Never did I think…

So atoms and molecules are small, right?  They’re so small that you don’t have any hope of seeing them, right?  Well, thanks to IBM researchers, the world’s first molecule has been visualized.  Check this out.

So, what’s next?  What do you think about this discovery?  Do you think that vibrations on a “tuning fork” are a good way to visualize molecules?  Let’s get this discussion started.

Mr. Oates Thanks You!

My how time flies!  It’s been two weeks since Mr. Oates has left this world, but he did leave this message before he went:

“My dearest friends,

Thank you so much for all of the amazing support you gave to my brief existence on this planet.  In one short month we raised $389 that went towards funding projects in the Baltimore City Schools.  I speak on behalf of the approximately 331 students that we reached when I say ‘Thank You!!!!’

I am going away now, but don’t shed a tear for me.  Always remember what we’ve done here.  I hear the hum of the razor coming for me.  Hopefully we’ll meet again in some other lifetime.

Sincerely,

Mr. Oates”

Here are the pictures of Mr. Oates’ final moments.  If you are faint of heart, you are best advised to avert your eyes.

Here comes that razor!

Oh no: Its got Mr. Oates!

Oh the destruction!

He was a good man, I knew him well.

Upgrade...?

A Turkey Day For The ‘Staches…

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone.  I can tell you that Mr. Oates is truly thankful for the fact that all of your generous donations were enough to fund five projects around Baltimore City!  That’s amazing!  He was so happy on Thanksgiving:

Day 15 - "I love you Thanksgiving dinner!"

He could hardly contain himself.  Mr Oates really loves only two things in this world, Thanksgiving dinner and helping children to get a better education.

But, wait, he’s warning me right now that our job is not done!  We still have one and half weeks left to make a difference in children’s lives.  Mr. Oates is very serious about this:

“Only you can prevent underfunding in city schools!” he exclaims.

We have uploaded more projects and will be looking forward to your donations to help them succeed.  Please click here if you either love Thanksgiving or want to make a difference in a child’s education.

My ‘Stache…The Eagles Fan

My ‘stache woke me up early this morning exclaiming that the Eagles were in town.  (Mr. Oates is a serious Eagles fan, you see.)  He couldn’t wait to put on his favorite old school hat and hoodie.  I told him that we had some work to do before we could watch the game and boy was he anxious the entire time; 1pm couldn’t come soon enough.  Once we finished with our morning work, Mr. Oates marched me down to the TV and we geared up for the game being played right down the street.  Look at him in all his glory:

Day 10 - "The Eagles are in town!!!!!"

Well that was certainly a bust.  I should have coerced Mr. Oates to go out for a walk instead of watching that game.  His mood has seriously been dampered.  The loss to the Ravens was REALLY BAD.  He feels really bad:

Day 10.5 - "The Eagles were in town "

I think the only thing that can improve his mood are donations to our City’s youth.  Click here to help Mr. Oates turn that frown upside down!

Oates…(not Hall!)

About two weeks ago a few teachers at my school (myself included) were approached about an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to completely destroy our images.  As it is with every risky decision everyone was on board with much gusto beforehand.  However, when the point of no return finally arrived I found myself curiously alone.  Oddly this reminded me of standing at the edge of frigid pool bargaining with everyone to jump on the count of “three” only to find myself shivering and wet amidst laughter from my “friends” still enjoying the warm dry land.

What was this amazing opportunity you ask?  Well….

Mustaches for Kids is a national fundraiser for all those willing and good humored enough (read not my male colleagues) to stop shaving their upper lips for one calendar month in the hopes that it will attract money to projects for needy students in our nation’s schools.  How does a ‘stache attract money, you ask?  Well, that’s where you come in.  If you appreciate my situation or if you want to reserve the right to make fun of me then you can click here and donate to some cool projects in Baltimore City Public Schools.  Don’t all go at once, you could overload the site.

I will use this blog to log my growth.  Check back frequently to see my ‘stache take the journey from exciting birth to excruciating death.  So here are my first two pictures.

The First Day - "I think I can feel a kick"

Day 7 - "Was this a good idea?"

Please drop me a line and let me know if you would like to see my ‘stache in any famous locales around Baltimore.

See you soon

The What Ifs….

So, admitedly, I haven’t been spending enough time here lately.  It’s so easy to lose yourself in the mundane details of daily droll, leaving no time to spend on certain projects.  I promise to give this space more attention in the future.

So, we have lots of “what ifs” in class…which is REALLY AWESOME since that shows your collective intent on clashing with the material.  However, those can really bog us down and confuse some people who don’t learn that way.  It was suggested about a month ago to use this space online to address the “what ifs” of our class, so as to not squash your amazing ability to question the natural world (which is what science is all about anyway).

Please use this space to post a question about our material that is totally cool, but just not exactly conducive to in-class discussion.

Thanks

-GREERTEACH

Things I Learned In The Fire…

Well, last Friday evening as I was diligently grading your papers we had a mishap.  It seems that my wife accidentally set some oil ablaze and there was an inferno in my kitchen!  In my heroic fire fighting debut, I decided that baking soda would be best suited to extinguish the flame.  That didn’t quite work, as it didn’t absorb all the flame, so the blaze continued.  I then picked it up and took it outside to douse it with the hose.  When all was finally settled, I realized that my thumb hurt.  When I looked down, I noticed that I had suffered a second-degree burn; and man it looked gross!

Now I realize that Travis Barker is having a much harder time than me, but it really, really hurts!

What is that liquid in my thumb?

So this all posed a few really interesting questions that I thought you could help me with.

1.  What is a second-degree burn, and how is that different from a 1st or 3rd degree burn?

2.  Why did my thumb blow up like a baloon with liquid?

3.  What is that liquid?

4.  Why does the body create blisters?  Do they serve a purpose in the healing process?

Let me know what you find out.

First of many….

Hello All!  This will be our space in the “blogosphere”.  In my first post I would like to outline some rules for us:

1.  When you sign in, please don’t use your real name.

2.  When you post, please don’t refer to where we are/come from.

3.  Only post discussion items, nothing too far off topic.

4.  Enjoy!

With this first post, I think we should discuss what we expect from this class.  Personally, I believe that we enter every new situation with some sort of preconceived notion.  For example, when I went to a mall that I have never been to before I expected to find a Gap.  It’s just one of those stores you expect to see in every mall.  I was right.  But I wasn’t prepared to see a hawk.  You see, there was a demonstration going on that day in conjunction with the local zoo.

My long-winded point is that we expect certain things from the new situations that we get ourselves into, but we shouldn’t close our minds to the unsuspected events that pop up.

So what do you expect to gain from your new experience that is my class?