ISS Video

Earlier this school year we were tracking the whereabouts of the International Space Station. Click on the link to check out times and locations for Satellite Flybys.  Here are two very cool NASA videos aboard the ISS. The first video was taken over Canada and you can clearly see the aurora borealis, or northern lights. The second video was taken coming up the eastern United States. You can make out the major cities by the huge bright lights. Also the northern lights can be seen in the distance to the north. More information and videos can be found here.

Video courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center

Winter Days

Winter Days

By Kenton Woods 

Every morning on winter days

I wake up and sing this phrase

" I see the birds up in flocks 

Snow spreading on the ground 

Like something fragile in a box

Making hot chocolate at 9 am

While snow shines just like a gem

Sledding and making gingerbread

Covered with snow from toe to head

Making a huge snow maze

All of this on winter days."

A Tribute to Joe Pa

"Arrowmaker"

Here are a few pictures from items used in Arrowmaker, the novel we are currently reading by Roy F. Chandler. There is an Indian grindstone, donated by the Shatto family. Also, the grist mill at Little Buffalo State Park would be similar to the one Rob Shatto built in Arrowmaker. Lacie and Ellie are sitting on a mill grindstone used to grind corn into flour. The whole mill is operated by water power. The huge waterwheel turns gears and pulleys inside the mill.The bottom picture shows Roy Chandler with books he has written.

 

Photo of Roy Chandler is courtesy of...

ISS

Check out the International Space Station website. The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in a low Earth orbit. The ISS serves as a research laboratory that has a microgravity environment in which crews conduct experiments in many fields including biology, human biology, physics, astronomy and meteorology. Use Simple Satellite Tracker to find out when the ISS and other satellites will be visible over your area. The ISS currently had three astronauts aboard. It orbits the earth between 173-286 miles above the Earth. The ISS travels ~17,227 mph, and orbits the Earth 15.7 times per day!! It was right on schedule and very bright when I saw it on Nov. 1st.

It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

It's that time of year again...Will this be the year Linus finally sees The Great Pumpkin, or will Snoopy be up to his usual tricks? Come out and see It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown on October 28th.

Virginia Mountains on Skyline Drive

Shenandoah National Park - Skyline Drive VA

A Lucky Encounter

L

Photo taken from Colleen Caul's website www.runforroses.com/

With all the rain and flooding in the area, the chance of seeing a runner going by the school today was pretty slim. That's exactly what happened this afternoon outside our school. This particular runner was on a special mission! Colleen Caul is running from St. Louis, MO to New York City! Her route took her by the school and Mr. Hart, the students, and I were fortunate enough to catch up to her as she took a quick break. Click on the link to follow Colleen on her 1,000 mile journey which will see her reach her goal of New York City on Sept. 23rd. She is raising money to help find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis, a disease affecting her family. Awesome job Colleen, you are very inspiring! Lack Tuscarora students and staff are cheering you on!!

Shark Week

It's that time of year again! Shark Week on the Discovery Channel has always been one of my favorite tv programs. Click on the link for all kinds of cool shark information, games, video, and pictures. Photo from Discovery Channel.

Stormy Spring

Juniata County was hit with 2 tornadoes this spring. The "East Waterford Tornado" occurred on April 28th.

• Time: 2:53 am EDT – 3:00 am EDT
• Rating: EF1
• Max Wind: 110 mph
• Max Path Width: 100 yards
• Path Length: 8.49 miles
• Starting Lat/Lon: 40.38, -77.59
• Ending Lat/Lon: 40.47, -77.48
• Injuries: 0
• Fatalities: 0

The "Kellerville Tornado" occurred on May 23rd.

Time: 5:23 pm EDT – 5:31 pm EDTRating: EF2
Max Wind: 130 mph
Max Path Width: 250 yards
Path Length: 4.71 miles
Starting Lat/Lon: 40.6521, -77.1909
Ending Lat/Lon: 40.6518, -77.1011
Injuries: 0
Fatalities: 0.

Here are some impressive tree damage pictures from the Kellerville Tornado.

Super Moon

I took this picture about 35 minutes after moonrise.

Gotta Keep Reading...

Finding The North Star

If you can find the Big Dipper in the sky, you have a skymark to orient yourself both on the Earth and in the Heavens. The two stars that form the pouring side of the bowl point to Polaris, the north star. Polaris is a rather faint star about five times farther away than the distance between the pointers themselves, and marks the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper. The Big and Little Dippers pour into each other, just as the Big Bear and the Little Bear ceaselessly turn around and around the northern sky.

Where The Red Fern Grows

Here is a great Where The Red Fern Grows website. Click on the link for vocabulary and quizzes.

Wrestling Squirrels

I think these two squirrels need a lesson on Lack Lion rules! My trail camera caught these two naughty squirrels in a sumo wrestling position!

Elevation & Temperature

Here is a very cool graphic which shows how temperature drops about 3 degrees Fahrenheit/1,000' of elevation gain.

Nick's Refrigerator Art

Nicholas became famous Thursday night when his picture made the ABC27 evening news. Meteorologist Rob Dixon Showed his picture after the evening weather during the "Refrigerator Art" segment. Mr. Dixon, who was at Lack-Tuscarora in November, thought the picture reminded him of spring days ahead. Great job Nicholas! I hope your hand is not too tired from signing too many autographs! 

Annual Average Temperature

Here is the average annual temperature of the world in degrees Fahrenheit. It is easy to see the gradual temperature change as you move from the equator to the poles. You can also see that Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth. Pennsylvania's average yearly temperature is about 55 degrees F. 

Get Smart: Exercise and Get Off The Computer

People playing computer games to train their brains might as well be playing Super Mario, new research suggests.
In a six-week study, experts found people who played online games designed to improve their cognitive skills didn't get any smarter.
More than 8,600 people aged 18 to 60 were asked to play online brain games designed by the researchers to improve their memory, reasoning and other skills for at least 10 minutes a day, three times a week.
Researchers said the people who did the brain training didn't do any better on the test after six weeks than people who had simply been on the Internet. On some sections of the test, the people who surfed the Net scored higher than those playing the games.

Article courtesy of Tween Tribune