Churchill Science

Most of the Earth is covered by water. But what would it look like if you took all the water away? National Geographic’s special, Drain the Ocean, shows us!

This excerpt from the program is about one of my favorite places, the Big Island of Hawaii. When I was in Volcanoes National Park, I had no idea that I was standing near the tallest mountain on Earth!

The Cluster B classes have been studying the planets in our own solar system and finding out why Earth is so unique and special. But could there be planets somewhere else in the universe that we could live on? Recently scientists announced that they have found some…

The red glowing object is Gliese 581, a red dwarf star. There are several rocky planets orbiting it, each named for the star – Gliese 581c, Gliese 581d, and Gliese 581e. Last week, scientists announced that “d” and “e” were the planets most like Earth that have ever been found.

Here’s a video showing the whole system:

This next video shows some planets that orbit around other stars, that could be like our own planet Earth. These stars are very far away and it is currently too hard to take a picture of them, much less go there. The video also talks about why Venus and Mars didn’t end up having life, the way Earth did.

Our hamsters at Churchill School live in a plastic tank. When our hamsters crawl on you, they tickle! They’re very cute and fluffy. The mother goes so fast on the wheel that if the babies get up, they fall. The colors of the hamsters can be brown and black and orange. The moms have pinker noses because they rub on things to get a better sense of smell. The mom and the other female hamster were fighting over the water and food, so the other female hamster can’t live in the same tank. This means you should put two girl hamsters in different tanks, or two boys! Sometimes at night, the hamsters can get out of their cages. Don’t use barred cages that they can squeeze out of!

Hamsters can live for 3 years. Some hamsters live in deserts and some do not. When hamsters have not been together for a long time, if you put them back in the same tank, they will fight.

by Room 206

Have a great winter break! See you in January!

-Lisa, who is off to photograph Hawaii’s green sea turtles and hike the volcano

Meerkat Manor mostly is about a family of meerkats called the Whiskers. The other family that is against them is called the Lazuli. The leader of the Whiskers is Flower. A cool fact is that the females are in charge. The husband of the leader is Zaphod.  They eat ants. Sometimes the Meerkats eat birds. They have a home underground and there is an “upstairs” and “downstairs”. They live in the desert in South Africa in the Kalahari desert.

In one part of the movie, the baby got lost because it wandered away. There were too many. When there are too many meerkats, it is hard to keep track of all of the babies. When you watch the video, it might get a little scary or sad. Some meerkats are very vicious. When one meerkat is by itself, it dies, and when they’re all together, they stay alive. When they stay together, they are called packs. They are very cute!

Please look at Meerkat Manor. We hope you look at our website!

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Rabbits, Foxes and Plants Game is actually a really surprising game because when you put how much the amount is, and when you put all of it even, it will go like a roller coaster! Stephanie noticed that when there are more plants, the rabbits get bigger. Then the plants get smaller, and the rabbits get smaller too. And when you put too much of the plants, you could even it out with the rabbits and they would go up and down at the same time.

Mentos and Diet Coke: Room 226!