Thanksgiving Traditions - Group Y

Each year many Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. This holiday is on the fourth Thursday in November. Thanksgiving is a time to be with family and celebrate traditions that have been carried over to each year. Families have different types of tradtions. Here are some of the more common traditions that are connected with Thanksgiving.

After reading this article, answer these questions.

1. Why is Thanksgiving known as the "busiest travel day of the year"? Explain in detail.

2. Why do we use the turkey's wishbone as a tradition? Why do we break the wishbone? Explain in detail.

Once you have completed reading the article and answering the questions, go to this Funny Fill-In and complete the work.

Thanksgiving Traditions - Group Z

Each year many Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. This holiday is on the fourth Thursday in November. Thanksgiving is a time to be with family and celebrate traditions that have been carried over to each year. Families have different types of tradtions. Here are some of the more common traditions that are connected with Thanksgiving.

After reading this article, answer these questions.

1.Explain why you think the President would "pardon" a turkey on Thanksgiving?

2. Why do we celebrate different traditions on Thanksgiving? Explain in detail.

Once you have completed reading the article and answering the questions, go to this Funny Fill-In and complete the work.

Thanksgiving Traditions - Group X

Each year many Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. This holiday is on the fourth Thursday in November. Thanksgiving is a time to be with family and celebrate traditions that have been carried over to each year. Families have different types of tradtions. Here are some of the more common traditions that are connected with Thanksgiving.


After reading this article, answer these questions.


1.Why does TV play a part in the Thanksgiving tradition? Explain in detail.


2. Why would a family chose to eat vegetarian meals on Thanksgiving? Explain in detail.


Once you have completed reading the article and answering the questions, go to this Funny Fill-In and complete the work.

Monster Glowing Squid Captured on Video

When it comes to the sea, there are a lot of unexplored things that Scientists are trying to learn about. Recently, Scientists in Japan took a photograph of a giant squid. These giant squids can grow as big as humans. This type of giant squid has arms that glow to caught prey. Above is the first photograph taken of this squid in the wild.

After reading this article, answer the following questions:

1. What is this squid known as?

2. Why does this squid glow? (give 2 reasons)

3. What is this squid missing that other squids have and what does it have in place of them?

4. Why do you think they were able to take a picture of this squid now?

5. How do you think this squid would hunt if it did not glow?

All About Chimps!

Chimpanzees are more like humans than researchers previously thought. In a new study performed in Japan, chimps helped other chimps get juice by passing them objects such as straws (to drink the juice) or sticks (to reach straws they couldn't reach). Right-click and open in new window to this webpage to watch a quick video of this.

After watching this video, answer the following:
1. Write a short summary of the video (1 main idea sentence and 2 supporting detail sentences).

After completing the summary, go to this webpage (right-click; open in new window). Look at the 5 pictures and read the 14 slides. Then answer the following:
2. Chimpanzees are omnivores. Give 4 examples of what they can eat.
3. Look at picture 5 of 5. Why is this chimpanzee holding a stick?
4. Read slide 7 of 14. Why do you think chimpanzee numbers have gotten smaller?
5. How far can a chimpanzee's food call go?

Animal Myths Busted

*myth: a popular story that is thought to be true.

Animals do some pretty strange things. Giraffes clean their eyes and ears with their tongues. Snakes see through their eyelids. Some snails can hibernate for three years. But other weird animal tales are hogwash. Read this National Geographic Kids article and find out how some of these myths started—and why they're not true.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE FIRST BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE QUESTIONS. There are 5 pages to the article.

1. Why can it be bad if penguins look up at low-flying airplanes?

2. Explain what the parotoid glands on a frog can do to predators and humans.

3. If you see a baby bird on the ground, why should you NOT touch it?

4. What are ostriches doing when it looks like they're burying their heads in the sand?

5. Pick any animal and make up your own animal myth. Have fun with this one and be as creative as possible.

Bullies

October 4 through 10 is National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week. Across the U.S., communities are working to make sure schools are caring environments.

Read this article to see what some communities and schools are doing.

1. What does it mean to be a bully?

2. How many states have passed laws to stop bullying in schools?
3a. What is the name of the anti-bullying program used by schools around the world?

3b. Why is it successful?

