Zhu Zhu Pets

This year's most popular item and lastest craze for kids is....Zhu Zhu Pets! Yep, that's right these cute little hamsters are this year's must have gift. Thye are in such high demand that they are going for $65 on Amazon, even though they are only worth $8. Stores have even limited purchases of these hamsters to 4 a piece (see the evidence here). Don't be fooled into paying too much for these little guys, visit your local Walmart or Target to pay a fair price. Yes, they are out of stock online, as seen here. But if you actually go to the store you are sure to find some sooner or later. Starter sets are only actually $10-$20, don't pay more than that.

So what do these little guys actually do? Each of them make different sounds depending on their personality and they move around in their little hamster play sets.
Want to see them in action?

Before buying make sure that your getting the right one. Each one of these hamsters has a different personality, name, and color. See this article about the differences between each one of these fun-loving critters.

Don't get caught up in the craze!;)

Make Your Own Ecosphere/Biosphere

How many of us can afford those frog-o-spheres ($40) or ecospheres ($60) at Brookstone? I know, I can't. So what's the next best solution to this? Making your own!!!  What's the difference between your inexpensive one and the ones you can buy in the store? It's cheaper and more efficient and I can guarantee your little critters will live longer.

DIY Science offers a nice explanation and choice here.
Or if you want to learn a little bit more about ecospheres, but are not quite sure you want one you can check out DIY Science's virtual ecosphere here. It will give you a virtual reading of what will happen to your ecosphere over time. Watch out! Oxygen starvation is the number one cause of death in a self-sustaining ecosystem.

Need a visual explanation, then visit KQED.
Still having a hard time? Check out tabletop biosphere from Make magazine volume 10 page 110 (the visuals). It has some really nice pictures and instructions so it's easy to follow.



Go forth and make your very own ecosphere!

The Truth about Frog-O-Sphere and Ecosphere (with some sea monkeys)

 
Frog-O-Sphere
I'm sure many of you have been to the Brookstone store at either the regular store or the mall. This year their hottest item seems to be the Frog-O-Sphere. The Frog-O-Sphere comes with some gravel, a couple rocks, 2 frogs, a snail, and some bamboo.

Here's a look at Brookstone's Frog-O-Sphere:



I admit that I was fascinated by these little frogs that were supposed to be in a self-contained ecosystem. The truth, however, was much different.  Not only were these frogs overpriced, at $40 for the whole set, but they were placed into a situation where they were starving and mistreated. PETA exaggerates the whole thing quite a bit...which can be seen here. Yes, the frogs were cruelly replaced, but the tank was more than big enough for the 2 frogs. The real problem is that African Dwarf frogs are carnivores, that automatically means that this ecosystem cannot be self-sustaining. If the frogs it hungry enough, they will eat the snail. The snail cannot handle the build-up that is accumulating in the tank, by itself. The tanks needs to be cleaned once a week, at least. Furthermore, do not follow the directions about feeding that come with the Frog-O-Sphere (2 pellets every week). These frogs need to be feed every other day! Also, you are better off feeding these frogs blood worms than pellets. The frogs require clean unchlorinated water, so before placing the frogs into a tank of any kind it's important to wait 48 hours so that the chlorine evaporates from the water.

For more information about African Dwarf Frogs please visit:
Frog World

These frogs are low maintenance and can be purchased at your local pet store (Petsmart, Petco, etc.) for only $4. Parents, if you are thinking that this is a pet that you will not need to help you child take care of, that is not true. This is a pet like any other, before purchasing make sure you know what is required to take care of it. If you are still determined to purchase the Frog-O-Sphere, instead of visiting your local pet store, please note that Learning Express sells these same frogs for only $25 and lets you pick out the gravel, bamboo, etc.

Ecosphere

A couple years ago, Brookstone was selling something called Ecosphere. Priced at $60 and developed by NASA it contained shrimp, algae, and a branch. Red shrimp or Halocaridina rubra are non-aggressive towards each other and eat algae. They can survive in extreme conditions and live for up to 3 years in this sphere. The ecosphere is supposed to be self-sustaining, this however is not the case. The problem with the ecosphere is that it is enclosed and to due to causes the shrimp to eventually die due to oxygen starvation. These shrimp need to be able to breath, just like any other animal and have to have some way to obtain more oxygen. They should be placed in an open air tank and need to be provided with much more algae than what is in that tiny ecosphere (brackish water). Water changes are not necessary, however.

