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| News February 2004, Volume 7, No. 3 |
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By Jessica L. Op-ed editor
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| Eighth graders Carina M. and Emily W. won the Golden Test Tube with their project, “Does Color Affect Taste.” | |
The district wide Science Fair, which took place on Saturday, February 7, was a big success. District 10 students from kindergarten to eighth grade participated in the Science Fair, displaying a total of seventy-four projects.
Peacock students submitted forty-four of these projects. Every project was inspected by a pair of judges, who, at the end of the fair, decided on a winner for the Golden Test Tube award.
Projects entered in the Science Fair were judged on how clearly the problem of the experiment was stated, the scientific approach, validity of the conclusion, visual presentation and, of course, the knowledge the student gained by performing his or her experiment.
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They found that a lot of the people they tested got the flavors wrong because the color of the drink confused them. |
There were so many students entered in the science fair this year that instead of the judging taking two hours, as expected, it took nearly three.
After judging had been completed, students waited anxiously to find out who had won. The age groups were kindergarten and first graders, second and third graders, forth and fifth graders, sixth, seventh and eighth graders.
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| Eighth grader, Randy P., describes his science fair project to a judge on Saturday, February 7, 2004. | |
Carina added, "The first four were just plain sugar water, the second four were flavors with colors you wouldn't normally associate the flavor with and the last four were flavors with colors that you would associate the flavor with."
They found that a lot of the people they tested got the flavors wrong because the color of the drink confused them.
Emily and Carina think that their project won because they really understood their topic. They think that testing fifty people could have helped them too.
Each of the girls have participated in about four District 10 Science Fairs and said that this was some of the best competition they have seen.
They said that they join the science fair because it is a lot of fun, and, of course, the extra credit they earn for it is very helpful.
"There were a lot of really creative experiments this year," commented Emily, "There were some really good physical ones and some good memory ones. It was a really good fair this year"
"There were a lot of really good projects that the younger kids did too," added Carina.
Dr. Nickisch said that he was very pleased with the experiments entered in the fair this year. "Every year the projects get more and more sophisticated where there is more and more technology used to showcase the projects."
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Peacock joins local weather forecasters
Amy E. news editor
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| The newly installed weather station on the roof of Peacock will allow students to monitor live weather conditions for NBC 5. |
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He recently installed a weather station on the roof, which will be used for many things throughout the year. Mr. Larsen was recently interviewed to learn more on the new weather station.
According to Mr. Larsen, "The purpose of this weather station is to incorporate meteorology into the seventh grade curriculum."
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“The purpose of this weather station is to incorporate meteorology into the seventh grade curriculum.” |
The station will provide the weather outside at that precise moment for the news show. Right now they use weather that is predicted the day before.
"I also think it will seem more real knowing that the information we get is coming from right above us," Mr. Larsen added.
When asked why he installed it himself, he answered, "I had a lot of help from the custodians at our school. Without their help, the station wouldn't be there."
The seventh grades science classes will take the data daily and graph it to keep track of the weather patterns.
Once the weather net station is connected, the school can communicate with any other school involved in the program anywhere in the world. (There are over 7,000 of them)
"If there was a hurricane was heading towards a school in Florida, we could contact them and talk with them on the weather situations there," stated Mr. Larsen.
The weather net station will also be involved with the NBC 5 Weather Net station program. What this program does is take the weather conditions from any random school in the Chicago area and shows the information on the news along with the normal weather.
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Once the weather net station is connected, the school can communicate with any other school involved in the program anywhere in the world. |
"The cable I was sent was damaged. And now I just have to wait for the right conditions to install it," Mr. Larsen said.
Hopefully the weather station will be up and running by next week.
"I think this experience will show the kids a more real meaning of the weather," said Mr. Larsen.
Next time you're watching the weather on NBC, look to see if Peacock is providing the information.
Mr. Larsen wanted to especially thank the custodians at Peacock for helping him install the weather station.
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Peacock to perform Annie for spring musical
By Emily B.
Students at Peacock will soon be performing the musical Annie. Carol Lynch of Schaumburg on Stage will direct the production.
When interviewed recently, Mrs. Lynch said that she is directing the play at Peacock because she loves working with kids and loves directing school plays.
Mrs. Lynch picked Annie because there are lots of parts for boys and girls.
The performances will be on April 29, April 30, and May 1, 2004.
Mrs. Lynch has directed other musicals, including Guys and Dolls, Joseph and The Technicolor Dream Coat, and Bye Bye Birdie. She has also directed Annie before also.
She usually has about 100 people in her casts, but she only needs about 50 or 60 people in the cast for Annie.
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Mrs. Lynch picked Annie because there are lots of parts for boys and girls. |
Mrs. Lynch hopes that students will not only want to act but also to help with the stage crew. There are plenty of spots on the stage crew. The stage crewmembers will control the lights; paint the sets, and much more.
Mrs. Lynch also wanted to add that if you don't know how to sing and dance you could still get a part because that's what she is going to teach us.
She is looking forward to having a lot of students trying out and working with them.
Sixth grader Tess F. said, "The play would be cool because it is a story from long ago."
