You have your textbook now....

and must cover it by Monday!

Book socks and the covers from the Media Center are not acceptable, as neither are designed for the larger sized textbooks that you have been given. So, instead, you should cover your textbook with either a paper grocery bag or a shopping bag from your favorite store! And, heck.....they're free!

If you do not know how to cover your textbook in this manner, I have photocopied directions to show you how (also found on the student links page at www.ShellysScienceSpot.com) and have linked the video below to help you out.



Have a wonderful weekend....and make those covers strong! Your textbook must remain covered all year long! (oooh, that rhymes) :)

Binary Fission

Take a look at the YouTube video embedded below....the simplest living things (bacteria) reproduce through a process called binary fission. In this process, a cell doubles its genetic material (DNA), increases in size, and then splits in two. This process can occur for each cell every 20 minutes! So, 1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 4, 4 becomes 8, 8 becomes 16, 16 becomes 32....64....128....256......and so on! And they do it on their own, without a partner - this is called asexual reproduction.



Check out the video and tell me what you think. I'm getting lonely here without any comments from my students (the comment on the Simpsons video was from my friend!).

Enjoy your day off!

Shelly has returned from her "vacation"

....and is resting comfortably in her tank after eating a hearty meal of turtle pellets! Some of you were worried about her absence, but I knew that she would turn up eventually. Let's just say that I was thrilled to see her again.

In an effort to prevent both her and Isador from taking these unannounced vacations, I immediately turtle-proofed room 241A and purchased a baby gate from Target. Now Isador can join his big sister again in stretching their turtle legs in our classroom!