Monday, October 29, 2012


QOTW 3 
In the post below I mused whether my house might be at risk for a landslide.  Go to the link:

http://goo.gl/6Vdpb 

to find out whether my house is on a steep slope and whether I have a potential landslide hazard.  Keep scrolling to check my earthquake hazard.  I hope potential buyers don't check this website.  If you're curious, you can enter your own address (if you're in the city of Portland) and discover your risks.

Sunday, October 21, 2012


QOTW 2

Six years ago this month a landslide in a neighborhood near Wilson High created a vacant lot at the top of the hill on Burlingame Place and more than $1,000,000 damage to the home that slid and the three homes at the bottom of the hill.  Hmmmmm.... I live on a hillside. I wonder if that could happen to my house?  Check this link and see if you can tell from the news report what caused the slide: Burlingame landslide

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

on the track at carpool time

QOTW 1

Curious...Haven't seen this for a long time since we've had so little rain in August and September.  Can some eager science student tell me what the picture shows and the why behind it?

Got some great answers below.  You're right about the oil on water, but why the colors?



Monday, October 15, 2012

    On Saturday a group of students and parents from Westside came over to West Hills to do landscape and clean-up work around the campus.  We did lots of pruning and weeding, three units of bark dust were spread, the covered play area was power-washed, and we cleaned up an old mess of paint cans, cinder blocks, and jugs of used motor oil.  Big thanks to those hard-working Westsiders!
    I want to recycle the used motor oil, but I need to put it into plastic gallon milk jugs.  Since most of my family is lactose intolerant to varying degrees, we don't do much milk.  If you have any empty plastic gallon milk jugs, please bring them in to my classroom.  Looking at the load in the back of my truck I might need as many as a dozen jugs.  Thanks for your help!


10/21 
Thanks for your help with the gallon jugs.  I found a place in SE Portland (Far West Fiber) that would take the used motor oil, so I don't need any more jugs.

Friday, October 12, 2012

I'm at the Oregon Google  Conference and just learned how to start a blog!!  I'm looking forward to communicating with students and parents, to doing some thoughtful reflection, and to recording observations and questions.  Incidentally, I was a lucky winner of a drawing for a $25 gift card to Best Buy!!!