Snow Day

In honor of the snow day we had at school I decided to share this adorable video of Savanna the cheetah playing in the snow with Max the dog at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden! I hope everyone had as much as she did in the video!

Also, on my day off from school I found this website and initiative to encourage the education of computer science and computer programming in school. I sat down and did the first hour of code today to learn a little about the program. It's pretty fun and there are a lot of opportunities for people of all ages to learn how to write code for computers and learn more about computer science on this website. www.code.org Check it out and tell me what you think!

AFA Grant!

Earlier this school year I was fortunate enough to receive a grant from the Air Force Association. As a result we were able to order several new Vernier Go Motion sensors to be used in the classroom! These will be used in the science classroom for both 6th and 8th grade classes during their studies of force and motion. I am so excited to get to use these materials with my students as I believe they will be extremely helpful in understanding the visual representation of motion, speed, direction and position! For more information on the grants visit http://www.afa.org/AFA/InformationFor/Teachers/EducatorGrants ! I will post some more information about the use of the Go Motion sensors as we use them in the classroom! I just wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude for this fantastic opportunity for my students!

Reverting Back to Africa

I mentioned before that I would post my journal entries from when I went to Africa so I figured I would start today while I had some free time! Brackets will indicate anything I have decided to add I remember now that I didn't write down then... []

July 30, 2011

Left/Leaving Today

 

Well I'm sitting at the Dayton Airport waiting on my flight to Dulles. It's already been interesting they almost put my luggage tag on another girl's bag! Boy would that stuck for both of us! [She was going to Arizona if I remember correctly, she asked me where I was going and I told her Africa, let's just say we were both thankful it got sorted out.] Also I realized I forgot to sing my passport [The woman at the ticket counter said "I can't let you get on this flight..... until you sign your passport", I freaked out when she said the 1st part]. Whoops! But I was able to take care of that. Hopefully the rest of my trip isn't quite as exhausting! 

[This next section is from my next flight from Dulles to Senegal and Johannesburg]. 

The flight from D.C. to Senegal and to Johannesburg was pretty manageable. I sat next to a family traveling to Senegal with two teenage boys. I didn't get to talk to them very much but they were traveling to a school to volunteer there (their mom was from Senegal originally). [A few additional things I remember from this flight that I'm surprised I didn't have in my original journal entry was that I managed to be in one of the few sections of the plan from Dulles Airport to Senegal to Johannesburg that did not have a working television/ screen. That meant I didn't have any ability to watch in-flight movies for approximately 18 hours or so. Fortunately I was able to read The Hunger Games and I had to read for my course (I hadn't read all the required reading before I left).

Once we got to Senegal I was fortunate because I didn't have anyone sitting in the seat directly next to me so I was able to sleep a little. I had an isle seat in the center section of the plane that was 4 seats across. I didn't really sleep from the flight that was from Dulles to Senegal though. I found the key to my comfort was to take Dramamine, get up and walk around every couple of hours to stretch my legs and finally to get some well deserved shut eye with a little help  of some Tylenol PM (I am terrible at falling asleep in any moving transportation be it car, bus, train or plane). So with some intermittent sleeping in between reading The Hunger Games I think I was able to get somewhere around 4-6 hours of shut-eye which wasn't too terrible.] When we got to South Africa it was a little rushed we walked off the plane, took a bus and on we went. [Let me clarify, we took a bus to the airport terminal where we had to go through a quick security, then we rushed and bought a few things at the convenience store in the airport (I had to buy an adapter that I could use there to charge my camera etc. let me tell you, I am thankful I live in the us, their electrical prongs are huge!) 

To be continued...

Getting back on track

I realized I have not posted to my blog like I promised so many people I would do! So I guess I should first take a few minutes to say that my trip to Namibia and South Africa was AMAZING! There were so many things that I was able to see and do that I never imagined would ever happen in my life. To see wild giraffe, elephants, lions, ostrich, a leopard, a cheetah kill and so many other animals I can't even list them all is absolutely amazing! I am so thankful to my friends and family that helped to make it possible to go on this trip and experience all that I was able to. So I would imagine that you would like to see some pictures and video from my trip so here it goes. All of my photos are pretty much uploaded online now at www.tricontinentaltour.shutterfly.com. I will try to take some time over the next few months to type up my hand written journal entries from the trip and put some photos along with them to make a real travel blog but I haven't really had the time lately. I hope this satisfies the itch for now about how my trip went.

On another note I am taking a course this semester called issues in zoology through the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and had the opportunity to talk to an expert from Polar Bear International! What an amazing experience, I really love learning from scientists and wildlife biologists out in the field that are researching information that can really help everyone! To make this quick and easy to understand- watch this video: it shows what is happening to the Polar Bear's habitat!

Another School Year

I promise I will get my pictures from Namibia posted sometime soon. The school year has been busy so far. Just as a heads up the Baker Middle School science department is currently collecting canned goods and non-perishable food items for FISH as part of the I Will campaign in memory of 9/11.

Check out this article

This article really made me think about stewardship and conservation here in the states. I just finished my trip to Africa for 3 weeks in which I was a minority. You saw people of all races exploring nature and the wildlife around! It's sad to think we struggle to make that cultural connection in the U.S. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44008927/ns/travel-news/#.Tjp3_YIabIU

I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

I leave tomorrow morning for Namibia! World of great open spaces and CHEETAHS! :) I'm definitely excited. I'll be flying from Dayton to Dulles. After an extensive 16 hour flight over seas (with a stop-over in Senegal) I will land in Johannesburg and then take another plane to Windhoek, Namibia! :) Finally on the 24th we will have arrived and will stay in Windhoek for the night. I will then be going to Cheetah Conservation Fund for a few days, then to Etosha National Park. After that we go back to CCF. After our course is completed I will be traveling to Cape Town, South Africa to sight see and relax a little. Also it will be an opportunity to pay homage to my pen-pal Emmerance who died of cancer over 10 years ago who lived in Cape Town (but was originally from Rwanda). After my time in Cape Town I will be flying to London to visit one of my dear friends and sorority sisters Brittany who lives and is studying in London currently! I will get to tour London for a day then I'll be back home to my friends and family, and especially my husband and our cat! :) (I am missing our one year wedding anniversary while I'm on the trip). Well next time I post I might be on the other side of the world/ and on another hemisphere! See you on the flip side! My internet access is  limited on the trip so I'll try to post when I can! 

Our cat getting in on my packing! 

Leo wants to go to Namibia to see the big cats!!!