Christmas Count Down Tree

This is a favorite activity for children of all ages.
Simply cut out the tree, decorate it with your favorite markers, glitter or crayons.
Glue the tree to a piece of construction paper for a sturdy background.
Make a paper chain of green and red links, and attach it to the bottom of the tree.
Each night cut away a link and you will know how many more days until Christmas.

This is for a class of 25 students with one additional adult helper.TWO HOUR LESSON

PLAN:05 minutes - introductions and getting to know each other a little:

10 minutes - Explain the history of origami. "Complete Origami, An A to Z of Facts and Folds" by Erik Kenneway can help prepare you, as well as a little web research. Make sure you explain your interest as well.

10 minutes - Show the different types of paper you can use included foil, patterned, makeshift and specialty paper. Talk about size of paper and how it creates different difficulty levels and effects the look of the completed models. You would be surprised at how fascinated they are be this. Most of them think of one type of paper and one approximate size.:

5 minutes - Show the different books and instruction resources they can find to learn how to fold, and how the instructions themselves are labeled.

10 minutes Show and tell time. I present models I have folded and some that I have made art out of. I have them guess what the simple ones are supposed to be. Simple models sometimes only suggest what the model is and it can be fun to listen to the various interpretations. They also like the realism of the more complex models.Notice that we are 40 to 45 minutes in and they haven't touched a piece of paper. It doesn't matter. If anything they are geared up to start folding and they have a little background to work from.As my general rule, I come with four models in mind, broken down as follows.:

15 minutes A simple one that does not require accompanying folding instruction hand outs. It still needs to be cool enough that it is worth folding. Recommended 1: A simple box or candy dish. Bring bite sized, wrapped candy to "test" the success of the models completion by throwing a few pieces in each. Make sure it is VERY simple to fold. I do a variation on the fortune teller (cootie catcher) that just about 3/4 of the kids already know how to make.:

20 Minutes Two progressively harder ones, that while still simple, introduce more difficult folding techniques and a simple base.Recommended 2:

A paper balloon or a tumbling toy. My favorite to do is the tumbling toy and I sometimes will do the third model as the paper balloon depending on the age.Here is a link to the video instructions on how to do a tumbling toy.:

25 minutesRecommended 3: The paper balloon or the crane.:10 minutes I then make enough of a classic model such as a crane or an inflatable frog to hand out to everyone as a gift. All told about 2 hours of fun and while the kids still have plenty of energy you are likely to be just about spent.I also like to leave enough paper behind that they have some to practice other models with.-----------------

Don't want to Forget

There are 2 great websites for teachers that are a must visit. The first is http://www.thinkfinity.org hosted by Verizon foundation. There are thousands of lesson plans and ideas for teachers, parents, and students. Be sure to explore it carefully.

The second site is Discovery Education. This site has video support to all curriculum areas and much much more.
Enjoy!!

The Perfect School

Perfect School
In a recent study, less than one tenth of one percent (15) of the public schools in Washington State were rated "Perfect" by an educational research foundation. Cedar Wood is one of those fifteen "Perfect" schools. This comparison was based on WASL scores over the past five years.
During that time Cedar Wood students consistently performed at exceptional levels in all areas measured. Such strong results are only possible when all elements are working together—excellent instruction; challenging curriculum aligned with the state standards; highly motivated students; immediate identification and remediation of students needing assistance; and a stable, encouraging and supportive parent community.

Cedar Wood continues to serve as a model for other schools in our state and to adjust to the changing needs in our student body. We are proud to be labeled a “Perfect” school and strive to earn that title through every interaction every day.
http://www.king5.com/education/stories/NW_050609EDB-schoolreport-card-TP.2645aee8.html

Congratulations past and present Cedar Wood Staff.

