National Geographic Bee Airs Thursday Night

The 2012 National Geographic Bee airs Thursday, May 24, at 8:00 p.m. on the National Geographic Channel.  It will be rebroadcast on KCTS, Seattle's PBS affiliate, at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 29.  The contestants at the National Geo Bee are very impressive.  They really know their geography, obviously.

Geography Presentation

You will present what you have learned about the geography, history, and current events related to your country.  Every presentation will include a slideshow.  Each slide must have pertinent information and an image.  You may not include complete sentences or paragraphs on the slides.  Text should include key information, names, statistics, headings, etc.  The slides should serve as prompts for your presentation.  You will elaborate on the information on the slides in your presentation.  Your objective is to be succinct and thorough in your presentation and to convey what makes your country interesting and unique.

Slide 1:  Title
Name of Country
Your Name
Image

Slide 2:  Location
Capital
Major Cities
Neighboring Countries/Bodies of Water
Image: Map

Slide 3: Environment
Physical Terrain/Landscape
Mountains, Lakes, Rivers, Deserts, Rainforests, Plains, etc.
Image: Photograph

Slide 4: Key Feature or Region
Choose a physical feature or region to highlight.  Explain what makes it significant or important.
Image: Photograph

Slides 5-7: History
Each slide must include:

• Major event or time period
• At least 3 facts, names, or dates
• Photo, illustration, or chart

Record all sources you use for finding information and cite them using the correct format.  Keep this information saved in a Word document.

Slides 8-12: Current Issues
These slides should cover the current political situation facing your country.  This section of the presentation should give the audience a sense of the hardships and struggles your country has experienced.  Each slide must include:

• A Main Idea related to the country's situation
• Relevant names, dates, events, and information related to the situation
• Photo or illustration

Slide 13: Conclusion
This will be the final slide of your presentation.  You can include an image on this slide or you can create a Question Slide.

"Never Again"

On Thursday, our school was visited by Mr. James Morikowa from Hiroshima, Japan.  Mr. Morikowa was seven when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.  He spoke to us about the devastation of the city.  He survived because his father actually moved the family out of the city center to the suburbs in fear of an attack.  The images shown by Mr. Morikowa were horrifying.  His message was "Never again."  He spoke of the need to end the proliferation of nuclear weapons around the globe.  His message resonated deeply with our students.

Today the sixth graders made origami cranes as a way to honor the victims of Hiroshima.  We will be mailing 33 cranes to Japan, along with a photograph of our class and a donation to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.  As I am not very skilled in origami, I would like to thank Fuchsia, Taeus, Luna, Elyse, and Jasper for assisting their classmates with the folding of the cranes.  Special thanks also go to JoAnn Young, our school counselor, for arranging the visit.  It will not be forgotten by anyone present.

The two most popular things in the sixth grade: Sounders FC and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu is a bubblegum pop superstar from Japan.  She sings a lot about candy.  Back when I was growing up, music videos were played on MTV.  Music videos made Michael Jackson, Madonna, The Beastie Boys, Nirvana, Green Day, and countless others into stars.  Bands needed MTV to give them exposure.  Today a kid can go online and find video of musicians from anywhere in the world.  And I have to say, the Japanese take on pop music is very interesting.  It's very bouncy, for one thing.  I can see why the kids like it.

Sounders FC defeated FC Dallas 2-0 tonight.  We are now 7-1-1 on the season.  Fredy Montero came on for Mauro Rosales in the second half and scored two goals.  Brilliant game from him.  Also, the Sounders managed to pick up three points on the road while resting Ozzie Alonso for the entire game.  That's huge.  Granted, FC Dallas were missing quite a few of their key players.  But a win is a win, and we now have 5 in a row.  We're on a roll.

NOVA Sounders Alliance at Saturday's game vs. Philadelphia

(with Arvean's brother and Sounders broadcaster Ross Fletcher!)