so, i lied

I am infact not going to have a meaningful post at all... probably not for a few days. Got back and had a friendly reminder (kick in the teeth) that I have a ton of work due for school by Thursday. And by ton, I mean, I spent 3 hours on 1/5th of it last night, and i still have 4/5 to go. Totally do-able, just not do-able along with a very meaningful post on the grand canyon. So, i'm sorry, I"ll have to leave that for another day.

For now, I leave you with this. it's raining outside, i'm inside, and the EALR requirement for 6-8th grade science I am trying to write a lesson plan for is:

In prior grades students learned how ecosystems change and how these changes affect the capacity of an ecosystem to support populations. In grades 6-8 students learn to apply key concepts about ecosystems to understand the interactions among organisms and the nonliving environment. Essential concepts include the process of photosynthesis used by plants to transform the energy of sunlight into food energy, which is used by other organisms, and possible causes of environmental change. Students also learn to investigate environmental issues and to use science to evaluate different solutions to problems. Knowledge of how energy flows through ecosystems is a critical aspect of students' understanding of how energy sustains life on the planet, including human life.

Ecosystems are continuously changing. Causes of these changes include nonliving factors such as the amount of light, range of temperatures, and availability of water, as well as living factors such as the disappearance of different species through disease, predation, habitat destruction and overuse of resources or the introduction of new species.

This will go well with my Lesson Plan titled: Pika Project. Kids get to measure various distances in the rock garden area, which is prime Pika habitat. They will then need to assess the impact of a warming earth on the pikas home turf and if the little guy will have to move up in elevation to stay alive. hoooray.

ugh.