WA school report card shows room for improvement
01:11 PM PDT on Wednesday, May 6, 2009
KING5.com Staff

SEATTLE – An annual report card of 1,130 public elementary schools in Washington state has found room for improvement.
In the study published Tuesday by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, only 15 schools – less than one-tenth of one percent – were given a perfect rating. Four received a rating of zero.
Statewide, the average rating on a scale from zero to ten is six. Twenty Washington elementary schools hit the average mark.
Of all state-wide elementary tests in 2008, students failed more than one-third of the time.
The study also found low-income students are struggling. Of the 282 schools serving the highest proportion of low-income families, 19 had a rating of average or higher. In just 24 schools, children of low-income families did better than those from higher income families on the statewide fifth grade reading test.
The authors say results of the report card are based on five years of Washington Assessment of Student Learning scores. It uses a statistical model developed by Canada’s Fraser Institute.
The report comes as school districts face teacher layoffs due to the $9 billion state budget deficit.
Schools that received perfect ratings:
Cedar Wood, Bothell
Challenge, Mountlake Terrace
Island Park, Mercer Island
Libby Center, Spokane
Lowell, Seattle
Medina, Medina
Elizabeth Blackwell, Sammamish
Lakeridge, Mercer Island
East Ridge, Woodinville
Wellington, Woodinville
Louisa May Alcott, Redmond
Wilson, Spokane
West Mercer, Mercer Island
Horrace Mann, Redmond
Cam, Battle Ground

Schools that received a zero rating:
Lummi, Bellingham
Muckleshoot, Auburn
Virgie Robinson, Pasco
Wa He Lut, Olympia

Up To Date

Our adventures in Alaska started in May of 2009. To read about whale, bear, wolf and many more encounters go to http://capestjames.blogspot.com/

Untie The Lines and Set Sail!!

Untie The Lines and Set Sail!!

We are about to begin our second sailing adventure. We set sail April 10 th for Alaska. Who knows what adventures lie ahead. I hope to teach along the way and of course learn.

A World in Motion!

This program is one of the best kept secrets. Teachers this is a must for your classroom learning. Receive a free kit and start teaching now.

http://www.sae.org/exdomains/awim/

The A World in Motion® curriculum joins together teachers, students, and industry volunteers in an exploration of physical science while addressing essential mathematics and scientific concepts and skills. Industry volunteers play an essential role in motivating the next generation to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math by bringing their everyday experiences into an AWIM classroom.

Each of the AWIM activities is designed around current math, science, and technology standards. SAE International provides the AWIM curriculum and materials at no cost to classroom teachers who complete a Statement of Partnership.

The program consists of hands-on physical science curricula designed for a variety of grade levels.
Elementary (3-6) Skimmer JetToy Electricity & Electronics

Fall

You can take the teacher out of the classroom but you can't take the classroom out of the teacher. It's fall and I miss the challenge of coming up with wonderful lessons to inspire children. So here is a science lesson that meets the needs of Halloween- which is no longer allowed in school. Enjoy

