Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Bookworms
"Larger than Life"
Elizabeth has been complaining about how boring her Biology Honors class is and how the teacher drones on and on with notes. Lately, the teacher decided to spice the class up a bit and gain some interest with class participation. Every now and then he assigns a student to present notes and if they get really in to it, they will present them with a power point computer presentation or some time of prop. This week was Elizabeth's turn and she decided to show the teacher how to get the interest of the class. She took her notes and not only made a PowerPoint presentation but presented them to the tune of "Larger than Life" Now this was done completely to the surprise of her classmates (except her close friends, one of which filmed this for her) and her teacher! Check it out! Unfortunately, the video doesn't capture the hilarity of the power point which she says it is the funniest part of the presentation (hard to believe). I haven't seen the what she had on the computer but I have a hard time believing it is funnier than what is in this video!
Monday, March 23, 2009
The Zourich -aka The Frankenstein
Friday, March 20, 2009
I dream of Jeannie wins Regional Science Fair!
Yesterday was the Regional Science Fair for 4th, 5th and 6th grade. Let me preface this entry by saying that at Holy Ghost it is a voluntary event to enter the Science Fair in the fourth grade, and you are competing against the 5th and 6th grade of which it is mandatory. You start in the classroom and if you pass the mustard, you get to go to the gym (Holy Ghost gym). Just to get to the gym is a big deal for a fourth grader! So, once you get to the gym, you compete with all the 5th and 6th grade projects that made it to the gym and only ten projects are chosen from the gym to attend the Regional Science Fair at SLU college. Needless to say, when Ellen and her friend won a spot to go to regional, it was very exciting for them. Most children would be a bit nervous for the Regional Science fair knowing they are up against the best of the best: all 5th and 6th graders. What is Ellen's first thought the morning of the competition? "Mom, can I wear my fake ponytail...it will be funny to see who notices that it is not real.". Amused, and now over the science fair after six years of participating (third child syndrome), I agreed that was a wonderful idea! So, Ellen clips in her fake hair piece and off we go to the Science Fair. Now, we haven't practiced with our partner since the gym so we do make the effort to show up a little early to do a few run throughs. Of course, Ellen's main concern is casually showing up and seeing when people notice that she is now "I dream of Jeannie"! It takes about one run through and her partner Racheal starts laughing and is the first to figure it out....slowly some of the other Holy Ghost student start to notice and, of course, Ellen loves it. One of her friends summed it up perfectly...."with Ellen, you expect the unexpected" So, after two run throughs, they were done an on to the fun stuff.....talking and hanging out with friends until the judges came. I did however, dethrone " I dream of Jeannie" back to Ellen during the judging as I didn't want a judge distracted with trying to decide "is it real" the whole time they were presenting their project! I have to say I was surprised when they came back with a first place ribbon, however, Ellen.....she quickly clipped the hair piece back in and was on to more exciting adventures!
Not to be outdone....Sara competed today and could not let her sister "one up her". She also brought home a first place ribbon and will go on to compete in state. They only let the 7th and 8th graders compete in state so the ponytail will not move on!
For all those that read my blog with young children, I know Science fair is a blip on the horizon right now, but when you get there, call me as we have some good projects that they have presented. This year, Ellen's title was "Draw your own Conclusion" She tested three crayons; Prang, Roseart and Crayola for the properties of smoothness in coloring (technical word is laydown ), flaking, strength and vividness. Prang is made of soybean oil, and the other two, paraffin wax so there were some major differences in the crayons. Sara's title was "We are N2 Beans", and she tested the affects of nitrogen on on bacteria in soil and how it affects growth in plants. We have some other winners in the vaults of the past so give us a call when the time comes!