Michelangelo

Michelangelo

By Dora

Michelangelo‘s full name is Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. Michelangelo is Italian and Dutch. He was born March 6th, 1475 in Caprese, Michelangelo, Italy. He was named after the city he was born in Italy. He died February 18th, 1564 in Rome, Italy. He died at age 88. When he was born, his family was in banking. His mother was Francesca di Neri del Miniato di Siena and his father was Leonardo de Buonarroti Simoni.  At age six, he had no mother and fought hard with his father.  When he was 12, he started studying about a very fashionable painter at the time from where he lived,  Domenico Ghilandajo. He had seen some of Michelangelo’s work and got extremely jealous of the talent Michelangelo had.

            Michelangelo’s first painting was the Torment of Saint Anthony. He had many popular paintings. One of them was “ David” and “Rachel.”

Michelangelo loved to sculpt and paint and do art very much. He completed some sculptures before he was 30.

Styles/Renaissance

           
            The styles he used to sculpt were Italian Renaissance, and High Renaissance.  He was also the Italian Renaissance because he made his artwork as close to life as possible.  Some of the characteristics of High Renaissance are the artwork could look like its moving, shading, balanced, natural details, expressions on the painting, the bodies they drew, painted or sculpt could be nude, looks perfect, religious and non-religious.

            Another one of his famous paintings is  Holy Family.  Holy Family also has another name you could use, Doni Tondo. I really like this painting because the family looks happy and peaceful. It looks like they were just eating a picnic or took a hike. Than they calmed down and were having fun.

Techniques

One of the techniques Michelangelo used was fresco. He used the technique fresco to paint the ceiling of Sistine Chapel. He sculpted out of marble and many materials, and also painted on oils. If he wanted to sculpt something, he would bring his material he was using to the place he would sculpt, and start out using a point chisel. The point chisel was used to get rid of most of the stone, until you got somewhat of a shape or size you want. Next a claw chisel would be used to curve and give details of what the point chisel has just finished. To smooth it out, he would’ve used a flat chisel. You could use any other materials, to finish it up.

Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel is one of his most famous pieces of art. It is a beautiful piece of art and took 4 years to paint on the ceiling of Sistine Chapel. From 1508-1512. The Sistine Chapel is in Vatican, Rome. In 1508, Pope Julius II had asked Michelangelo to paint the ceiling on Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo replaced a blue ceiling with blue stars, to over 300 people painted on it. The technique he had used was Fresco and was also using Italian Renaissance, from how real like they looked. Lots of people enjoy this painting/ceiling. 

Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock

by Alisha

He was born January 28th 1912. He was born in New York. His birth name was Paul Jackson Pollock. He is nationally American. When he was a boy he loved to explore. He has 4 older brothers. He and his 4 older brothers received no religious education. His friends and family would describe him as childish trouble. He would smoke, he left high school in 1930. He didn't finish high school. In 1930 he decided to drop his birth name “Paul.” In late 1930 he sketched Picasso’s Guernica. He occasionally stole food and gasoline.  Jackson Pollock died at age 44. He died August 11th 1956, he died in New York. He died in a single car crash. He crashed into a tree and he was killed. He was drinking the night he was killed. He crashed his car 1 mile away from home. His wife died June 19^th, 1984. She was 76 years old when she died.

    His fathers name was Leroy, his father died March 6th 1933. When Jackson was 15 he drank alcohol. On July 21, 1937, Pollock was arrested for drunkenness and breach of the peace. He married another artist named Lee Krasner, his wife was born on October 27th 1908. He did his paintings on the floor, Jackson Pollock was very well known for his unique drip paintings. He was a famous painter,

He would splatter art onto a canvas and it would look fantastic on how he did it. He would ask his wife Lee Krasner after he was done his painting he would ask “Is this a painting?” He would love to paint, before he was a painter he was interested in sculpturing.  One time he was a janitor with his brother, once he was a cleaner for cleaning statues.  He worked late and slept through the morning. In 1955 he abandoned his passport.  The first of his paintings that was in a museum was called She-Wolf. The She-Wolf was bought by the MoMa for $650.

Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci

By Abi

He was born April 15 1425. His full name is Leonardo Di Ser Piero Da Vinci . He was Very well known artist. He was far more than an artist. He was an Italian painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor and much more. He was and still is best known as an artist. He spent his final years in France. He died of old age on May 2 1519. He was 67 when he passed away. He did not have a wife or children. Leonardo had 17 half siblings,15 brothers and 2 sisters. His father married over 4 women in his life. He was the eldest. He was non-religious. 

Paintings

He made many beautiful artworks such as Mona Lisa. For six years, he learned a wide variety of skills, including metalworking, leather arts, carpentry, drawing and sculpting .By the age of 20 he had qualified as a master artist-one of the most important Italian painters.At the age of 14, da Vinci began apprenticing with the artist Verrocchio.