Pumpkin Science

Scientific Discovery and Investigation with Pumpkins

1. Predict how much your pumpkin weighs. Then weigh it on a bathroom scales.
2. Name the properties of the pumpkin.
3. How does the pumpkin feel?
4. How does the pumpkin smell?
5. How does the pumpkin taste?
6. What does the pumpkin look like on the inside?
7. Does the pumpkin have seeds?
8. To get inside the pumpkin, cut off the top.
9. Does a pumpkin grow underground--or on top?
10. Does a pumpkin grow on a vine, a bush, or where?
11. Are all seeds inside a pumpkin the same size?
12. Will a small pumpkin have small seeds in it as compared to a large pumpkin?
13. What could you do with the insides of a pumpkin?
14. What could you do with the seeds?
15. Predict how many seeds are in your pumpkin. Count your seeds. How close did you come?
16. Now cook your seeds. Be sure to taste the seeds before you cook them, then taste them after you cook them. Is there any difference in taste? [Cook the seeds in a popcorn popper with butter or oil.]
17. Plant your seeds. Plant some of the cooked seeds to see what will happen. Are the seeds scattered randomly within a pumpkin or arranged in some sort of pattern?
18. Do big pumpkins have larger seeds than small pumpkins?
19. Is there anything in a pumpkin which lines up with the creases on the outside?
20. What does a pumpkin seed weigh?
21. How many seeds does a pumpkin contain?
22. Do all pumpkins have the same number of seeds?
23. Can you tell which side of a pumpkin was against the ground? How? Does the stem help you figure it out?
24. Will pumpkins float in water? If they do, do they float stem up, stem down, or stem sideways?
25. Can pumpkin seeds be sorted into groups?
26. How thick is the skin of a pumpkin? How far in is the meat?
27. Place an empty wastebasket in a dishpan. Fill the wastebasket to the rim with water. Place a pumpkin into the water. Measure the volume of water displaced. This will be the volume of the pumpkin. Find the volume of several pumpkins. What relationship is there between weight and volume?
28. Do birds eat pumpkin seeds?
29. Make a list of the properties of a pumpkin and give it to someone. Can they guess what the object is?
30. Will pumpkin seeds grow if planted right away?
31. What folklore can you find about pumpkins?
32. Where did pumpkins come from originally?
33. What other plants do we eat which are related to pumpkins?
34. What is a pepo?
35. If every seed in a pumpkin grew into a plant which produced one pumpkin and each of the seeds produced a plant which did the same, how many seeds would be produced?
36. What other pumpkin investigations can you think up?

Physical science: Investigation and experimentation: sink/float, color, shapes, sizes, textures, # seeds, line up with ribs?, and much more

Sink or Float: Divide students into small groups. Provide a water-filled container large enough to hold pumpkins, a pumpkin or the students’ individual pumpkins, paper towels, crayons or markers, and pencils. Ask students to turn to a blank page in their pumpkin journals and answer the following questions: Do you think a pumpkin will sink or float in water? Why? Next have them rest their pumpkins on top of the water while holding onto the stems. On the count of 3, have them release their pumpkins. Discuss the results of the experiment as a class. Then ask each student to remove his/her pumpkin from the water and dry it off. Then have each child summarize and illustrate the activity in the remaining space on his/her journal page.

Great Resources!!

Welcome to Maps4Kids.com! - a fun and free educational site. NEW for 2008-2009! Maps4Kids en Español. Also, we continue to add content like Seven Wonders and Outline Maps.

Many pages are now GoogleMaps enabled to add another dimension to Maps4Kids.
Our mission is to help children gain a greater understanding of the world through maps, geographic information and geography games.

Maps4Kids.com has maps and data on all of the 50 states, as well as for over 200 countries around the world. There are map puzzles and links to quizzes to help kids learn where states and countries are, and what their capitals are.

Are your students struggling with the metric system? Our Calculator page will help them find the answer ! - and our Weather page will let them link to weather forecasts for their zip code or city.

Our latest addition is a Top 10 List page loaded with useful geo-facts, and don't miss our popular GeoNews page, which is updated daily with interesting geographic news from around the globe.
If you find this website useful, please inform your students and link to us from your classroom home page.

Regards,
Tony Kehlhoferhttp://www.maps4kids.com

PBwiki Program for Educators

Offers $25 Million in Web 2.0 Tools
PBwiki, the leading provider of business and educational wiki's, has announced that they are offering educators who sign up as part of the 2008 PBwiki Program for Educators a free premium wiki (regular price: $250/year). This program is also open to homeschool parents as well.

Setting up a PBwiki is as easy as making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! You can learn more about all the ways you can use a wiki in your classroom to enhance and support student learning over on the PBWiki Education page, or the PBwiki Educator Community. PBwiki's are 100% ad-free and totally private.

