Dear fifth graders,
Can't believe I will be back in Massachusetts tomorrow! The cold will certainly be a shock. But it's always good to be home. I miss you all.
Last night I went to San Francisco's Chinatown. They have a large community of Chinese Americans here. The architecture is very cool and there are a lot of shops and restaurants.

I had a nice last day today. I went to the conference this morning. I feel so lucky to have come here-I learned so much and talked to people from all over the world. I feel lucky to have been able to talk to the scientific community about the importance of science for elementary students- and that kids love science and are great student scientists!
This afternoon I went to a couple of art museums. Here I am with a very famous statue.

 Then on to the California Academy of Sciences- where the Aquarium is. It was beautiful. They have a big rainforest exhibit with butterflies, birds, and lots of those colorful frogs.They had a "green" roof  you can go up on. It was very cool.

 Finally a walk to the Japanese Tea
Garden for a cup of tea.

I am looking forward to seeing all of you. Have a great weekend- play outdoors!
Ms. Bennett

Hi 5B and 5C,
A nice sunny day today in San Francisco! Nice for me and the sea lions!

My presentation went well; it was a little scary up there. Everyone laughed at my jokes- that is the most important thing!

The convention center is named after George Moscone, a former mayor of San Francisco. He worked hard for equal rights for all - including gay people. He was assassinated by another politician.It was very tragic.

I keep forgetting it is Christmas time- the weather is warm and flowers are blooming. I did see the Christmas tree at Union Square- They were working on the lights. Maybe I'll try to fit in a little shopping!

Love ya-  Ms. Bennett

Greetings Mars Researchers!
I had a really exciting day here in San Francisco! I went to a presentation by one of the scientists working on the Mars Rover project. He told us all about the exploration of the rim of the Endeavour crater. Some of the rocks show definite signs that there was water in that area- probably in the form of hot springs or steam vents from below the surface. It was so cool. How do you think they know that a rock may have been exposed to water?
You can read all about it at this website- http://thesop.org/story/20121205/nasa-opportunity-rover-robot-completes-walkabout-on-mars-crater-rim.html

It was a bit rainy and foggy, but I did walk down to Fisherman's Wharf , a famous San Francisco landmark.

There are all these sea lions that hang out on the docks. They were very funny, pushing each other off and honking at each other.
You can also see Alcatraz Island, the famous prison.

It looked spooky in the fog! After this I thought the appropriate place to have lunch was....

I really enjoyed reading your comments. San Francisco is a little farther than 1000 miles!
I'll leave you with one more famous SF landmark- Cable Cars!

I'll write more tomorrow- Miss you all!
Ms. Bennett

Sunday in San Francisco

Hi fifth graders!
Hard to believe I'm so far away from all of you! I had a fun first day- walked a lot!!
It was really rainy this morning- then the sun came out. It was a beautiful 65 degrees.

I checked into the conference. The conference center is really big. It is actually three buildings.
The name is the Moscone center- I'll tell you more about that later.
Then I walked to the ferry building down by the San Francisco Bay. It is beautiful. They set up an ice skating rink for the holidays. It was funny to see a skating rink surrounded by palm trees!

People were selling things and there were street musicians. It was very festive.

Have a Happy Monday and I miss you all. It is only 8:30 PM here but it is 11:30 in Massachusetts- way past my bedtime!

your friend,  Ms. B

Greetings From San Francisco!

Hi Fifth Graders

I am off to another conference to learn more about teaching math and science, and to present some of the awesome work you fifth graders are doing at Briggs! It is a really big conference- The American Geophysical Union.
Their "mission statement" (we talked about those) is:
 The purpose of the American Geophysical Union is to promote discovery in Earth and space science for the benefit of humanity.

   
Please check out their website-   http://www.agu.org/about/our_science/

There will be NASA scientists, geologists, hydrologists (water), and climate scientists, just to name a few. I will be really learning a lot!

I will be in San Francisco all week!

Here is a map showing San Francisco. You can answer these questions on the blog.
1. What state is San Francisco in?
2. Which ocean is its coastline on? 
3. Look at the map and the map scale. About how far is away is San Francisco from Ashburnham?