Leonardo made many paintings such as the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, Virgin On The Rocks, and Head of a Women along with many more.

Styles and Techniques

Leonardo would first create a detailed under painting in a neutral gray or brown, then apply his colors in transparent glazes on top. Some of the under painting would show through the layers.

Thomas Edison 

by Dora

Thomas Edison’s full name is Thomas Alva Edison. He was born on February 11^th, 1847 in Ohio.

   When he was growing up, he became deaf in both ears. Thomas says it happened when he couldn’t aboard the train for his job at the Grand Truck Railroad. One of the conductors picked him up by the ears and boarded him on the train. He says when he was picked up he heard something snap inside of him. Or some people think he got deaf by Scarlet fever. At age 11 he set up his own laboratory so he could invent. He created this in his basement.

   His wives were Mary Stitwell from 1871-1884, and then Mary died. His second wife was Mina Miller from 1886-1931. His children were Theodore Miller, Charles, Madeleine, William Leslie, Thomas Alva Edison Jr., and Marion Estelle Edison. He names one of his children after him, so he could be just like him. But growing up he didn’t want a laboratory or do any of the things Thomas did, so Thomas asked him to change his name. So he did and changed his name from Thomas Edison Jr. to Thomas Willard.

The only school education Thomas had been for only 3 months. The schoolmaster thought Thomas was a stupid boy, but his mother didn’t think so. So, his mom pulled him out of school and homeschooled him, because she was a teacher. His mother thought that he did have a lot of knowledge in him, he just didn’t show it at school. His mom gave him big books that no one or not a lot of kids his age read. They were more adult matured books explaining a lot of things. Some of the books that his mother had him study were Gibbons Rise and the fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbons, Sear’s history of the World and the World Dictionary of Science. All of these books were very long and he finished these books while he was 12. I think it was a good think that his mom homeschooled him because, his mom gave him the books that were within his knowledge. I think that without his mom homeschooling him, he wouldn’t been able to make some inventions. He loved to invent from such a small age, before he was a teen. With the books his mother gave him about Science, he learned more, and invented more.

     Some of his inventions were the telegraph. A telegraph was a machine where you could send messages from a distance. Electricity, he used the electricity to make other kinds of inventions. He made the telegraph with electricity. Thomas Edison in fact did not make the light bulb, he made the incandescent inside the light bulb. The incandescent is the little squiggle in the bulb. He made it so it could be used in homes, offices, and other buildings. Another invention he made was the alkaline batteries. Alkaline batteries are batteries that depend on the reaction of zinc and manganese dioxide. One of his most famous quotes is, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”

      Perspiration means sweating. I think this quote is very true because, I think he is saying that your work is from the inspiration, but you if you want it to be good, you have to work very hard. I think he made this quote to how hard he was working because as he got older, he worked harder. Soon enough, he only slept 4 hours and then worked 72 hours.

    I think it was good think Thomas Edison was born. I think it is, because of what a genius he was, and the inventions he has made. He made the telegraph, the electrical power, the incandescent in the light bulb and many more inventions. 

What controls your body temperature?

Denyce, Dora, Adrian, Aiden.

The body temperature is controlled by your hypothalamus. Your hypothalamus is in the middle of your brain. It is an organ in your brain. It also controls hunger, emotional activity, sleeping, and other. A normal body temperature is 37C. It is most people’s normal, and some people have a different normal. When we are sick we lose heat. When the germs enter your body, it enters your bloodstream, and eventually, your hypothalamus hears about it and raises or drops your heat level. When you are sick it can go up to 100F or even higher

                                              How do headaches form?

Alisha, Rheya, Olivia

A headache is one of the most common medical complaints almost about everybody gets a headache at one point.  Headaches can have a big impacted (impacted is pressed firmly together in particular)it is hard to work with a headache

A headache is a pain sensed in the nerves and muscles and the head and neck. Your brain itself cannot sense pain so a headache has nothing to do with your brain hurting

There are 2 main reasons why you would get a headache the 1^st reason is nothing to do with medications. It is a natural headache, and the 2^nd reason is if you have a medical condition like the flu or an injury like a head injury

There are 3 main causes. The first cause is migraine. It is caused by low blood pressure in your head and it means you don’t have a lot of circulation in your head

Tension is caused by emotional stress and muscular strains in the head. Cluster headaches can repeat over weeks or months. Cluster is usually on one side of the head and is centered around the eye.

Not all headaches are created alike. Headaches can be in many parts in your head and through a variety of causes.to stop headaches there are different  ways one is to sleep, to be in a cool dark and quiet place.