Educators can also use PBwiki Plugins to add multimedia content with a few clicks, including spreadsheets, calendars, chat rooms, videos, maps, photo slideshows, and more. If you have other embeddable widgets (like Google Gadgets), you can also insert them in your PBwiki.
To claim your free wiki, simply sign up using the following URL where you will be automatically be guided through the process of creating your free premium educational wiki:
http://pbwiki.com/?special=87937&refwiki=wawiki

Once you create your wiki, you will also be eligible to participate in PBwiki's Back-To-School Challenge, which will offer teachers like you a chance to win free school supplies and other prizes by sharing lesson plans, blogging, and offering tips on creating a collaborative classroom or library.

WASL Scores!! 87.7%

WASL Scores are out!!!

The unofficial WASL scores have been released for the 2007-08 school year.
Once again Cedar Wood science is among the highest in the state. This year the score is 87.7% passing. Congratulations scientists of Cedar Wood. All of the students deserve kudos!!!!

The Parties, Recognitions, Tears & Gratitude

It was all a bit overwhelming and it seemed to never end, all of the parties, recognition and the gratitude from past and present students and parents. How wonderful to be told you have made a difference in the lives of others. All of that said none of it would have been possible without the support of fantastic principals. Jim McNally was the first to have a profound impact on my teaching and then Dr. David Jones in my last year of teaching. I feel so very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with both of these men before I left the profession. Then there are the quality colleagues that I have had the opportunity to work side by side with.

So much of the school climate is directly related to the administrator but that is a topic for another posting.

On June 16th a speech was requested by the audience for which believe it or not I was not fond of doing. So instead of a speech I made what I hope to be a fun tribute to those I have worked with over the years.

At all times find joy and laughter in your days.

One last email to my class!!

Good Evening Everyone,
I must begin by saying there are no adequate words to explain my feelings. Each and every single one of you has a special place in my heart and a special memory I will carry with me.

This entire week has been filled with nonstop events.
Our field trip Monday took us to the EMP for science fiction and music. After school was a staff event for both Mrs. McKissik and I that was unbelievable with the help of Jeanni Thomas.

Tuesday we had Field Day, filled with games, fun and then on to square dancing and the Awards Assembly- where many of our classmates were recognized for their accomplishments.

Wednesday was the 5th Grade Celebration- a time to reflect and be proud of the growth that has taken place over the years at Cedar Wood.

Thursday brought tears, surprises and special memories for a life time. Thank you most of all for the kind letters. I will cherish them forever. The Memory Book is wonderful. Jim and I both will enjoy the Passport Card and will use it often -each time thinking and thanking the class of 07-08. I love the Bead Book and will get into the projects during the cold Alaskan winter. Not to forget the special meals made by Jeanni- what a treat especially for someone who does not cook!!!!!! You are an amazing person.

Each and every single child in this classroom holds a special spot in my heart. I wish you all the very best in life. Hold on to the moments they are what makes a life. Enjoy the challenges that life throws at you for that is what makes you strong and stop long enough to realize when you are happy.

Boys and girls many of you wrote "please don't forget me"- I promise I won't. Keep in touch with me through our blog. I look forward to hearing about your accomplishments in life. Continue to make me proud. Thank you for being wonderful people.

All of my love, hugs and of course Slugs!!

Fran Hartman
Cedar Wood ~ 5th Grade
425.385.7734
http://blogs.everettsd.org/fhartman/
http://allthingsfrommyhart.blogspot.com/

Setting sail in Sept. ~ follow our adventures@ http://capestjames.blogspot.com/

Looking at Retirement

Cedar Wood’s Fran Hartman was described by Principal David Jones as a “core educator who has worked for five different superintendents “and been an inspiration to every one of them.” Her science students have the top WASL scores in the state because of her creativity, flexibility, energy, innovation and student-centered attitude. She teaches children not only how to answer questions but to explain where those answers came from and is “absolutely brilliant” in the way she pulls in resources.

Fran thanked many in the audience for inspiring her. “Carol, YOU were the principal who opened the door to my teaching imagination by telling me that students needed a ‘hook’ for learning. That simple suggestion of adding music to my punctuation lessons was the beginning for me. Jim McNally, it was you who supported my work with NASA, and I know you went home worried some days. Dr. Jones, little did I know that you would challenge, support, encourage and help me to keep learning alive, even more so in this last year. Thank you.”

