Additionally, my compliments to all of the students for their encouraging words to each other, and their respectful behavior during the presentations. Everyone listened and learned!
Our presentations began with an informative address about Stonehenge by NW. Did you know each block must have been carried by over 500 people for at least 50 miles!? Did you know there were ditches dug around Stonehenge? Did you know that bones have been found nearby indicating perhaps where the builders of Stonehenge lived? Did you know Stonehenge is made of chalk? Did you know all of this was in NW's report?
He presented a marvelous detailed presentation containing these and many other interesting facts about this curious structure in England. It was very interesting to hear the legends surrounding Stonehenge.
WP introduced the heliocentric view first discovered by Nicolas Copernicus. (Helio = Sun, Centric = Center) At a time when the entire civilized world believed all celestial objects revolved around the Earth, Nicolas Copernicus questioned this belief. He served as a clergyman in the church, and centered his own belief on God! (That is awesome!) His picture circulates on Polish currency, and he is buried at the same church where he served. WP did a fabulous presentation on this great man.
Sadly, I was so enthralled with his speech that I neglected to take pictures. His poster was informative and eye-catching. :-) I will have a picture of WP with his visual aid next week! I am sorry I missed it today! Please extend a little grace to me! I do want everyone to see his creative work!
Galileo stretched the minds of ancient times because of his belief in Nicolas Copernicus' view that the Sun was the center of our Solar System. Galileo spent many years under house arrest for not recanting his belief. ES shared these and other intricate details about his life. For instance, I learned that he kept a doctor near to his house so he could still have medical care while being under house arrest. :-) MS displayed her colorful graphic organizer to represent this man who made such an impact on our understanding of the universe.
The Latin words "umbra" and "penumbra" are not only used to describe eclipses as we learned in class. Today, ES informed us that these words are also applied to Sunspots on the Sun! (I did not know that!) She also shared that the Aztecs had a Sun God with dark spots on his face with the presumption that the Aztecs had witnessed the Sunspots. ES shared her extensive research on sunspots and solar flares teaching all of us many facts we did not know. She did a wonderful job!
The students learned a tremendous amount of information about the Sun today from PB. She shared some facts about our central star, quizzed the kids on their knowledge, discussed the different layers of the Sun, and taught about some of the positive and negative consequences of having the Sun above us! (Wear your sunscreen! Ha-ha!) She did a superb job of interacting with the class while making her points. :-) Very clever and imaginative!
The entire class was engaged when PB asked for help "labeling" the parts of the Sun. She chose people in the class to come up and place the correct name on that part of the Sun. It was very creative!
PC ended our day with a great presentation on Solar and Lunar Eclipses. We could even see where the craters of the moon were outlined by the Sun! Very cool! Did you know there is geometry during a Lunar Eclipse? (We are now learning Math and Astronomy!) Did you know the moon turns reddish/orange when there is a lunar eclipse?! Check out his visual display and you can witness a lunar eclipse from beginning to end! Whoa!
I learned so much today from these students. Today they literally taught all of us something new. It was evident they all worked very hard preparing for their presentation. Every child had researched and studied their topic! I was impressed with the content of the presentations today! The students presenting later in the semester have a hard act to follow! Every child did GREAT today! 
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