Shhhhhhhhh
Don't wake up the mice.
(check out the mouse skills file below)
Welcome to Culbertson Technology Lab!
April was a very successful
ADOPT-A-CONVICT month in the LAB
In my home I keep several aquariums . From time to time I find it necessary to give tropical fish away. This was one of thse times!
I had several hundred baby/juvenile Convict fish. They are a South American cichlid and known for their fine parenting skills. Below is a picture of a Convict cichlid.
I asked that parents desiring to permit their child to have a pair of cichlids send in a written note.
We have adopted out well over 80 fish at
Culbertson
That means almost 30 students at Culbertson are now fishkeepers, and have entered the bright, exciting world of Icthyology. Already one can hear the discussions and questions in the hallway. The children are quickly learning what: over feeding, stress, water changes, ph level, fish compatability, appropriate decoration in a fish tank, java moss, elodea, amonia level, Where did these snails come from?
Some students were the lucky surprise recipients of a very rare breed of Convict known as a Golden Convict. It took a great deal of research on their own to understand what they were.
To build tomorrows scientists one needs to provide them with opportunities to discover. Opportunities that are fun, pleasureable and just makes them want to learn more. Granted, the children will also learn aobut fish diseases and mortality. I did choose fish to give away that are pretty hardy in most conditions. Also sent each child home with several pages of instructions so parent and child could find this experience rewarding and pleasureable.
Your child may be that Scientist in 20 or 25 years that discovers a vaccine, or a cure to a malady that plaques our world. I would like to recommend the following books that fishkeepers
always enjoy perusing
Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine monthly well worth the 27/yr
Dr. Axelrods Mini fish Atlas.....on Amazon you can buy a good used one for $5.00
The Complete Book of the Freshwater Aquarium: A Comprehensive guide to more than 600 Freshwater Fish and Plants
by Vincent Hargreaves about $10 for used or new at Amazon
There will be no more Convict fish available till June.
If you look below you will see some pictures of 4 day old convict fry that will be available for adoption in June. They have to be bigger and able to be on their own first.
Convicts are a fun educational fish to watch grow and will bring your child many many years of scientific exploration topics. They are very adaptive to a wide range of tank conditions but thrive best in a fish tank that is at least 10 gallons, filtered, heated to approximately 78 degrees and provided with a few terra cotta flowerpots in their fish tanks. Convicts like to feel safe and need "ditherfish" in the tank with them so they feel safe. A ditherfish is a fish that will joyfully swim around and not be scared if people walk by the tank. Common dither fish are zebra danios, common guppies, cardinal tetra's, barbs.
Additional tank requirements are lighting, some plants you dont mind being nibbled on, gravel on the bottom (they like to dig) and a lid...they jump.
Feeding requirements are cichlid pellets that sink, and for fun intermittent treats you may try: a little piece of thawed frozen spinach, a piece of cucumber, yellow zuchinni, a piece of apple, one or two ghost shrimp, a worm you use for fishing. Basically, if the Convict does not eat it within a half hour, the Convict does not like it.
The fish will grow to about 3 1/2 to 4inches long. When they attain the age of 4-6 months you can then tell the boy convict form the girl convict. The boy convict is usually bigger. The girl convict is usually smaller, a little wider, and more colorful. As I said before convicts are wonderful fish, they mate for life. When and if the couple decides to have have baby convicts; you will see them become very protective of their flowerpot or other chosen place in the fish tank. During this time period you will see the female convicts belly become very bright red, and the male fish will become darker and show all of his fins more frequently. Somewhere inside the flowerpot the eggs will then be laid and stuck to a flowerpot edge. Mom and Dad will take turns guarding the eggs and usually about 48 hours later theybegin to hatch. Then for three days you will see both parents scurrying about protecting their fry and insuring their safety. After the third day the fry (baby fish) will be able to swim and mom and dad Convict will guide their fry to places in the aqaurium to eat. If either parent feels nervous or uneasy or frightened, they will guide their fry back to the nesting area. sometimes to hurry this process along the parent fish will pick up the babies and carry them in their mouths to the next and then spit them out. This process will take place until the parents feel the young fish are big enough to be on their own (usually a couple weeks).
Please understand these fish are native of South America and it is agaisnt federal law to release any pet fish into the waterways, this inlcudes flushing down a toilet, putting in a sink drain, letting loose in a sewer system, river, creek, lake, pond. If after you have the fish you feel your family can no longer care for it, please contact Dr. Computer or take the fish to your local pet shop and ask them to care for the fish or assist you to find it a good home.