4. What are the three different groups involved in bullying? Who are the bystanders and what do they do?

5. What do you think you could do to help stop bullying in your school?

Dolphins

Scientists are studying wild and captive dolphins all over the world to figure out their secret language. Read this article on dolphins to find out how they communicate. Once you right-click on the article and open it in another window, remember that the article has 5 pages - read them all, then answer the questions.
*Decipher means to de-code, or to break the code.
1. Give the name of the person who states, "It seemed clear that they knew who they were talking with." (page 1)
2. How many different types of dolphin species are there? (page 2)
3. List at least 3 ways dolphins "talk" with each other. (page 2)
4. How long can dolphins stay underwater between breaths? (page 4)
5. If you could talk with a dolphin, what would you say? What would you ask?

Fighting the Flames

Forest fires are raging out of control in Southern California. Read this Time For Kids article [right click, Open in new window] about these fires and and answer the following questions.
1. What two things are fueling the fires in Southern California?
2. When and where did the wildfire start?
3. Who is California's Governor?
4. If you were Abigail Carrillo, what things would you bring from your house?
Remember to use complete sentences. Click on "comment" below to post your comment, then click "show original post" so you can see the questions.
So, READ the whole article first, THEN start to answer the questions.

Welcome to Mr. Tomasulo's Blog

Hello! Welcome to Mr. Tomasulo's class blog. This will be a practice session so you can get used to using this blog. A few thing you should know before you proceed:

-Once you post something you cannot take it off. So make sure what you post is appropriate.

-When referring to yourself (or other students), ONLY USE YOUR FIRST NAME! Never use last names or any other identifying information.

-Never hit "Back" on the Internet Explorer tab. You will lose information and not get it back.

Now we are ready to begin. Answer the following questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What kind of music do you listen to?

3. How many brothers and sisters do you have?

4. What was your favorite part of the summer?

5. What was your least favorite part of the summer?

Click on "comments" below, then "Show Original Post."

Chris Brown - Rachel

Read this article and answer the following questions.
1. Who are some of his musical influences?
2. What is his perfect date?
3. When does his CD come out?
4. At what age did he make up his mind that he wanted to be a singer?
5. Did he have doubts about his career? Explain your answer.

Mariah Carey - Peri

Read this article and answer the following questions.

1. what age did she want to start singing?

2.what was the soulful single she create in 1990?

3.what award did she win on the anual world music awards?

4.Name three of her songs that were number one hits?
5. carey is called a ''diva'' . what is the definition of a diva and what charistics make her a diva?

Mustang - Julian

Read the following article and answer the following questions.

1. What year is the Ford Shelby Mustang?

2. What kind of engine does the Ford Shelby have?

3. How many inches are the tires on the Ford Shelby?

4. Discribe SYNC (hint: wide suit of standard features on the 2010 Shelby gt500).

5. Have the tires on the shelby mustang changed from the other Mustangs?

Lamborghini - Christian

Read this Article and answer the following questions.

1. Which is faster a Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 or Gallargo?

2. Who invented the Lamborghini?

3. When did he start working on the Lamborghini?

4. When Ferruccio wanted to build a super sports car to compete with the Ferrari, people thought that he was what?

5. Do you think it's worth buying a Lamborghini? Why or Why not?

Archaeopteryx lithographica - Janee

Read this article and answer the following questions.
1. What was this prehistoric animals name?
2. Why were scientists puzzling over this discovery?
3. What does Archaeopteryx Lithographica mean?
4. Describe what this dinosaur looked like.
5.Why did scientists name this feathered dinosaur Lithographica? Where was it first found?

BMW - Luis

Read this article and answer the following questions.

1. In what year was the first BMW motorcycle built?

2. How many miles per hours did the first BMW motorcycle run?

3. In what year did the BMW enter the record book?

4. Did the BMW outsell the Mercedes Benz?

5. What would you rather have: a BMW motorcycle or a BMW car? Explain.

Tornado Alley - Donteh

Read this article and answer the following questions.

1. How do tornados form?

2.Which state was struck with the most tornadoes?

3.What scale is used to measure f0-f5 tornados & how does it work?(see subvision scale)

4. What states have the most tornados?

5.What types of air causes tornadoes?