Teacher, adventurer sails off into the sunset

Published: Friday, May 16, 2008

Teacher, adventurer sails off into the sunset

By Sarah KoenigEnterprise reporter
Teacher Fran Hartman had just wrapped up a lesson on global warming for her fifth-graders at Cedar Wood Elementary, and as students filed out, one paused to run an idea by her."Could they make a giant vacuum to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere?" a boy asked.Hartman paused for a second."Do you think 100 years ago someone sat in a classroom and said: 'Do you think someday people will be able to fly?'" she replied.The "anything is possible" answer seems to sum up Hartman's approach to life.

For a start, she lives on a boat. A decade ago, she took two years off teaching to sail around the world. Until recently, she drove a Harley motorcycle. Her lessons, which stem from slugs and bubble gum to a giant space shuttle replica that made headlines, are similarly "out of the box."And when she retires in June, she plans to sail to Alaska to "winter" there.Hartman now lives on a sailboat at Shilshole Bay in Seattle. But in 1997, the boat was also her home for two years. That's when she sailed around the world with her husband, an experienced sailor.

Hartman hasn't read "The Perfect Storm," the sailing disaster account by Sebastian Junger."I don't read any of those things about sailing," she said. Nevertheless, the first night on the water, she was terrified. She and her husband took turns driving the boat for four hours at a time."When morning came it was like, 'I'm still alive!'" she said. "Then I realized it was no big deal."She was also seasick on every leg of the trip.

But the voyage brought them to amazing places, including French Polynesia, Fiji, the Kokos Keeling atoll, where the water is an intense turquoise, and one island that was like walking into National Geographic, Hartman said."They're still naked!" she exclaimed, referring to the children there. "They fished, grew their own food."As if the trip weren't adventure enough, Hartman has been riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle for five years. On a sunny day, she'll commute to Mill Creek on it, and has motored to biker gatherings as far away as Sturgis, S.D.

But while riding in September of 2006, she hit a setback.Hartman was hit by a three-quarter ton truck and was bed ridden for four months in intense pain."I could not function," she said. "My husband was flipping me like a pancake."She's still recovering from the accident and has low-level pain. In February, she had surgery for a broken bone in her hand from the accident that doctors hadn't found.

She learned something from it, she said."In an instant life can be over, and you never, ever know when that's going to be," Hartman said. "I'd tell anyone with good health to do what you want to do now – don't wait for more money, don't wait for retirement. If it's important to you, do it."

She also recommends telling family and friends you love them every day.

Hartman's expansive approach to life is reflected in her 30 years of teaching.

Once a year from 1993 to 1997, Hartman and parent volunteers converted her classroom into a replica of the mid-deck of a space shuttle. The replica took up the whole room.For 24 hours, students wearing astronaut T-shirts did experiments about space and communicated with "mission control," located in the library. They programmed lessons about space for computers, which were less commonly used then. Parents wired the place so students could communicate with each other with white phones. Student "reporters" covered the event minute by minute, asking questions and writing articles. "It was huge," Hartman said. "Parents were here, senators, congressmen."Students had a live video conference with NASA (the real NASA), and the news channel CNN came out to cover it.As a result of the press coverage, Hartman got to have dinner with Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong.

But that's only one of Hartman's teaching stories. Students also did a unit on Mars that included giving a "Mars Rover License" to Brian Cooper, the scientist who was controlling the Mars Rover robot at the time, in 1997. Cooper came to the school and did a test demonstration. The license the students made for him was signed by the governor and other politicians. It hung in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., for a year. Then Hartman got Al Gore to sign it.

On a closer-to-the-ground note, Hartman has also done lessons where students try to lure slugs to the school with slug habitat, and discover the properties of chewing gum by chewing it, weighing it and doing other experiments. Hartman's most recent science lesson is on global warming. For that project, a nursery donated a tree for every student to take home and plant.

