurbish bicycles 

May 21st – Bikeathon! To raise money for the orphan’s school costs.

Please e-mail Ms. Heidi sheidi@aisch.org if you are interested. Fill out this form, get it signed, and turn it into Ms. Heidi (Room 2123) by Friday, April 15.

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The Pyramids Few Tourists Have Seen (BBC)

9 Apr
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Image source: Vivien Cumming (BBC)

Unlike Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza, most of Meroe‘s pyramids are slightly smaller, with steeper sides, narrower bases and adjoining offering temples. Check out the images and information from this article to find out where you can see these pyramids…not in Egypt!

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Uber vs Rickshaw Race!

8 Apr

Transportation in India….Uber vs. rickshaw drivers in New Delhi. Who will win? 

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Take a Walk, Take a Photo

6 Apr

A message from Paul:

Dear Friends,

We’re happy to be back in touch to share an update and invite you to celebrate National Walking Day with the Out of Eden Walk.

Tomorrow, April 6, is National Walking Day across the US. Celebrate with Paul in the spirit of the Out of Eden Walk—wherever you are—by taking 30 minutes out of your day to go for a stroll. While on your walk, take a photo of an interesting detail you spot. Then share it on Twitter or Instagram using #EdenWalk, for a chance to be featured in the National Geographic #EdenWalk Walking Day Timeline.

Need some inspiration? Feel free to come up with your own creative message or reference our sample Tweet:

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Students, if you choose to do this, send me your photo by Friday and I will Tweet it out under my name and use your Out of Eden Learn Username. I really enjoyed your photos you took of your neighborhoods. I hope to see some more examples. I will also share them on my class blog too. 

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Are you drinking enough water?

5 Apr

I love Ted-Ed videos! This is a new one I watched today. While this is not about ancient history, I think it’s important and an interesting video to watch, especially as temperatures heat up in Chennai. Make sure you drink enough water. The fact that we spend a lot of time talking about why civilizations started near water resources is a good enough connection. Drink.More.Water. :>)

 

 

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Egypt – Gift of the Nile

1 Apr

We learned about Mesopotamia in the first trimester. This is a nice video that compares the two civilizations. Watch it!

This week we are learning about Egypt’s geography and how the Nile River, the longest river in the world, supported its civilization’s development and growth. Rich farmland (the ‘black land’) provided plenty of food for Egyptians. The river also became a trading highway. We played the Explanation Game, a Visible Thinking routine in class this week and generated questions, wonderings, and possible explanations for the images that showed life in ancient Egypt. Below are some photos and a playlist featuring short videos that support what we are learning in class and what you are reading. 

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