Earthquake & Volcano Risks

Find out the Risks in Your Area



Click on the link above the picture

Practice Building a Disaster Preparedness Kit

Build a Disaster Kit



Play this game by clicking on the link above the picture.

Play the Disaster Master Game

Disaster Master Link



Play the Disaster Master Game by clicking on the link above the picture.

Recap of the Week & A Peek at Next Week

We had a great week last week. We totally immersed ourselves into the question of time; what it is or, more interestingly, what it isn't. We learned about time zones, both internationally and those of the U.S. We also looked a little closer at some familiar things and the roles they play in time, such as the Prime Meridian and the International Dateline. Time seemed to pass very quickly for us last week!

We also formed our Peer Support Groups which will be pivotal this nine weeks in making sure all students stay on their toes, have what they need and are prepared as we dig deeper into the geographic curriculum. So far, they appear to be working great and our first test tomorrow will tell the tale of their success.

Tomorrow, Monday, October 20th, we take our Time Zones Test. A study guide was placed on the blog last Thursday. That, in addition to student notes and Lesson 10: Understanding Time Zones is all that was needed to study for the test. Students created flash cards for the test on Friday, for which they will receive a grade, as a study strategy.

Next week we will begin Earthquakes and Volcanoes. This is always a fascinating unit for students, and it holds many cross curricular elements with science. I can't wait to get into the New Madrid Fault again this year - we always have so many good conversations about that!

Hope you had a great weekend and that the week ahead is good one!

Time Zones Test on Monday, October 21, 2013

The time zones test will combine questions from your notes in your composition book, the highlighted packet called Lesson 10: Understanding Time, and the study guide below that I posted online night before last. Questions will come from all of these sources, and you will also be provided with time zone maps to use as you figure out time zone change word problems.

Your flash cards will be counted as a grade, and your folder must contain the time zone packets (there are 3), as well as the study guide. That will all be part of your folder grade.

What Type of Learner Are You?

We are going to take an online survey that will determine (to the greatest degree possible) what type of learner each student is on this team. Are you a visual (sight oriented), auditory (hearing oriented), or kinesthetic (physical movement) learner?

Log on to this site: http://sunburst.usd.edu/~bwjames/tut/learning-style/stylest.html and take the survey. When you are finished, click submit at the bottom. It will then classify you as a specific kind of learner, and then you will print that out and bring it to me on Monday.

Don't forget! Have a great weekend and STUDY!!!!!!!

Additional Material for Time Zones Study Guide

1. Who first discovered a method of keeping time?       The ancient Greeks

2. Through mathematics and observation, they theorized the earth was a sphere.

3. They divided the earth into 360 segments that they called degrees or 360°.

4. Vertical lines called meridians (longitude) were devised to mark the segments on the globe.

5. Earth makes one complete 360° rotation each 24 hours.

6. How far does the earth turn in one hour?   360 ÷ 24 = 15

Therefore, the earth travels 15° in one hour and each segment between meridians is 15° wide.

7. Each fifteen degree segment, marked off by a line of longitude (or a meridian), represents a new time zone on the international time zone map.

8. The time zone segments begin at 0° longitude which is the Prime Meridian.

9. The Prime Meridian runs through Greenwich, England where the Royal Naval Observatory is located.

10. This time zone is called Greenwich Mean Time; all time begins, ends, and is measured here.

11.  In order to mathematically discover the difference in times around the world you simply count the meridian segments between two destinations, divide by fifteen, and the answer will be how many hours they are apart in time. For example, there are 5 meridian segments between Greenwich, England and Langley, Virginia, USA. Multiply 5 by 15° (the width of each meridian) and the answer is 75. Then divide 75 by 15° (the movement of the earth per hour) and you get 5. Therefore, it is 5 hours between Greenwich and Langley (which is in the eastern time zone of the U.S.)

12. Until the 1880’s, there was no such thing as time zones in the U.S.

13. Most cities and towns during that period kept time by the sun.

14. Some towns used time balls that they mounted on tall buildings and lowered slowly each day to mark the passing of one calendar day. But none of this helped to synchronize time between towns.

15. There was as many time zones as there were cities.

16.  In 1883, the railroads (which had become the most powerful businesses in the country) took it upon themselves to create four set time zones for the country in order that they would no longer have chaos in driving the trains across the country. 

ORIGINAL RAILROAD MAP ISSUED IN 1897 by the BURLINGTON RAILROAD

17. The railroads created our current time zones – Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific – in order that the trains could stay on schedule for passengers and goods, and they would have fewer wrecks.

18. The time zones in the U.S. were not created along straight meridian lines; they were created along county lines or political and business lines according to the needs of the railroads.


U.S. TIME ZONE MAP

INTERNATIONAL TIME ZONE MAP (zoom the screen up to see more detail on this map)