One more question- What famous bridge is in San Francisco?

I know you will have a great week. Keep in touch!!

Ms. Bennett

Some final thoughts..

Dear fifth graders,
As you know I am back at 5B but I wanted to leave you with some final thoughts and hear some of yours. I had a fantastic weekend hiking after the conference was over. I took this one treacherous dirt road way up into the mountains in search of the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. I fad never seen them in the wild and really wanted to. I was rewarded for my persistence by coming upon a group of these wonderful animals coming up on the ridge. It was really thrilling.

The second day I hiked in an area with a lot of cool rock formations. I got attacked by chipmunks when I stopped for a snack!

It is good to be back at Briggs. I met a lot of nice and interesting people from all over the world. I learned a lot and have some good new ideas for science activities!
Here are my final thoughts and I want you to write some of yours.

• You learn a lot from traveling, no matter where you go.
• Keep your eyes and your mind open. A lot of things we all believe may not be correct. Remember, people once thought the world was flat!!
• We share our world with all the plants and animals. They are not there just to pose for pictures or to provide food and other things we need. It's their world too. All the more reason to take care of our beautiful planet.
• Good to be back!

Your friend,

Ms. Bennett

Dear fifth graders,

A sunny day in the Rockies! I loved reading all your comments. Good thinking. I hear it was chilly in Massachusetts! It was cold here too. Here is a picture of the snow in the mountain. Is there snow on Mnt. Watatic? Hmmm...

All of the young trees here at the Y have these fences around them. Why do you think they do this?

So while most of us have been concentrating on the "charismatic mega fauna" (big cuddly animals) Dr. Ellison was looking for ants. Do you think the ants here are the same kind we have in Ashburnham? Here is an ant nest he found way up in the mountains in the alpine tundra- 11,500 feet in elevation. Ants are everywhere!

 By the way, these are elk. How are they different from moose? Thank you Dr. Ellison for these great pictures.

I did a presentation today about student scientists (like you!) taking and using phenology data. Everyone was very impressed.We'll be starting our phenology project next week.

Sorry I missed open house but I'm sure Ms. Gera did a great job welcoming your parents.

I'll leave you tonight with a funny picture of an elk playing with the tire swing at the playground and a picture of a mountain cottontail- there are alot of these around here too.

Happy Friday!!

Ms. Bennett

Wednesday 9-12-2012

Hi fifth graders!
It was great to hear from you today! Glad you're with us too, Mrs. R and Ari.
We had a rainy day today, but it was still beautiful with the mist all around the mountains. There was actually some new snow up on the highest peaks!
I presented my poster on the Schoolyard Ecology Program at Harvard Forest at a poster session. That's when scientists display and talk about posters they made displaying their research.

It's fun because you can see what everyone else is studying. We will make our own research posters later in the year.
I went to another meeting where all the education people got together and shared what kind of programs they have for elementary, middle, and high school students. Here is a map of the

LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) Sites.

I was thinking about the mountains here, and the elevation here in Estes Park is 8,010 feet above sea level. Briggs is at 292 feet. How much higher is Estes Park? How does that affect the weather? The trees and animals?

Here is a map with Ashburnham and Estes Park marked with a yellow dot. Which town is closer to the equator? How can that affect the weather?

Which do you think affects the weather and climate more? Elevation or latitude (distance from the equator)?

                                                                                                                    I took this picture yesterday!

It is really cold tonight so we made a fire in our fireplace. Good night and be happy- Our earth is a really beautiful place- you will see a lot of amazing things in your life time!

Ms. Bennett



Dear Fifth Graders,

Had a wonderful day here in the Rockies. Sorry about the blog comments- You should be able to comment now- no problem!!

Went for a really nice hike in the park today with Dr. Sydne Record from the Harvard Forest.. The aspens were gold. We saw some amazing birds- they weren't afraid of us and came really close.

This is a Gray Jay. My friend Sydne took this picture.

Unfortunately the ponderosa pines have been attacked by the mountain pine beetle- a very destructive pest that kills the trees.

 

 Can you think of an invasive beetle that is killing maple trees in our area?

