Temple of the Jaguar

Be careful not to mistake these Torrey's Peak students with Mayan rulers, priests, nobles, merchants, artisans, peasants and slaves! Students are investigating four ancient Mayan city-states to better understand different aspects of Mayan culture.

In this photograph you can see the reconstruction of the Temple of the Jaguar of the ancient city-state of Tikal. In this recreation students were able to pantomime and recite the different roles and responsibilities of members in each social class. Can you list at least three duties or responsibilities of each social class!?

Ancient Civilizatons of the Western Hemisphere

When thinking about our world today (195 independent countries according to World Affairs 2011), what classification do we use to determine great/advanced countries? What criteria should be used for this study? Would we use the same criteria to compare Ancient Civilizations of our past to countries of today?

Here are the essential questions students will be investigating in this unit of study:

1.) How did the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas become great/advanced civilizations?

2.) What makes a group of people become a great/advanced civilization?

3.) What were the legacies and achievements of the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas?

Wombat, Kangaroo, & Koala Bears!

Here are three of the animal species that I was able to have a close encounter with! Did you know that these three species can only be found on the continent of Australia? If you are interested, click on the links to learn more about these amazing creatures.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/wombat/

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/red-kangaroo/?source=A-to-ZZ

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/koala/?source=A-to-Z

Hobbit & Mt. Doom: Lord of the Rings & Hobbit Movies

Have you read the trilogy of books by J.R.R. Tolken: "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King?" Have you seen the blockbuster films named after the books?!

These books/movies are fantasy adventures set in a mythical place called "Middle-Earth." A small sheep farm in the center region of New Zealand was selected as one of the main sites to film this blockbuster trilogy. Sadly, the movie set was deconstructed at the conclusion of filming with the trilogy. The people of New Zealand wanted the "Hobbitville" to stay and were sad to see it go. However, news broke over the past year that "Hobbitville" would be again! The movie "Hobbit" and a sequel to follow will begin filming next year and through 2011 on the same sheep farm.

Here are a few pictures of the movie set. There will be 44 Hobbit homes when the set is completely finished with a village that overlooks a pond. The first picture is of one of the Hobbit homes and the second picture is of the "Party Tree" that was so famous in the trilogy. The last picture is of Mt. Doom. Here is some more information about Mt. Doom!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Doom

I am looking forward to rereading the books and watching the films again! Are you interested in the series? Ask the library specialists for more information if you are!

Marine Life of Southern Ocean

Are you able to identify any of these species? The one commonality all of these particular species share is they are all residents of the Southern Ocean!

These photographs were taken as I toured the Melbourne Aquarium. These are only a few snapshots of the dozens of species I saw on this morning!

Parade of the Penguins: Phillip Island

This afternoon I was able to take a tour to the southern coast of Australia to an island known as Phillip Island. The tour departed from the city centre of Melbourne near 1:00 pm and returned quite late near 11:00 pm. There is a reason why the tour runs on these odd hours: The Parade of the Penguins. It was a spectacular experience and one I will never forget.

Each evening as the sun is setting colonies of Little Penguins (smallest penguin in the world) cross Summerland Beaches to go to their nests just off the shore. The Little Penguins have done this for thousands of years and is an amazing ritual in nature. As the Little Penguins near the shoreline they gather in rafts(groups) for protection against predators and go to their boroughs after a day fishing in the seas.

We were not allowed to take photographs of any kind as the flash could disrupt or scare the Little Penguins. This was one of my favorite moments on the trip so far!

If you are interested in learning more about this amazing species: check out the links below!!!

http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/parks/pdfs/PARKS_PDFS_LITTLE_PENGUINS.PDF

http://www.penguins.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9&Itemid=54&mytabsmenu=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Penguin

Culture of Australia

Do you know what are the most popular sports in Australia? Can you guess which sport is played in this stadium with the lights? Christmas in summer! Here is a picture of a picture of a popular downtown street preparing for the upcoming winter celebrations. Does this look similar to streets in Denver?! I walked past a strip mall and here were some of the stores signs. Do you recognize any?!

I have had some technical issues with my camera and will blog about the land and marine species of the Southern Ocean when it is available!

~Ms. Donahue :)

School Uniforms?!

