Geo Quiz #17: Southern Africa

Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe.

Geo Quiz #34: U.S. National Parks

Washington: Olympic, Mount Rainier
Oregon: Crater Lake
California: Yosemite, Sequoia, Death Valley, Joshua Tree
Montana: Glacier
Wyoming: Yellowstone, Grand Teton
South Dakota: Badlands
Nevada: Great Basin
Utah: Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon
Arizona: Grand Canyon
New Mexico: Carlsbad Caverns
Arkansas: Hot Springs
Texas: Big Bend
Kentucky: Mammoth Cave
Ohio: Cuyahoga Valley
Virginia: Shenandoah
Tennessee: Great Smoky Mountains
Florida: Everglades
Maine: Acadia

Believe it or not, this is not the complete list of U.S. National Parks!

Where Am I?

Due Thursday, February 4.

You will have Monday and Wednesday to work on this project. You can choose an African physical feature on Monday if you have not yet done so.

Edgar Awards Nominees 2010

The nominees for best Young Adult Mystery and best Juvenile Mystery have been announced by the Mystery Writers of America.

We currently have one of the nominated books in the Nova Library: Reality Check, by Peter Abrahams.

Here are the 2009 nominees for best Young Adult and best Juvenile mysteries.

New Library Additions

Food, Inc. This is the DVD of the documentary directed by Robert Kenner about industrial food production in the U.S. Features noted authors Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser.

2010: Odyssey Two, by Arthur C. Clarke. This is the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Look for these additions on the new book shelf of the library.

Scale Calculations: Africa

Due Monday, February 1.

You can use class time Monday to finish them if you need it.

Estimate the distance between the following cities. Show all work.

Cairo, Egypt ---> Tripoli, Libya

Tripoli ---> Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Dar es Salaam ---> Johannesburg, South Africa

Johannesburg ---> Dakar, Senegal

Dakar ---> Cairo

Quiz Bowl Questions

Due Tuesday, February 2.

3 questions covering 3 different subjects. Include answers (obviously).

Detective Profile

Due Wednesday, February 3.

Punctuation Practice

Due Monday, February 1.

Punctuation Assessment

Wednesday, February 3.

The assessment will cover dashes, hyphens, colons, semicolons, and apostrophes.

Book Contest

Aaron F. is having a book contest at his site. The winner will receive a copy of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Demigod Files.

You can find Aaron's website here. Contest info can be found here. You can actually enter the contest here.

Enjoy!

Apostrophes

Due Wednesday, January 28.

Non-Fiction Presentations

This trimester in Silent Reading, you will need to give a short presentation to the class about a non-fiction title you read this trimester. Here are the guidelines for the presentations:

1. Title (including sub-title—lots of non-fiction books have these) and Author.

2. Show us the book. Tell us where you acquired the book and whether it is available from the NOVA Library. If you are not able to show us the physical book, explain why.

3. What is the subject of the book? Explain in simplified terms.

4. Did you like the book? Explain why or why not.

5. What is the reading level of the book? Challenging, difficult, moderate, easy? Give context so the audience can follow your reasoning.

6. What were the most interesting things you learned from reading the book? Give 2 or 3 examples.

7. Book presentations should be about 3 minutes in length.

8. Presentations begin Monday, February 1, and continue through Friday, February 26. You will need to sign up for a presentation day.

9. You can use Silent Reading time to prepare your presentation with note cards.

10. Unsatisfactory presentations will have to be re-presented.

Geo Quiz #16: Central Africa

Friday, January 29.

Countries: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome & Principe, Zambia.

Capitals: Brazzaville, Kinshasa, Luanda.

Geo Quiz #33: SE US Cities

Florida: Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Miami
Mississippi: Jackson
Alabama: Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery
Georgia: Atlanta, Savannah
South Carolina: Charleston, Columbia, Myrtle Beach
Tennessee: Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga
North Carolina: Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh
Kentucky: Frankfort, Louisville
Virginia: Richmond, Norfolk
West Virginia: Charleston

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

is going to be made into a movie directed by. . .Martin Scorsese?!? It appears to be true!

New Library Books!

We have some new library books which will be available for check-out beginning at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow.

Here are the new books:

The Blind Side, by Michael Lewis. The basis for the movie.

Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith, by Deborah Heiligman. This book won the 2010 YALSA non-fiction award and has been getting great reviews.

Stones Into Schools, Greg Mortenson. The follow-up to Three Cups of Tea.

The Teen Vogue Handbook. Tips for aspiring fashionistas.

I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be your Class President, by Josh Lieb. That really is the full title of this book.

Sammy Keyes and Psycho Kitty Queen, by Wendelin Van Draanen. Another great title--this one is a mystery featuring supersleuth Sammy Keyes.

Fruits Basket Ultimate Edition, Volume 4. This is the just-released hardback edition of the popular manga series.

Magyk, by Angie Sage. Volume One of the Septimus Heap series.

The Complete Dennis the Menace 1957-1958 (Volume 4), by Hank Ketcham. The classic single-panel comics collected in a beautiful edition.

Enjoy the new books!

Colons and Semicolons

Due Monday, January 25.

Africa Maps

Due Thursday, January 28.

The Case of the Speckled Band

Due Friday, January 22.

Write a paragraph on the following: What is the solution to the case and how did Sherlock Holmes solve it? Explain your answer in 6-8 sentences.

Up and Running

Gacekblog is ready to go. First actual post coming tomorrow!