Hartman said her philosophy of teaching can be summed up in a quote from John Gardner, the U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare from 1965-1968."Much education today is monumentally ineffective," it reads. "All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants."

Hartman plans to keep teaching even after retirement.Her and her husband will set sail this summer, headed north, and spend the winter in Alaska, where Hartman hopes to teach at a school. The length of the trip is "indefinite," she said. From Alaska, Hartman and her husband will head south."Maybe Chile, maybe Antarctica," she said.

© 2008 The Enterprise Newspapers, Lynnwood, WA

Outstanding Educator Award

Every educator does what is necessary to help children succeed never expecting recognition. When it comes your way it is over whelming. thank you Cedar Wood PTA it has been my pleasure serving your children and your community.

Imagine my surprise when I received a call from a former student's parent telling me she had written an essay in this book about me. There is no greater joy in a teacher's life than to know that they made a difference in another life. Thank you Sharyn and Drew for the tribute to my life's work.

Synopsis

"The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you . . ." ~Dan Rather

Great teachers are the unsung heroes of our lives. More than mere educators, they don't just dictate facts and check spelling, they transform lives. In My Teacher Is My Hero, you'll meet more than fifty unforgettable teachers who go the extra mile so their students can go the extra mile as well-making an impact that lasts long after the classroom. From hard lessons learned on the playground to enlightening discussions in a professor's office, these are the tales of those lucky enough to learn from the best. In this moving collection, we celebrate the teachers who go above and beyond, enlightening not only our minds but our hearts, as well.

Biography

Susan Reynolds has been a professional writer, editor, and author for more than twenty-five years. She is the author of Change Your Shoes, Change Your Life; Everything Personal Finance for Single Mothers; and The Everything Enneagram Book. She credits her successful progression through life and art to several teachers who said the right words at the right time and vastly influenced her life in ways they have yet to know . . . until now.

NEA Today, Lift off to Learning

Lift off to Learning:NEA Today , September 1993

"Three, two, one, lift-off!" Last spring's rocket launch in Fran O'Rourke's Bothell Washington, classroom may have been a simulation, but to O'Rourke's third, fourth, and fifth graders, it was very real. At Cedar Wood Elementary, Launch 93 was underway.
Inside the space vehicle--actually a life sized model of a real NASA space rocket--were six appropriately dresses student "astronauts". For the next 24 hours, these kids lived in the model they'd built, performing experiments they and other students had designed.
Outside the deck station was the mission control area, staffed by 10 students. Their job: keep in contact with the astronauts and brief the press.
The press corps--10 more students--produced a newsletter for the school and community.
Each student had sought a chosen role by submitting a resume, including an essay on why the student was qualified for a certain position, and a letter of recommendation from a parent. The latter was a great self-esteem booster, notes O'Rourke.
Launch '93 was the culmination of a six-month, in-depth class study of the NASA launch process. During the semester, students had done everything from visiting a NASA research center to trying out elements of actual astronaut training to building their own miniature rockets and firing them under the guidance of an aerospace specialist.
O'Rourke had been chosen by the National Science Teachers Association to participate in two weeks of in-depth study at NASA Ames Research Center. It was this experience that motivated her to develop the space project. She credits much of the project's success to grants from the University of Washington and to NASA and to donations of money, supplies, and guidance from Boeing and others.
What does O'Rourke hope the kids will learn? More than information, she says: "An excitement about learning."
(Courtesy of Ellen Banner and NEA Today.)

Let's Do Launch

Overview

Let's Do Launch is a simulation of the launch process performed by NASA with the space shuttle project. Students participate in a launch from start to finish and develop an invigorated interest in language, math, science, and technology while they experience first hand the thrill, the challenge, and the unique adventure of simulated space travel.

