One of the great things about teaching science as opposed to other subjects is the limitless potential for real world applications. My students will frequently find some strange things around their homes or hear a story on the news about some astronomical event and will bring it in to share with me and the class. I've received some incredible and absolutely random things. Last year some of the highlights were a couple geodes, some fossils of shells, a birds nest, a praying mantis's egg sack (which hatched after a couple weeks) and a cooler containing ice and a recently harvested sheep's heart and brain. The cooler was left in my mailbox with no note or explanation; I initially thought it was some sort of threat.
This year, I've started taking pictures of some of the things that were brought in so I can share the experience. So far, I've received a mushroom,



An X-ray of a broken leg,



A bee's nest,



and even the bees that formerly resided there.



The next thing I'd like to share needs a little bit of explaining. During the science fair I was speaking to a podiatrist who is the father of one of my fifth graders. The fifth grade was studying the skeletal system at the time and he said that he had a foot he could send in so the students could see some of the bones, tendons and ligaments. I said it sounded perfect and asked what kind of foot it was; whether it was a model or preserved. he said it was preserved and that it was found in the desert. He warned me that it might be a little gross and that I should check it out first and decide whether or not it was appropriate for my class. I said I would look forward to seeing it.
The following Monday, I walked into my classroom and there was a shoe box on my desk....




There are very few professions where you get to start your morning looking at a mummified severed foot in a box and deciding whether or not it would give 10 year olds nightmares.
I ended up showing it to the and they loved it. The best part was that the class found it just as ironic as I did that the foot was brought to me in a shoe box.

I've developed a morbid sense of humor...

B.D. Spongebob



IKEA; IKEELYA

I had been planning on posting these pictures of my drive from Chicago to San Francisco with hilarious commentary for each one; but it took me so damn long to upload the pictures that I'm too tired to write anything. As a result, this post is long, boring and not funny at all; Just like the drive from Chicago to San Francisco.

These are the pictures I took in their original order. Maybe I'll write some comments some day.

I had started the trip by drawing a map on my car. The dotted line was the path I was taking, the solid red line where I had been and the states that were filled in were the ones I had already passed through. I did it to try to remember where the pictures were taken.