How Do We Stop Bullying

Bullying can be a force that is used on others. They are 6 types of bullying; there is physical bullying, verbal bullying, indirect bullying, social bullying, intimidation, and cyber bullying.  The most common types of bullying are verbal bullying, physical bullying, and cyber bullying.  Cyber bullying is much worse than physical bullying.

Cyber bullying is the worst type of bullying because you can’t get away from it. Cyber bullying is someone who is texting you threats and saying something that you don’t feel comfortable about. Some people are so scared of bullying that they skip school.  Some people are so beat down that they do something that is unhealthy and safe. Kids might not get their sleep because they don’t want to wake.  They may not be able to eat or drink like their mind needs to finish growing. They may find themselves in risky situations while trying to avoid school by skipping. They may try to stop the upset feelings by drinking or using drugs. Some may even think about hurting or killing themselves or the bully. This can happen especially when teenagers don’t have someone they trust to help out.

Bullying is really bad and can get really bad. It can get so bad that teenagers cut themselves or even try to commit suicide. Bullying can force someone to change schools or even home school.  Bullying can cause somebody to cry themselves to sleep. 

Bullying is not ok. If you see it happen report it. 

Andrew thinks that bullying should stop because it is not nice and is not right

Zach thinks bullying is bad because it leads to getting a low self-esteem and could lead to depression

Abi thinks that bullying is not ok. It can happen to anyone to make someone else feel bad to make them feel good  bullying can cause someone to threaten someone’s life.  

Why Is Snow White?

Aaliyah,Stewart, Cody

Snow is white because the colour of the sun light is reflected of the snow and shines on the ice crystals and makes it shine and it makes the shine white. Snow is made up of little ice crystals which means up close one snowflake looks clear. When it is all patted down it is all white because of the tiny particles in the snow.There are little water molecules that freeze together to make snowflakes. Snow is really just tiny ice particles just froze together to make snow.

How are gold and silver formed?

Silver and iron come from meteors that have fallen to the earth and stayed there for a billion years and produced silver and iron.

Silver was the first discovered after gold and copper.

Gold

What makes diamonds so hard?

Kaydn, Cameron, Keeshan, Hunter

The most common natural method of contraction of gold is through if the fluids moved over a large enough area, and dissolve minerals, such as quarts, this is why gold was found .  

Diamonds actually form from coal and the process is really long the coal gets in between rocks and they get squashed, with heat and they turn into diamonds.

The carbon atoms stick together really tight and form a tight bond to make it compact.

The diamond is actually not a rock

Diamonds can be very sharp because of the compact atoms they have surgery tools made of diamonds

They are also really small there are knife sharpeners that have diamonds in them

After being mushed together for a long period of time it’s also compact   

http://mysolexperiences.blogspot.ca/

I have started a new blog! When looking at my other blog I realized that my thoughts were intermixed with the student's research and thought if my thoughts were all in one place it may be easier for people to follow what I am doing. I have started transferring files over and will be adding new content shortly.

Swing by and have a look.

http://mysolexperiences.blogspot.ca/

Wonder Buddies

Jennifer Weales, a Kindergarten teacher in my school, has been exploring the world of wonder with her class. She is working to extend the natural wonder of childhood into the classroom. The students have explored space by working through centers that help them ask questions about space. The other day a Blue Jay stopped by on the tree outside the window. The class spent some time observing and then asking questions about the Blue Jay. Why is it blue? How do birds fly?What does it eat? How does it find food in the winter? Why doesn't it fly south?  She answered their questions patiently encouraging them all the time to tell what they think.

Since September my Grade 5 class and her kindergarten class have been reading buddies. This was done to foster a comfort level among the students in both classes. In January we are going to start doing Wonder Buddies. Working together the Kindergarten and Grade 5 students will research answers to questions the Kindergartners have. We will be using SOLE as a basis for this research. The grade 5`s will lead the research, discuss the findings and prepare the Kindergarten student to speak in front of the group about the topic. In doing this their wonder will have a great audience listening to them and prepare them for more investigations on their own. 

O’CANADA

by Olivia, Rheya, Jaylah and Jaycee

Callixa Lavallee was a music teacher in Quebec. He was also known as Canada’s national musician. He needed to change a poem by Judge Adolphe-Basile Routhier into music. The song he made would be played during Congress National des Canadiens-Francais (National Congress of French Canadians) and then that poem became famous and it became known as the song to represent Canada… Oh Canada was written in 1880. It officially became Canada’s national anthem in 1980. 

How Does Electricity Work?

by Cody, Dora, Denyce

In Electricity there is the movement of electrons. Electrons are tiny particles that orbit the nucleus of an atom. An atom is the basic unit of a chemical element. An example of electricity would be that electricity is like water in a hose. The electrons are the water and the wire is the hose. The nucleus also stays in the same spot and the electrons jump from nucleus to nucleus when the power surge is turned on.