What is your opinion about students having to wear uniforms to public schools? In Australia and New Zealand this is the situation for most students that attend public and private schools! How would you feel? Can you list some of the positive benefits of wearing school uniforms for the whole school culture and yourself? Can you list some of the negative points of having to wear a required uniform each day for the whole school culture and yourself? How do you come out on this debate?!

The students in the pictures are in grade 3 and grade 7 and live in Auckland, New Zealand. These uniforms reminded me of Hogwarts, do you see the resemblance too!?

G'day! Gloria Jean's vs. Starbucks

G'day as they say in Australia! First of all, good luck on your DCA this week and read the questions and work on the maps carefully!

The long flight (20 hours) is a story of the past. Australia is 18 hours ahead of Denver time and I am writing this blog during Tuesday afternoon which is late in the evening on Monday for you.
Summer is almost here! (That is not an error in Ms. Donahue's typing) Be sure to ask Mr. Gerber why the northern hemisphere is in winter and why Australia is heading into the summer.

The first stop on my journey is to a southeastern coastal city, Melbourne, a city of approximately 3 million people. The population is slightly larger than Denver's. Do you know which Australian state Melbourne is in? Do you know what type of animal and marine species live in and around Melbourne? Do you know what culture is like for residents of this populated Australian city? Do you know what physical features make up this region? I will be discovering some of these answers over the next few days! What new information did you learn last Friday about Australia? Be sure to email a friend or me what you found interesting.

I wanted to share some of happenings during my first two days that made me think about our classes. Since we have been learning about culture in LA & SS classes, I find myself wanting to learn more about culture too! My first culture quest was to compare coffee. I began this morning with a latte from Gloria Jean's (The Australian version of Starbucks). Coffee/Tea beverages mostly certainly fall under the universal of culture, food, as you know. The cost for the coffee drink was slightly more expensive that what someone would pay for the same coffee drink in America. As for the taste, I would give a slight edge to Gloria Jean's, but not by much!

As you learn more about Australia, do you think the culture and life of Melbourne looks more similar or different than Denver? Why?

** I am unable to upload photographs or videos from my personal camera and hope to be able to tomorrow - **

Next Blog: Grey Nurse shark, King Penguins, Gentoo Penguins, fresh water eels, Southern Ocean marine life, Globe Fish, coral atoll, Giant Pacific Octopus- stay tuned for the story!

Mini Tours: Australia & New Zealand!

Ms. Donahue's Class: 11/12
CW: Australia & New Zealand -
HW: Enjoy your weekend!

* Check the blog next week for updates from Australia & New Zealand! *

1.) "All The Write Type" - 10 minutes
2.) EarthBuzz.Donahue - Please read for today's assignment!
3.) Open NetTrekker: Ask a neighbor if you do not remember the username & password OR check one of the blog entries from a few weeks ago - there are instructions!
4.) Please get a pair of headphones
5.) Please go to NetTrekker > My Portfolio > Shadow Ridge > 6th Grade > Torrey's Peak > Social Studies > Australia & New Zealand
6.) Please open the websites and learn more about Australia & New Zealand!
(I do not expect you to look at every website, choose at least 2-3 sites to look at to learn more about both countries) ** TAKE YOUR TIME READING & LEARNING**
7.) Open Microsoft Word or Microsoft PowerPoint
8.) Write Ms. Donahue a letter in Microsoft Word about what you learned from both countries OR
Create a 10 slide PowerPoint presentation about what you learned from both countries
9.) Save your work to your "H" drive!
10.) Extra Credit - You can email me your assignment from gaggle if you know how!

PS. Stewie & Champ wanted to say hello :)

Universals of Culture: Preteen Colorado Culture

With 6 billion people on Earth, it is impossible to count the number of cultures people identify with. Despite all the differences in how people live, for the past two weeks we have studied the common stands of culture known as "Universals of Culture." Such as food, clothing, shelter, government, recreation, arts, etc...

Students investigated their own culture(s) and created posters to display the information. Next, students took the most important key words and phrases from their culture posters to create a worldle. What in the world is a wordle?! Ask the students to see their copy!

PS. Here is an example of one poster!

Mexico City: Spatial Inequality

Neighborhood Visit #1 - Mexico City

Students are beginning their virtual tour of Mexico City with two university students, Jose and Maria. They have listened to the the interview that takes places in one of the neighborhoods inside the Federal District of Mexico City. Students are investigating the essential questions mentioned in the previous blog surrounding differences in standard of living and spatial inequality in an urban setting.

