It's raining fish? WHAT?

listserve.com

Yes, this is a real picture of fish falling from the sky.  It's raining fish!  Fish, frogs, and even tomatoes have fallen from the sky like rain.  Why?
Scientist think it occurs when a strong thunderstorm moves over water and whirlwinds and mini tornadoes form.  The whirlwinds and mini tornadoes can pick up small, light weight organisms and carry them miles away.  When the whirlwinds and mini tornadoes hit land, the wind speeds slow down and the fish, frogs, or tomatoes fall to the ground like rain.
Although this may seem very strange to us, it is not new.  Scientist have found journals that talk about this strange weather phenomena from the first century AD!
Question: Pretend like you are a weather person and tell me what kind of weather the people in the picture above are experiencing.   Include: temperature, chance of rain, clear or cloudy and wind speed.  Leave me a comment and only use your color group and initials.

Check out this new species of snake!

ouramazingplanet.com

Matilida's Horned Viper was discovered in southern Tanzania during a biological survey.  It measures around 60 centimeters and has horn-like scales above its eyes.  The vipers habitat is only a few square miles of a remote forest in Tanzania.  Scientist are not saying its exact location for fear of the snakes safety.
Question:  Why would scientist not want to tell the world exactly where the snakes habitat is? What do you think would happen to the snake population if people knew where it lived?
Leave me a comment and use only your color group and initials.

What glows at night? A mushroom?!

Check out this mushroom that glows in the dark!  I have never seem a glowing mushroom...have you?  Imaging walking through the forest and seeing thousands of glowing mushrooms!  WAY COOL!

by Jennifer Viegas (Discovery News)

It is called the Bitter Oyster mushroom and can be found in Eastern North America.  How does it glow in the dark?  Scientists are not sure yet.  They do know that oxygen has something to do with it.
QUESTION: This question has two parts.  Part 1.  What is the feeding type of this mushroom? herbivore? carnivore? omnivore? producer? decomposer?
 ( This mushroom is a _________ because it _____.)
Part 2 Why do you think the mushroom glows? (Hint: What does a plant need an animal for?  Animals are attracted to the light. ) Leave me a comment.  Use scientific words because YOU ARE A SCIENTIST!! Use only your color group and initials!




A few animals also glow.  Remember this scorpion we talked about in class?

by Jennifer Viegas (Discovery News)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bonus Question for 3-23 Test: Did Woolly Mammoths ever live in Brenham?

Wikipedia

A few weeks ago when it rained several inches a person my husband works with found a Woolly Mammoth tooth in a creek by his house.  Woolly Mammoths lived during the last ice age and no longer exist - they are extinct.  They are similar to the Indian Elephant but larger and have several adaptations for cold weather.  They had thick shaggy hair to keep them warm and A LOT smaller ears than the Elephant to reduced heat loss.
 This is not a picture of the tooth found in Brenham, but is very similar.   Notice how large this tooth is!  It is a flat molar used for grinding food.

Bonus question: You can look at the teeth of an animal and know what type of food they eat.  What feeding type is a Woolly Mammoth?  A  Carnivore, Herbivore, Omnivore?  Leave me a comment, use only your color group and initials.

What happened to this insect?

This insect spent the night clinging to a few blades of grass.  During the night dew formed on everything, including this insect.  Question:  How did the dew form on this insect. YOU are a scientist so use your scientific vocabulary to explain how it happens. Hint: dew is formed by condensation.

 

What is special about March 20th?

Its a Spring Equinox of course!!  (the first day of spring)
Equinox means equal and a spring equinox means that the hours of day time and hours of night time are close to equal. (not exactly equal but close)
We should enjoy around 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of darkness on March 20th.

Zoomschool.com

Check out this diagram of the seasons.  Question:  Why does the Earth have seasons?  
Why does the Earth have DAY and NIGHT?  Use your scientific vocabulary to answer the questions!  Leave me a comment, use only you color group and initials. 

SPRING BREAK !!

MSN.COM

YEA!! ITS SPRING BREAK!!
Question:  What are your plans for Spring Break? Leave me a comment using only your color group and initials.  HAVE FUN AND STAY SAFE!!

Have you ever seen a roll cloud?

Check out this roll cloud!

Discovery Science

Live Science

 Question:  Explain how clouds form using YOUR scientific vocabulary.  You can do it!  Explain it like a Meteorologist!  How do roll clouds form?  Leave me a comment and only use your color group and initials. 

Have you ever seen a Dolphin Stampede?

Check out this video!

 Bonus Question for 3-9-12 Quiz

Why do you think the dolphins are swimming together in such a large group?  Why do you think the dolphins are surfacing in such large numbers?  Tell me your hypothesis.  Leave me a comment and include only your color group and initials.  I can wait to read your hypothesis!  Scientist do not even know why dolphins stampede!  Maybe you will grow up to be an awesome scientist and answer this question!