She is trying out for an orphan and is excited to perform, but she is also nervous. She thinks the play will be fun!
Tess's classmate Andrea P. said, "We should do a different play since we already did this one."
Andrea is also trying out for an orphan.
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Peacock morning announcements now live on television
By Julia W.
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| Seventh grade students, Megan Z. and Veronica M. work at the control panel in the broadcast studio. | |
Every four weeks, a different advisory will prepare and broadcast the announcements in the broadcasting studio (located in the library) with Mrs. Bernahl helping them.
P.E. teacher, Mrs. Engel stated, "It's a great opportunity for students to get to be anchormen and sound crew."
The announcements include main announcements, birthdays, events, and weather.
Sixth grader, Tony DeStefano commented, "The announcements need to include more about what is going on in the day."
Sixth grade math teacher Mr. Behrendt added, "Sports results should definitely be included every morning."
Is the TV really better then the intercom?
On the one side, eighth grader Carina Mariottini stated, "I like the intercom better because you sometimes can't understand the anchors, and my advisory's TV doesn't always work."
On the other hand, Mr. Behrendt liked the TV: "It's a lot of fun to see the announcements read."
"They are a lot clearer than the intercom," added seventh grader, Natalie W.
Mrs. Engel though, didn't take a side.
"It doesn't really matter where we hear the announcements, except it's kind of hard to bring the TV into the gym in and out every morning."
Will the announcements be improved upon in coming years? That will be something interesting to watch. Maybe more improvements will added, or the set up will change. The only way to find out is to watch next year.
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Sixth graders enjoy baby parenting project
By Colleen B. and Jennifer L.
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| Past sixth graders, Michael S., Rachel K. and Callie S. show off the the Baby Think It Over Dolls used in family and consumer science classes. | |
Many students became fond of their babies. There are eight babies: Sara, Ashley, April, Kara, Cody, Carlos, Kyle and Quinton.
FACS teacher, Mrs. Mann stated, "I'm surprised how attached the students become to the babies."
We interviewed six students and most agreed that the worst part was waking up in the middle of night to care for their baby.
Many students thought it would be easy to take care of a baby, but they realized that it wasn't as easy as they imagined.
Sabrina S. thought it was annoying when her baby cried, but she thought it was a good experience.
Tony D. said it was tough to walk up the stairs with they baby and the carrier.
"It makes me look older," said Justin K.. He also commented, "It shows you're responsible."
There were many things that happened to the students. For example, Emily B. got sick one night while she had the baby.
When the baby cried Justin K. thought it was his sister.
Both Sabrina S. and Morgan S. thought it was fun, but it wasn't like a real baby.
Morgan stated that it was easier because you didn't have to feed it. Morgan thought it would be much harder to take care of a real child.
Sabrina said it was really cool to be able to act like a parent.
Many students enjoyed taking care of a child.
Mark K. said "It was fun and I think everyone should do it instead of writing the essay," and he added "You only get it for two days".
All the students learned to be responsible about caring for a baby.
Mrs. Mann said that the purpose of this project was "To show the students how much of a responsibility it is to take care of a child."
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Mr. Scaletta makes school fun for new student
By Julie P.
You might have noticed a new face among our school lately. Her name is Krystal N. and she is in eighth grade.
Krystal's hobbies include reading and playing soccer.
She said, "I like my new school, but I miss my old one."
Her favorite subject is math because "Mr. Scaletta makes it fun."
Krystal is making new friends and becoming more of a part of our school every day.
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Students recreate the immigrants' experience
What was it like to be on Ellis Island in the 1920s?
By Joanna M.
In the last two weeks of January, eighth graders, with the help of social studies teacher Ms. Heppeler, managed to reenact what it was like to be at Ellis Island in 1920s.
With the participation of several sixth and seventh grade students, the eighth graders managed to get the full experience.
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When taking the exam to measure their education, the immigrants had to rely on their basic knowledge of math, shapes, and in some cases, presidents. |
The students were allowed to pick their parts in this presentation. The roles ranged from guards to commissioner, but all the parts helped to make the reenactment a success.
The only way for the immigrants, in this case the sixth or seventh grade students, to get into the country was to collect a certain amount of points.
The points were given to them after they completed three separate exams. Each exam required something different from the students for them to pass on.
When taking the exam to measure their education, the immigrants had to rely on their basic knowledge of math, shapes, and in some cases, presidents.
Physical exams included push ups, sit ups, and any other thing that the examiners could think of. In this area, if the doctor gave you a certain letter, then some points were deducted.
The legal exams were the only that the immigrants (students) had to be lucky. The examiner in this area was responsible for checking the criminal records, which were given to each person by the taggers, the people who made up the identities.
If he'd spent too much time in jail or there were other complications, the student was either thrown in detention or was deported.
The last step in the whole process was going to the tally booth. There the students had their points added up by the commissioner and it was where their 'fate', so to say, was decided.
All the while, the guards and Ms.Heppeler made sure that the rules were being followed and that the lines were moving.
Although this had been done in previous years, Ms.Heppeler commented that this was "the first year that we branched out and invited the sixth grade class."
Even though she does "envision it getting bigger and better" in the future, Ellis Island is for now "a constant work in progress."
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