Bobby Orr   

Abi, Alisha, Mia, Andrew

His full name is Robert Gordon Orr. He was born on March 20^th 1948 in Perry Sound Ontario. He is left handed. He is 5 foot 1. He started hockey at 5 years of age. He is a professional hockey player. He joined the Boston Bruins in 1966. He played with the Boston Bruins for 10 seasons. He played for the black hawks for an additional 2 years. His hockey career went from 1966-1978. He was in the NHL for over 12 seasons. His number 4 is now retired. He was inducted into the hockey hall of fame in 1979 at age 31, the youngest person to even be inducted. He was a defenceman. He is one of the best hockey players of all time. He has the record for the most assists and goals by a defenceman. He scored 46 goals in 1 season. His national team is Canada. After his hockey career he became a well-known scout for many professional teams.  Later he became a Players Agent. Bobby Orr was named the second team all-star his first year  in the NHL. His first game was against Detroit Red Wings. He comes to Oshawa regularly to watch OHL games.

PK Subban

By Katelynne

P.K. Subban is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He plays defense for the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL. P.K. spent his junior career with the Bellville Bulls of the OHL. He was born in Toronto on May 13 1989. Now he is 24 He has two brothers. Malcolm Subban plays goal for the Boston Bruins. His brother Jordan plays for the Belleville Bulls. All 3 brothers played for the Belleville Bulls. His parents are Maria Subban and Karl Subban.

PK real name is Pernell Karl Subban. His hockey team number is 76.

How Do I Get Parents To Believe In SOLE?

                When I get asked “How Do I Get Parents To Believe In SOLE?” I always come back to this fact. SOLE is about giving kids the right to become active participants in their education. It is about creating a trusting partnership between the teacher and the students. It is this basic fact that gives SOLE its power. Without this SOLE is simply another research tool and nothing else.

                The students themselves are the greatest ambassadors of the program. The idea is that once you have the students buying into it, taking it home, talking about it, and talking about their excitement in learning, the parents become curious. What parent does not want their child to come home every day and answer the question, “What did you learn in school today?” with a number of bits of information the child is eager to share. Parents frequently comment they have never seen their child so excited about school. The positive environment becomes contagious. It builds on other positive moments.

                The other thing we did to help with the parents buy in to SOLE was to hold a parents information session. This information session was developed by the students. They put together a slide show, divided up the parts for speaking, set a date and invited their parents. Many parents do not normally come to the school for an information session about learning. However when their children are presenting and insisting their parents be there you get a full turnout. The students did an amazing job presenting that evening but they had an ace up their sleeve. They informed their parents they were going to perform a SOLE. There were predetermined topics, the parents were asked to form groups of 4, given a research recording sheet, and sent to computers to work. The discussion between the parents surprised the students. They had never seen their parents so animated about learning. Even those parents who were a little reluctant, “I have already graduated!” felt the student and peer pressure and joined in the fun. The students called their parents back into the group after 30 minutes and had their parents present their findings. It made for a great family night and it let the parents see and feel what the kids were doing.

                The partnership between the teacher and the students is the vital component to make SOLE work. The relationship that develops is what makes school fun. And that is what school should be about. More in depth learning takes place. More questions are asked. More involvement in learning is evident. Yes, the relationship between the students and their teacher is the core of a good SOLE and a good education.

Why Do We Still Purchase Textbooks?

In this day and age where everything in Government is about saving money I would like to propose a new and radical idea. The government should stop funding textbooks. Let’s think about it for a second. Everything a teacher needs to run a classroom program can be found online. Current, up to date, pertinent reading material. Math software is huge and mostly free,math manipulatives are available in an environment that emphasizes on line examples, social studies, history, geographic information at their fingertips. It is everything that teachers have ever wanted and more. There is an impressive array of free downloadable activities. There are programs that deliver parts of the curriculum in a manner that students appreciate. Research opportunities are available in areas of the student’s interest. What more could one ask for? And to boot, most of it is provided at no cost.

It would be better to spend the billions on providing up to date technology at every school for every student. Imagine that, no old technology in a school. There would be computers for every child. Students would learning about the things that are important in life, things that are useful in their world.

So why are we still spending millions, if not billions of dollars on textbooks yearly?  It would appear that big business has a firm hold on our governments. They provide research and development. They guide testing, a very big market for that now a days. They provide the materials in the timely fashion that directs the outcomes provided in government documents. Hmm. I wonder which came first, the documents from the government or the materials to support the curriculum. They always seem to be there right after the latest pronouncement from the government is given.

So in this day and age who is in charge of education?