Goals and Objectives

The goals of this project are to meet the challenges presented to our students in the 21st century by:
Promoting math and science across the content areas
Connecting exploration to science, social studies, language arts, mathematics, technology and the arts.
The measurable objectives of this project will be:
To increase awareness of the past, present, and future and relate how they impact exploration and our world.
To increase the use of math and science concepts in a real life situation.
To recognize the importance of math and science.
To work cooperatively for the best possible decision.
To strengthen reading for concepts, ideas and information, while language skills are being reinforced.

Let's do launch will stimulate critical and imaginative thinking, problem solving and effective decision making by individuals as well as groups.
Let's Do Launch is a total hands on activity. Students will construct full scale model (living quarters) of the Space shuttle, study all the aspects of planning and then SIMULATE a MISSION, provide news coverage of the mission, perform experiments while on the mission, gather data from the mission, and debrief the mission.
-

Methods Used

January: Rocketry
We will begin learning the basic principles of rocket propulsion and space craft guidance. Assembly and launch of individual rockets is a key component. The students will also look at past as well as future designs of craft.

February: Astronaut Training
Students will become aware of the extensive training NASA astronauts must undergo before a mission-from tasting space food to learning about life support systems.

March: Journalism Training

Each student will study and practice the elements of good journalism. They will then learn to use Publish It Easy on the Macintosh computer in preparing for the news paper they will publish covering events of the launch. They will also view CNN broadcast to emulate. (Students invited local press and television as well as CNN. One of the major local network affiliate stations turned the microphone over to the students who conducted a complete interview of the program participants. )

April: Scientist
Students will be asked to design experiments they would like to see performed during the launch (while in space). They will need to think about the effects of micro- gravity on their experiments. As we go through this process the students will be encouraged to send their experiments to NASA to use on the Teacher in Space project. Astronomy will be covered as well this month.

May: Flight Training/Shuttle Crew
All students will be given the opportunity to be trained in flight simulation. Trainees will then apply for crew positions that interest them. The applications will include a letter of interest, resume, two letters of reference one must be from a parent, application, and interview. The mission control, shuttle crew and news corps will then begin planning a time line for their simulated mission.

June: Mission
The goal is to run a 24 hour mission. Students will be at their stations the entire time. Crew members will be in the shuttle the full time. They will experience the close quarters and hardships involved in space as well as conduct experiments and record data. Mission control will need to be in constant contact with the shuttle crew. (Parent Volunteers put in an intercom system) The shuttle will be in my classroom, mission control will be in the computer lab and the news corps will be located in the library.

Evaluation
The evaluation of this project will be an ongoing process.
Observation and performance will be the main method of measurement.
Mission success and student evaluations will be a key factor as well.
Benefits
The benefit to students is overwhelming.
Students will be given the opportunity to see the wide range of jobs available at NASA, from artist to scientist.
The jobs available in the community for supporting NASA's shuttle project, from newscaster to electrician.
Students will experience first hand why math and science skills are necessary in every day life.
They will be turned on to subjects they once thought were dull and boring.
They will see the connection from one job to another and how they all are inter-webbed.

Italics indicate comment by J. Tillman

http://www-k12.atmos.washington.edu/k12/resources/cedar_wood/forourke.html

Fran O'Rourke- Hartman participated in the NEWEST Program (NASA Educational Workshops for Elementary Science Teachers)

Pathfinder: Mission to Mars

Description:
An engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and leader of the robotic program offers an insider's view of the Mars Pathfinder mission that sent a small but sophisticated robot millions of miles through space to explore the rocky terrain of Mars, providing a human perspective on the project and assessing its meaning in terms of scientific discovery.


This book does a nice job of describing the impact a group of 2nd- 5th grade students had on NASA scientists and engineers. With imagination, support of NASA scientist, engineers, the community and my classroom parents, my students and I were able to create an experience of a life time. At all times the focus was on reaching high learning standards with a strong in math and science.

I could not have created this project with out the support of my principal Jim McNally who believed in my teaching ability. Nor would it have been possible without the finacal support of Boeing, University Of Washington, or Everett Public Schools Foundaton.