Now that we are in the middle of the semester, Gordon House students shared some of their reflections and
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (assigned class reading)
Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White (some students read this)
Stewart Little by E.B. White (some students read this)
October Favorites:
Astronaut Academy by Dave Roman, House of Hades by Rich Riordan, Flower Power Series by Lauren Myracle, d’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire, Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, Rivalry by John Feinstein, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, Baseball Great, Best of the Best, and Rivals by Tim Green, the first Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, The Second Life of Abigail Walker by Frances O’Roark Dowell, Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, The Winnie Years series by Lauren Myracle, His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman, Amber Brown Goes Fourth by Paula Danziger, Atlantis Rising by T.A. Barron, Gryphon Chronicles series by E.G. Foley.
| “Real Fact” | The Class’ Guess | What might be good sources? |
| 813The number sign (#) is called octothorpe. | False | wikipedia, dictionary (paper/online) |
| 800Most lipstick contains fish scales. | True | wikipedia, cosmetics company (website),answers.com, ingredients list (on products), |
| 854Hawaii is the only U.S. state that grows coffee. | False | wikipedia, coffee company sites (Starbucks,)sites about Hawaii, coffee plantation sites, google maps,
information about U.S. States — a factual book about coffee, |
| 787In Youngstown, Ohio, it is against the law to run out of gas. | False | Law books on Ohio cities, traffic lawyer in Ohio, find a gas station and call them, town government information site |
| 783Men get hiccups more than women. | 50/50 | health/doctor website, wikipedia, book on human body, go to hospital, answers.com, books on hiccups, |
| 871Ulysses Grant once got a 20 dollar fine for speeding on his horse. | False | biography on Grant, answers.com, Britannica, other databases, sites on laws in 1800s, sites on U.S. History or famous fines, law records of the 1800s |
| 144 The oldest known animal was a tortis who lived to 152 years old. | True | wikipedia, Britannica, animal facts website.
|
| #679
A tigers night vision is 6x better than a human |
True | wikipedia, Britannica, animal facts website.
|
| #782
The human jaw can generate a force up to 200 pounds on th molars. |
True | Wikipedia, Answers.com, doctors, dentists, orthidontists, a book on your mouth, body book
|
| #137
The city of L.A. has threee times as many automobiles than people. |
False | Book on automobiles of L.A., wikipedia, answers.com, Britannica, |
| #329
The world’s first escalator was built in Coney Island, New York in 1896. |
True | wikipedia, Coney Island history site, history of escalators site. |
| 783 Men get hiccups more than women | False | health or docters websites, wikipedia
|
| 863 The term rookies comes from a civil war term, reckie which was short for recruit. | True | civil war terms dictionary, dictionary, wikipedia. Britannica. war books, civil war books. answers.com |
| 821 It takes an interaction of 72 muscles to produce human speech. | True | health/docters.com wikipedia |
| 847 Until the nineteenth century solid blocks of tea were used as money in Siberia. |
True | Britannica, wikipedia, Siberia sites, Siberian money sites, nineteenth century siberia, nineteenth century money site. |
| 736 more babies are born at night than durning the day |
False | hospital site, we can look in a factual book |
| 835 you burn more calories sleeping than watching tv |
False | body book, calorie burning site |
| “Real Fact” | Our Guess | What might be good sources? |
| 900Neckties were first worn in Croatia. Which is why they were called cravats. | True | a website that deals with necktie history, A website about Croatia, book about neckties, web site about clothing/history |
| 756Penguins can jump 6 feet. | True | cool facts app., youtube, website about penguin facts, wikipedia, Audubon Society, National Geographic Website |
| 737The human brain takes up 2% of body weight, but uses 20% of its energy. | False | ask.com, a nonfiction book about human bodies (Brains, bodies, guts and stuff,) brain facts app., website about brains |
| 772Male moose shed their antlers every winter and grow a new pair next year. | 50/50 | personal observation, Britannica, books about moose, taxidermist, websites about animals and seasons, antler websites, |
| 925The White House was originally called the President’s Palace. It became the White House in 1901. | False | A website about the White House, ask.com, wikipetia.com, Britanica |
| 847Until the nineteenth century, solid blocks of tea were used as money in Siberia. | False | |
| 806In Albania, nodding your head mens “no” and shaking your head means “yes.” | True | Britannica, European country facts |
| 728The planet Saturn has a destiny lower than water. It would float if placed in water. | False | A website that has to do with planets, a book about Saturn, ask.com, a website about space, or a website that has to do with Saturn. |
| 745Armadillo’s have four babies at a time and they are always the same sex. | True | A website called Armadillobabies.com, and ask.com, animalreproduction.com Armadillofacts.com. |
| 766
The hippopotamus has the capability to remain under water for as long as five minutes. |
True | National Geographic, ask.com, a book about hippos, a website about hippos, know it all.com, and the natural history museum website. |
| 782The human jaw can generate a force of up to 200 pounds on the molars.