On our way down the mountain we saw a family of elk. I pulled over to take a picture and the big male walked up on the road right in front of the car,  and looked at us. It was huge! It was a little scary but very cool. The female had a radio tracking collar on.

 

 So you don't think it's all fun and adventure here (although it is always fun!), I went to a workshop on making forest litter decomposition bags to watch the leaves, pine needles, and all that "good for the soil stuff" break down and decompose. We can do that when I get back. I also went to a presentation on the new science standards for teachers.

Happy Trails fifth graders! Miss you lots!

Ms. Bennett

Monday, Sept. 9

Dear fifth graders,
What an exciting two days I've had here!! I flew in to Denver Saturday night and rented a car to drive up here to Estes Park. It is northwest of Denver, right next to Rocky Mountain National Park.

I am staying in a cabin here at the YMCA of the Rockies with three of the ladies from Harvard Forest.
That's my cool red rental car in the back!

The name of the cabin is Kum Ba Yah-like the old song. We thought that was funny! It is so beautiful here in the mountains. There are deer and elk, and someone saw a bear but I haven't yet!

On Sunday I presented some of the work I've done at Harvard Forest. Looks like I'm the only elementary teacher here- It's a big responsibility representing elementary school! I keep bragging how awesome you all are!
I went to a lecture this morning by a scientist from the National Science Foundation. He was talking about how new species are still evolving! Imagine a species that would evolve that is adapted to survive in our environment now. What would it eat? Where would it live? You can tell me your ideas by commenting on this blog.
I met a scientist from Alaska today. There are people here from all over the world. She's going to send us some pictures.
One more question before I go. Here is a picture of the forest in the mountains here. How do you think they are different from the forest in Ashburnham? How are they the same?

Miss you all and Ms. Gera too.
Ms. Bennett

Welcome to Fifth Grade

Dear Fifth Graders and Parents,

Welcome to fifth grade and your last year in elementary school! We're off to a great start and I know we'll have a fabulous year!

As many of you know I spend the summer as a research assistant at the Harvard Forest in Petersham (http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/news). The Harvard Forest is Harvard University's forest ecology/ biology research site as well as part of the Long Term Ecological Research Network (http://www.lternet.edu/). 

For the past two summers I have worked with Dr. Andrew Richardson's Phenocam project. In the fall of 2011, the Ashburnham- Westminster Regional School District became the first of five schools to join  Phenocam Network with the installation of a digital phenocam on the roof of Overlook Middle School. Our school district is now part of a network of near surface remote sensing digital cameras that send images of forest, shrub, and grassland vegetation cover at more than 130 diverse sites in North America to the digital archives at the University of New Hampshire.

Mr. DeHays   Technology Director

          
 As a part of the Phenocam project, students at the K-12 level have expanded the scope of phenological monitoring that is part of the Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology Program protocol, Buds, Leaves, and Global Warming. In this protocol, we work with Dr. John O’Keefe to monitor buds and leaves on schoolyard trees to determine the length of the growing season, giving students the opportunity to be a part of real and important research concerning the critical environmental issue of climate change. 

   
This fall I have been invited to present at the LTER All Scientists Meeting in Estes Park, Colorado on September 10-13. (http://asm2012.lternet.edu/). I will be presenting both at the education and phenology working group sessions. 

Ms. Nancy Gera, former fifth grade teacher extraordinaire, will be substituting me for the week. So we don't miss each other too much, I have created this blog to chat and post pictures. 5B and 5C will have opportunities to blog with me at the computer lab, and of course you are welcome to blog from home. There will be a link to this blog on my website, which can be accessed from the JRB website (http://jrb.awrsd.org/class_profile_view.aspx?id=979082df-1678-4faa-8f67-64d4bcd7f2b0)

Unfortunately I will not be at Open House on Sept. 13, but Ms. Gera will be there to welcome you and answer any questions you may have.

Looking forward to "blogging" with you!

Ms. Bennett

Phenology is the study of recurring lifecycle events influenced by seasonal environmental changes, including budburst, flowering, and leaf drop by plants and migration by animals.