Powerhouse Museum - Samantha

Read this article and answer the following questions.

1.Where is the Powerhouse Museum located?

2.If you get 2 adult tickets 1 child ticket and 3 senior tickets how much would it be?

3.What level is the "living in a sensory world" exhibition on?

4.What do touch trolleys do?

5.When does the Powerhouse Museum open and close?

Przewalski Horses - Lizbet

Read This Article And Answer The Following Questions.


1.How much does the Przewalski Horse weigh?


2.How tall is the Przewalski Horse?


3.What year were they last seen?


4.What country were they seen?


5.What's the name of the man who studied them?

RC Cars - George

Read this Article and anwser the following questions.

1. How fast does a gas/oil car go?

2. How much does a 2 channel pistol cost?

3.What is the advantage of building ur own car.Why or why not.

4.What do You like better battery powered cars or gas/oil cars? Explain

5.What does RC mean?

Can Animals Be Nice? Mr. T.

Read this article on animals and answer the following questions.
1. Why do you think the African savanna elephant helped the forest elephant even though they weren't related?
2.The male fox bowed down and rolled over to show he wanted to play nice. Do you think we show body language to show people how we feel?
3.The timid (shy) ape gave Teleki some fruit because he saw that Teleki was struggling to get himself some fruit. Why didn't Sniff just walk away?
4.Do you think wild animals can be nice?
5.Usually if we do something nice for somebody else they'll be nice to us. The same thing happened with the Siamese cat and the springer spaniel. Why do you think the cat gave the food to the dog?

Man on the Moon

Forty years ago, the U.S. Apollo program put the first human on the moon. Now, NASA is gearing up to go back. Read this article about the new mission and answer the following questions.

1. What would it be like to go to the moon? Would you like to go? Explain.

2. Space exploration is expensive. Is it worth the high cost? Should the U.S. government spend our money this way?

3. “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” What does he mean?

4. Your weight on the moon is 1/6 (one sixth) of your weight on Earth. How much would you weigh on the moon?

5. On what date did man first set foot on the moon?

6. Name the three astronauts who manned the Apollo 11 mission.

7. The astronauts left a plaque on the moon. What does the plaque say?

Lessons from the Garden

Read this Time For Kids article on Gardening and answer the following questions.

1. What subjects are school gardens used to teach?

2. When did learning gardens become popular? When did they lose their popularity?

3. During which two wars did the produce from the gardens feed the country?

4. Why is there renewed interest in the gardens? Give three reasons.

5. How many school gardens are registered in the U.S.? How many are there in California alone?

Why We're in Afghanistan

Read this story and answer the following questions about the war in Afghanistan.

1. Where is Afghanistan located? Describe what the country looks like.

2. What is the Taliban? What did they do to the U.S.?

3. When American troops arrived in Afghanistan after Sept. 11,2001, what was their mission?

4.When was the Taliban removed from power? What changes occurred in Afghanistan by 2004?

5. What is the goal of the U.S. in sending additional troops to Afghanistan?

Earth Day

Read this Time For Kids article about Kid Reporter Sydney Turner visiting an eco-friendly house in the backyard of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois. Answer the following questions.

1. Where is the Smart Home located?

2. What is the Smart Home made of?

3. Why is this home called a "Smart Home?" Why do you think it would be a good home to live in?

4. What kind of power does the Smart Home use? Why is this power good for the environment?

5. Would you want to live in a Smart Home? Why or why not?

Let's Save the Earth

Read this link on pollution and answer questions 1-4.

Then read this link on bottled water and answer questions 5-8.

#9 is an extra - be honest with this one!

1. What is Cammy Holmes doing along the Anacostia River ?

2. What does the organization called the Ocean Conservancy do?

3. How many tons of trash did volunteers collects along coastlines in 2006? Why do you think they had to collect so much trash?

4. About how many volunteers came out in Washington, D.C. for the International Coastal Cleanup? Is this a high number or low number? Why?

.........................................................

5. So why don’t more people drink water straight from the kitchen faucet?

6. What natural resource is used to make plastic water bottles?

7. How many bottles of water do Americans buy per year?

8. Out of every six bottles of water Americans buy, how many bottles actually get recycled?

......................................