Global Issue #2 - Spatial Inequality

Students are embarking upon their study of a second global issue in EarthBuzz, spatial inequality in urban areas. Our case study will highlight the megacity of Mexico City where students will take a virtual tour through 4 different neighborhoods and survey people from four different social classes. There are 2 essential questions for this unit: What are the causes of consequences of urbanization? How does spatial inequality affect people living in Mexico City and their standard of living?

NetTrekker

NetTrekker is an online website to assist Shadow Ridge students in their learning adventures and will be a tremendous learning tool for our core. NetTrekker combines the features of a search engine, like Google, with an online classroom!

To log in students use the following format: (username-srm123456, password-srm20001218). Students can enter and view any of Ms. Donahue's Social Studies folders at any time and they are able to log in at school, Homework Helpers, local library, or home. For example, students have an opportunity to practice their mastery of geography skills by working with online learning games of latitude and longitude. There is a link to the NetTrekker on the sidebar on the right under the heading, "Links." Try it this week!

October 5th Happenings!

Any students that have not completed their latitude and longitude quiz need to complete their quiz at home. Please remember to respond to the opinion question on a separate piece of lined paper after reading the background statements, "Should students have to learn cursive writing?" Champ & Stewie want to make sure you are learning more about our planet! They want to remind you to work on Current Event #2 for Friday. They love to hear about international, national, and local news stories!~Champ & Stewie

How do geographers locate places on Earth? Torrey's Peak young geographers are using the Earth's global grid to find absolute locations of various continents, countries, cities, and bodies of water. Lines of latitude are also called parallels and these latitudes measure distance north or south of the Equator. Lines of longitude are also called meridians and these longitudes measure distance east or west of the Primer Meridian.

Land Use Conflict in the Amazon

Breaking News.... Conflict in the Amazon Continues!

Breaking news.... Continuing our nightly news series, "Land Use Conflict in the Amazon." How should the resources of the Amazon Rainforest be used and preserved? This week in EarthBuzz students are creating and publishing news reports of their assigned interest group and looking at larger issues of internal and external conflict. Stay tuned for the next reports!

Amazon Rainforest: Land Use Conflict

In Earth.Buzz students are researching issues associated with land use in the Amazon Rain forest. Specifically, students will be taking on the perspective of 1/6 different interest groups in the Amazon rain forest region. (Native Amazonians, Rubber Tappers, Loggers, Environmentalists, Cattle Ranchers, or Settlers). Students will be working in teams to create a news report as to why their interest group should have the most rights to the resources of the Amazon rain forest. The essential question over the next few days is this: How should the resources of the Amazon rain forest be used and preserved? Stay tuned for presentations....
~Ms. Donahue :)

Students In Action!

Earth.Buzz students are tackling one of their first tasks for the year! We are working on completing "Tear Maps" of the continents and oceans in the hopes of being able to identify the shape of our landmasses on Earth. Students made their first attempt at the continents and oceans quiz today, stay tuned for results!

Thank you to these students for their hard work and effort thus far!
-Earth.Buzz.Donahue

Continents & Oceans!

Do you know the 7 continents and 5 oceans on planet Earth?! Tomorrow is your first quiz! We need to understand what land and water features make up our planet. Do you know which continent is the largest? Do you know which continent is the smallest? Which continent is the most populated? Which continent is the least populated? If you can answer these questions on a 3 x 5 card, send them to me by Friday for extra credit!

Best Effort!

Stewie and Champ are encouraging every Torry's Peak student to give their best effort in Earth.Buzz ! There are students sitting near you that will benefit from your excitement about a subject matter, be sure to get to know the students around you. Be proud of what interesting topics you care about and share with us some of your passions! Try to meet 1 new friend every week? Who was your new friend this week?!

Stay tuned for our next blog,
Stewie and Champ

Welcome to EarthBuzz!

Welcome Shadow Ridge, I am looking forward to meeting all the new rams! Can you believe the summer of 2010 has passed us and will soon be a bundle of memories in our scrapbooks?!

This is the first blog posting of your 6th Grade Social Studies Class known as EarthBuzz taught by Ms. Donahue. I am very exited to begin the new school year and hope you are to!

As you prepare for your first days of school, please know your teachers are here to help you. If at any time you have questions, please find a SR teacher to help you find your way!

-Ms. Donahue

PS. My first piece of advice, remember your locker combinations young rams and bring your planner everyday!