There are some excellent web sites where you and your family may learn more about the wonderful world of fishkeeping, and South American Cichlids. I highly recommend these locations with aparental supervision. The sites listed are intended for children age 12 and up:
Greetings and Salutations to the greatest children in the world!
Kindergartners - Mrs. Reilly brings both AM and PM for weekly visits to the Technology Lab! They also have four computers in the classroom that Mrs. Reilly has the children use for Earobics and other special projects. The kindergartners are doing a tremendous job and are working very diligently on learning the basic use of the computer in a fun way.
First graders: Come to the lab a minimum of once a week. During this time the students have learned various computer skills. This year the school log on procedure was changed drastically. The children had to learn their student number, their own personal password and they had to be able to translate that into logging on to the computer. Logging on:
entails a number of steps. Beginning with turning on the monitor, depressing CTRL ALT Delete in the correct sequence, moving the mouse and deleting the prior persons log in information, correctly typing their own log in information, typing their, password that when you type only shows circles, Then they must have the patience to wait while the computer boots up with their personal information.
Every new website we visit has entailed the children typing in the URL, and setting that URL up on the favorites list.
Every application the children have used has initially started with the START button, and learning step by step how to put a shortcut on their desktop. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEW.........
In addition to all that the students will be using Spelling City in January. They have discovered and been taught Internet Safety, have developed mouse skills to include : double click, drag and drop, right click, scroll up, scroll down as well as general knowledge about the keyboard. They surf the internet and are quite adept at reinforcing their reading knowledge at the GameGoo site (Check the Culbertson Library main page)
Second Graders: All second graders visit the lab one time a day. In addition to keyboarding skills the second graders have developed excellent applications skills in Microsoft Office, Kid Pix, as well as the ability to do some basic internet surfing. So far the second graders have learned how to go to Spelling city and obtain their weekly spelling list, and use various programs at spelling city to assist them in studying their spelling words. The students have written a published a variety of lantern poems. The students have developed mouse skills to the degree that they can with only the use of a mouse in free hand write sentences on the screen, and accurately draw a variety of geometric shapes. Several second graders have researched answers to some very difficult questions aobut the Statue of Liberty and received the honor of being the Torch Bearer for the day.
Third Graders: - All classes come to the lab once a week. The students have developed Power point presentations, on various subjects, developed their keyboarding and mouse skills, have searched the internet. Students have researched sedimentary formations, rocks, minerals, colonial occupations, and a variety of other areas.
All third graders have the opportunity to use the mini-lab (6 student computers in the LGI Room) and the third grade teachers have the students using them frequently to fully integrate technology with their curriculum. Several third graders have participated in answering various Statue of Liberty questions to win the honor of carrying the torch.
Fourth Graders: Once a week every fourth grade class visits the lab for an hour. Numerous things are accomplished during that time period. Students are introduced to new and exciting websites. Students work on various Microsoft Office Applications. Students do research on a variety of projects. Additionally, Fourth grade has a laptop cart for their usage and each class spends a significant amount of time every week using the laptop carts.
Fifth Grade classes have have a laptop cart with 8 laptops to use when their teacher's sign up. All classes spend a significant amount of time on the Laptop's every week. Every fifth grade class utilizes the Senteo Hand held student response system quite regularly.
Yes we have a wish list please scroll down further
SUPER WEBSITES
vocabulary, and knowledge base.
is a place for everyone.
This wonderful place is where you go to study a foreign language, vocabulary skills, math skills, even famous artists and you help the impoverished hungry people of the world at the same time.
Every question you get right earns you 20 grains of rice…that is donated to the United Nations Food Programs.
This site is outstanding and great for adults and children of all ages.
Younger ones will need some adult assistance but what a fun way to expand the WWW.FreeRice.Com,
As you may have read above, a number of classes are using www.SpellingCity.com.
This website is a wonderful way for your children to practice their weekly spelling words. Please visit the site:
www.spellingcity.com You may also get to this site via the Culbertson Library main page. WWW. Spellingcity.com
WWW. netsmartz.org
Internet safety is one of our highest priorities within MNSD. We at Culbertson have been utilizing this site to reinforce internet safety with the children. The site is manageable and designed for children and teens of all ages. It has an excellent parent section that I highly recommend. Take time to visit the site with your child. Enjoy playing some of the games with your child to reinforce internet safety.
is a terrific website to learn how to animate cartoons.
You can make your own animae cartoons and videos on this web site.
Parents, there is a variety of animae videos on this website that members have made, so you may wish to supervise your child’s usage.
However, this is also the best place to learn and practice animation skills without spending thousands on software. WWW.goanimate.com,
&w=500&h=333&size=84.2&type=jpeg "http://www.flickr.com/photos/hearts_and_stars/2450011028/")
