Learning Moments (and a Word of the Week)

Learning for Fun

This morning, two students printed sports statistics. Who is a better basketball player? They were talking how they're going to prove that one player was better. This was apparently a conversation that started before school and they were excited to have found the statistics.

I asked them; "You had an argument about who is a better player, and now you've printed stats to prove you are right?"

Yes.

"So, you had a thesis, got supporting documentation, and now have your argument?"

Yes.

Light dawned and they both realized that these skills are exactly what their teachers have been telling them: have an opinion, find supporting research/facts, and prove your point. Amazing! I love when connections are made.

Graduation

Last night was graduation. Congratulations to all our graduates! The HSC Library will not be the same without our interns, but you will all move on to amazing futures.

Library Word of the Week

Science MCAS is next week. Here's a biology word for those taking the Bio Exam!

food web

A food web (or food cycle) is the natural interconnection of food chains and generally a graphical representation (usually an image) of what-eats-what in an ecological community. Another name for food web is a consumer-resource system. (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_web) 



Good luck to all our test-takers next week!

Library Word of the Week

In honor of our graduating seniors, the library word of the week is actually a list of the 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know.

Quiz your teachers. See if they actually can define and use all of these words.

100 Words That All High School Graduates — And Their Parents — Should Know BOSTON, MA — The editors of the American Heritage® dictionaries have compiled a list of 100 words they recommend every high school graduate should know. "The words we suggest," says senior editor Steven Kleinedler, "are not meant to be exhaustive but are a benchmark against which graduates and their parents can measure themselves. If you are able to use these words correctly, you are likely to have a superior command of the language." The following is the entire list of 100 words: abjure abrogate abstemious acumen antebellum auspicious belie bellicose bowdlerize chicanery chromosome churlish circumlocution circumnavigate deciduous deleterious diffident enervate enfranchise epiphany equinox euro evanescent expurgate facetious fatuous feckless fiduciary filibuster gamete gauche gerrymander hegemony hemoglobin homogeneous hubris hypotenuse impeach incognito incontrovertible inculcate infrastructure interpolate irony jejune kinetic kowtow laissez faire lexicon loquacious lugubrious metamorphosis mitosis moiety nanotechnology nihilism nomenclature nonsectarian notarize obsequious oligarchy omnipotent orthography oxidize parabola paradigm parameter pecuniary photosynthesis plagiarize plasma polymer precipitous quasar quotidian recapitulate reciprocal reparation respiration sanguine soliloquy subjugate suffragist supercilious tautology taxonomy tectonic tempestuous thermodynamics totalitarian unctuous usurp vacuous vehement vortex winnow wrought xenophobe yeoman ziggurat

And CONGRATULATIONS to the Class of 2014. Every graduating senior last night has been accepted to college! That is a huge achievement.