|
False | Human body book |
| 863The term “rookies” come from a civil war term “reckie” which short for recruit. | False | a book or website about the Civil War, a soldier, or a book about english terms. |
| 188Antarctia is the driest, coldest, windiest, and highest contenent on earth. We think it’s true. | True | a book or website about Antarctia or the contenents, Britanica Online, or books about world weather. |
| “Real Fact” | Our Guess | What might be good sources? |
| 709Hybrid Cars produce up to 75% less pollution than other vehicles. | Undecided | Car company websites, Website about Pollution, Book about Environment, ask.com, article (from a magazine, newspaper) |
| 850Hawaii is further south than Florida. | True | Look at a map – Regular print map, or Google Map, or a Globe, |
| 330The top of the Empire State Building was originally built as a place to anchor blimp. | True | Ask a second grade teacher, ask someone who works at Empire State Building, Empire State Building’s official website, book about Empire State Building |
| 809French author Michel Thayer published a 233 page novel which has no verbs. | False | The Library — the book written by Michel Thayer, website about Michel Thayer (or his own website), editor/publisher site? |
| 679A tiger’s night vision is six times better than human. | True | National Geographic Website, Tiger Specialist (Zoologist who studies tiger), Ask a Scientist, A book about Vision or a book about Tigers, National Geographic, Animal Planet channels, Discover Channel |
| 734potatoes have more chromosomes than humans.
|
True | health sites, agricultural site, science site |
| 745Armadillos have four babies at a time and they are always the same sex. | False | You could go to the zoo, ask an armadillo (haha), read an armadillo book, watch an armadillo T.V. show. |
| 918The first lollypop was invented in Connecticut | True | sweets book, history of Connecticut book |
| 851Miami installed the first ATM for rollerbladers. | True | book about Miami, old person who lived in Miami for a long time, ask roller blader in Miami, ask someone who works for a bank in Miami |
| 798Tennessee was previously named Franklin after Benjamin Franklin. | False | Sites about Tennessee |
| 706Steel is 100% recyclable | True | recycling plant, ask a recycling specialist, environmental website, construction company |
| 928New York City has 722 miles of subway tracks
|
True | subway driver, google earth, subway map, President, Governor |
| 327Chewing gum was invented in New York City in 1870 by Thomas Adams. | True | |
| 844One lump of sugar is equivalent to thee feet of sugar cane. | False | |
| 769If a sheep and a goat mate the offspring is called a geep
|
Undecided
|
Zoologist, Petting Zoo/Zoo, National geographic, TV, Magazine, |
| 763
Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur. |
False | Zoologist, Circus, Africa, Zoo, take a tiger and shave off its fur, National Geographic TV/Magazine |
| “Real Fact” | Our Guess | What might be good sources? |
| 822 The only jointless bone in your body is in your throat. | False | Wikipedia, Book about Body Parts, Website by Doctors, |
| 885 Vultures can fly for six hours without flapping their wings. | 50/50 | Birds Website (Audubon society), Book about Birds, Book about Vultures, |
| 709 Hybrid cars produce up to 75% less pollution than other cars. | True | TV Commercials, Hybrid websites, Books about Cars, Ask someone working at a car dealership |
| 917 The average lead pencil can draw a line 35 miles long or write roughly 50,000 English words | True | (question: sharpening or not?)World Records book, Experiment, Wikipedia, Pencils Website, Penway Website, Ticonderoga Website |
| 773 Mountain goats aren’t actually goats. They are antelopes. | False | Ask someone who owns mountain goats, Animal Planets.com, Website about Mountain Goats, Animal Researcher, Scientist, Science Teacher |
| 838 Cranberries are sorted for ripeness by bouncing them. | 50/50 | Farms that grow cranberries, Crazen and Cranberry Juice Companies, Wikipedia, |
| 796 India has more English speakers than the United States. | False | Wikidedia, books on languages, websites on places and languages |
| 243 If you put all the streets in New York Citiy in a straight line, they would stretch to Japan. | True | Wikipedia, website about New York |
| 327Chewing gum was invented in New York City in 1870 by Thomas Adams. | False | gum websites, wikipidea, History Books of gum (recent), gum companys. |
| 809 A french author Michel Thayer published a 233-page novel which has no verbs | False | Library, wikipidea, publishing companys |
| Men get hiccups more then woman | False | Wikipedia, book about the body, number 1 pediatrician reccomended website |
| A tigers night vision is six times better than a humans. | True | Wikipedia, a book about tigers, the discovery channel website, planet earth tigers, kids discover magazines, national geographic. |
| 813 The sign # is called an ortorthorpe | False | ? |
| 744 Polar bears can smell a seal from 20 miles away | True | ? |
| 738 There are more spcies of fish in the Amozon River than in the Atlantic Ocean. | True | Books about the Amozon River, Books about fish, website about fish, websites about The Amozon River, and Wikipedia |
| 732 The chicken is the closest living relative to the Tyrannasaurus Rex. | True | Books about dinosaurs, books about chickens, and Wikipedia. |
| 855 Oregon has more gohst towns than any other U.S state. | False | Oregon state website ask people from Oregan Wikipedia |
| 330 The top of the Empire State Building was originally built as a place to anchor blimps. | True | Empire state building website
wikipedia ask people from the Empire State building. |
Wordsmith.org: Today's Word