For more information visit:
Petshrimp
More about the development of the ecoshpere:
Abundant Earth

So what does an ecosphere look like?



Sea Monkeys

I actually used to own these when I was little. Today, sea monkeys are better known as brine shrimp. Brine shrimp only hatch when they are encased in water, as long as they remain dry the eggs will not hatch. You may notice that when they first hatch you are unable to see anything. Take my word for it, they are still there and you still need to feed them if you want them to survive.The directions are pretty accurate this time and they are still a very popular pet. They can be purchased at Toys R Us for as little as $9 and compared to what used to be available for these shrimp there are now a wide variety of tanks for you to choose from, such as a city or Mars.

For more examples and an explanation of how it works see:



To see some up close:



How to care for them:
Fact Sheet

Some things you may not know:
1. Algae in the tank is actually good.
2. You need to wait 24 hours and purify the water before placing the sea monkeys in it.
3. You won't be able to see them for the first 4-6 weeks without a microscope.
4. Yes you can make them turn colors, buy vitamins here.
5. Other things you may not know here.

Whatever you do DON'T overfeed them and more importantly have fun!!!!!

Are you protected?

Do you use a firewall to safeguard your computer? Is it the one that came with your computer? How high is your security set on your firewall? If you are still using the one that came with your computer it's time to upgrade or at the very least use a free online one.
Visit:
ZoneAlarm

Other problem that you may have is cookies that install themselves onto your computer and steal or information. They are put onto your computer by the websites you visit, without your permission! Worst of all are viruses they become ingrained in your hard drive never to leave again and continuously cause the same problem. Wondering why you can't open a file anymore or your hard drive starts crashing all the time? It may be a virus!
Visit these sites to get rid of them now:
Avira
Spybot

Are you green? Do you turn your computer off at night? Are you helping or harming the environment? Millions of people leave their computer on and waste massive amounts of energy every night. It's not only computers, but other electronics as well. If everyone just turned off their electronics like they turned off their lights the amount of electricity saved would be enormous. A little effort goes a long way and we should all do our part to help out the environment!

Web Safety and Copyright Laws

Have you ever asked yourself....just how safe is the internet? Is it ok to just send your kid out onto the internet by him/herself and hope he/she doesn't run into anything bad? Today the internet is filled with pop-ups and inappropriate content. A completely innocent word like girl, may bring up images and words that younger children should not see. This is why it is important to teach students about how to be smart about surfing the net in school.

What sites can and cannot be used? What is ok for an educator, student, or parent to use? This needs to be taught to people. Most people think that just because it is on the internet it is not copyrighted. This is NOT true!!! Almost everything on the internet is copyrighted and the user must ask the permission to use the material BEFORE they use it. The only time this does not apply is under the fair use law.

For a guide on what copyright is and what can be use please visit this link:
Copyright

Assessment what is it really?

I've had some bad experiences with assessment, for instance:
Mrs. Mcbreen in room 117 writes in green so you can't!
(and yes I swear that this is real, it was for my 8th grade health class)

Teachers these days are told not to write in red pen because it has bad connotations for the student. Red for the student equals fail. So as soon as they see it they are twice as likely to throw their papers in the trash without even looking at the grade.
See brief news article:
Red Pens

So what are some of the types of assessment? They can include tests, quizzes, questions, labs, discussions, etc. The point is that the teacher has to have a clear idea of what the student is suppose to learn. It's also important to tell the students what you except of them. I didn't make this very clear when I taught a lesson on recombinant DNA. I knew what I wanted them to get out of it, but the students only had a vague idea. Not going to make that mistake again!

So then, what are grades? What does that A or F really mean? If you get a C do you think yes I passed or how did everything go so horribly wrong? And whenever you get a B don't you always ask yourself why didn't I get an A?
See this site (though I think it sounds like they are trying to fail all their students):
Grades

So how should students be assessed? First off, grades are only a result they do not reflect the amount of effort a student put in. There are such things as "effort grades", for instance if the student does the whole assignment by does not necessarily get it entirely correct. You could judge how much students have learned by making them do a presentation or making a model. Anything that will even the playing field a little between effort and results. Even though teachers must adhere to testing and getting students prepared for that it does not mean that effort should go unrewarded.