9. Americans are "trashing" the Earth today. You all, as students, will have to deal with it when you grow up. Be honest - how do you fell about "adopting" a trashed Earth?

Chomp! Meat-Eating Plants

Plants are nice because they only absorb the sun's light for energy, right? Nope - not always true! Read this National Geographic article on plants that "eat" at this link and answer the following questions.

1. What is the name of the place that has a new exhibit about plants?

2. What are meat eating plants called?

3. Name two types of carnivorous plants and tell how each one traps its victim.

4. Why do you think an insect can't climb out of an Asian pitcher plant?

5. In what types of areas do most carnivorous plants live?

6. Do you think carnivorous plants can trap small animals? Why or why not?

Freaky Fish!

Look at the fish in the above picture. What do you notice about it? Yep, you guessed it - it's head is transparent, meaning you can see through it. Go to this National Geographic link and read page one of the article. After you read page one, watch the video clip titled "Fish With Transparent Head Filmed" and then proceed to read the rest of the pages of the article (four pages total). Answer the following questions.

1. What was your immediate reaction to looking at the Pacific Barreleye Fish?
2. What is MBARI?
3. What does pivot mean? Explain.
4. What species of jellyfish do the barreleye fish steal food from?
5. When swimming in the ocean, would you ever get to see a barreleye fish? Why or why not? (Hint: look on page 4)
6. Would you like to have a Pacific Barreleye as a pet? Why or why not? (At least 3 sentences)

Shakespeare!

William Shakespeare was one of the greatest playwrites of all time. His plays were written over 500 years ago and are still talked about today. Right click and open this brainpop link. Watch the video on William Shakespeare and answer the folllowing questions. (To login to brainpop, the username is E2t2 and the password is grant)

1. When was William Shakespeare born?

2. 14-lined poems are called _______.

3. What was the name of Shakespeare's theater?

4. What is a comedy?

5. What is a tragedy?

6. What is your favorite Shakespearian play and why? If you've never seen one of his plays, think of a play you would like to see and why.

Remembering Lincoln

On February 12, Americans will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. All across the nation, there will be celebrations to honor the life of the great President. Read this article on Abraham Lincoln and answer the following questions. READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE BEFORE YOU ATTEMP TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS!

1. What character traits best describe Lincoln?
2. In your own words, what does this quote from Lincoln mean? "If slavery is not wrong, [then] nothing is wrong."

3. Lincoln is considered to be one of the greatest Presidents. Why?

4. When and where was Abraham Lincoln born?

5. What can kids do every day to honor Lincoln’s life?

6. In what order was Lincoln the president?

Middie Wrestler Doesn't Quit!

Wrestling is one of the world's most physically demanding sports. Good wrestlers have great balance, coordination, strength, stamina, and endurance. Read this Times Herald Record article on one of Middletown's wrestlers, Eddie Donohue, and answer the following questions.
1. What is every local wrestler's goal?
2. Summarize the article. Was Eddie a good wrestler when he first started? How has he changed?
3. In the article, it mentions that Eddie has an older brother who wrestled. What is his name? Was his brother a good wrestler?
4. True or False: Eddie wants to place third or fourth in sections (the Section 9 wrestling tournament.
5. Why do wrestlers have to watch what they eat?
6. If you were to meet Eddie, you would tell him...

An Inauguration Like No Other

On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States. Many memebers of the media and close to 400,000 poeple attended his inauguration. Time For Kids send two of their student reports to attend the inaugeration and to write about it. Sydney Turner wrote this article and Harrison Gilman wrote this article. Read both articles. Compare and contrast the two articles on the class blog. In addition, respond to their articles by stating your own opinions.

All About Dolphins!

Dolphins are very smart and interesting creatures. Read this article on dolphins and answer the following questions. Note: At the bottom of the article make sure you click "Expand for more" to view the entire article.

1. Look at the above picture. Do you think the dolphin is smiling? Why or why not.
2. Dolphins are classified as part of the group called porpoises. Name two other animals that are also in the porpoise group.
3. Which paragraph talks about how dolphins find food?
4. In your own words, explain echolocation.
5. How fast can dolphins swim.
6. What is the size and weight of dolphins?
7. How high can a dolphin jump out of the water?

If you finish early, read this article for fun.