Venture Into the Cosmos

By: Akim

Astro-Venture is an educational program made by the National Aeronautic Space Administration, NASA for short. It is a project that NASA hopes will help educate our next generation of kids. Anvil City Science Academy, was chosen along with about 60 schools, home schools and a few school clubs to run a test-drive of the program to; find mistakes, give suggestions and just see how it works out. The program itself can be found at http://astroventure.arc.nasa.gov.

ACSA participated in Astro-Venture very actively. Students did labs on how matter changes and how to group stars into different categories. For the labs, we used the scientific method. The scientific method follows these steps: problem, hypothesis, experiment, result, and conclusion. Students also did crosswords and vocabulary tests. We completed an Astro-Journal. In the Astro Journal, we recorded our scientific progress and got ready for the Astro-Challenge! Sounds exciting, huh?

The Astro-Challenge was a test on everything that we had done. The “Build A Planet” section is open only to Senior Scientists and you have to do all of the courses to become one. Unfortunately, we were not able to “Build a Planet” because NASA has not posted the entire program on the web site yet.

Well, to sum it up, Astro-Venture is a long, winding road that leads to a small patch of heaven. Try it, 'cause if you're smart enough, fast enough and good enough, you might get to...Build A Planet!

Wacky Weather

By: Hailey

This year we have had some unusual weather. We have had a lot more warm days than last year and the majority of our mornings have been very windy. Another unusual thing weather situation is the sea ice. It should have been frozen a month or more by now. It has not been frozen all year!

Weird sea ice! Amazingly, the sea ice has refused to stay put all year. It has been going back and forth with the wind almost every day. I don’t think anyone likes this back and forth business with the sea ice. Nobody can put crab pots out! There are many reasons that the sea ice is not freezing like the warm temperature and the constant blowing wind.

Compared to last year, we have had a ton of snow. Last year we just had plenty of cold temperatures, but not as much wind or snow. Last year, we finally got snow in January. This year we got snow in November and lots of it. We’ve even had a snow day! We’ve also had a lot of “ground blizzards”. They’re basically storms of blowing snow.

We have had some very unusual weather this winter-at least rather different than last. I wonder what the next winter will bring…?

Intel-ligent Students Learn About Computers

By: Eddie

At the Anvil City Science Academy, the students spent one week learning about pixels, binary numbers, using 1’s and 0’s to make decisions, and what the inside of a computer looks like. Hank Irelan, the Tae Kwon Do teacher, taught the class about computers, using an Intel course, for the whole week.

The students had to write a 5-word sentence to Mr. Irelan in binary code. Binary code is an 8-bit code of 0’s and 1’s. Bits are 0’s and 1’s in a row. 8 bits are 8 0’s and 1’s in a row. Also, under the keys on the keyboard is the ASCII Code. ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. The ASCII Code is 8 bits in a row for letters, punctuation, and numbers. For example, under the spacebar is the code 0010 0000.

When the students were learning about pixels, they did an activity about pixels that had squares with 0’s and 1’s. They had to shade in all of the 0’s and make up pictures on the blank squares and then put 0’s and 1’s on the back. The students also learned that the pictures on the scoreboard are made of pixels. Pixels are microscopic lights on the TV or computer screen. The size of a mega-pixel depends on the size of one single pixel.

The class learned to use 1’s and 0’s to make decisions. One is yes and zero is no. They did a decision activity for three hours of standing for yes and sitting for no. The activity’s name was Binary Decisions. One student had to ask the first question, and then the other students asked questions about what color the chosen student was wearing, color of hair, color of eyes, and if they were wearing glasses.

When the students were learning about what the inside of a computer looks like, they got to take apart a computer. They found out that computer has lots of computer chips inside. They also learned that the motherboard has the most computer chips. The motherboard is the biggest board that looks like a tiny electronic city.

They also learned that computer chips are made in a special room called the clean room. You also have to wear a special suit while making computer chips. The reason why is if a computer chip gets even a piece of dust while being made, it can be ruined. There is no dust at all in the clean room. Sometimes, computer chips are made with microscopic pictures on them.

Accelerated Readers

By: Benjamin Peterson

At Anvil City Science Academy students have SSR everyday. SSR is sustained silent reading. Students have to read 30 minutes each and every day.

To choose a book, we have to pick a book at your reading level or higher. For example: if your reading level is 3.0 you have to pick a book with a reading level of 3.0 or higher. Each book has a reading level on its binding.

We sit on pillows instead of sitting in our seats. Mr. Hindman’s mother sewed the pillowcases and Mrs. Peterson stuffed the pillows. We are not allowed to use them for pillow fights and we can only use them during SSR. We can also sit anywhere and if we do not put them away in their proper place we will get them taken away for a week or more.

After we finish a book we have to take an AR, Accelerated Reader, test. The test has multiple-choice questions that refer to the book. It is a computerized test and it is part of your grade. The tests vary will depending on the books.

We also have to do a project after we finish a book. The project choices are to create a newsletter, crossword puzzle, mobile, or a book review web page. Every quarter you can’t just do one type of project for every book you read.

Every quarter, all the students take the STAR test (Standardized Test for Assessment of Reading). In the test you are given sentences with a missing word in each sentence. At the bottom of the screen, they give you four words that you can use to fill in the blank. Then at the end of the test, your reading level is determined.

I interviewed five students, one in 5th grade, three in 6th grade and one in 8th grade. 80% of the students were female and 20% were male. 60% liked mystery, 20% liked history and 20% like science fiction. Only one person picked Harry Potter as their favorite book and the rest picked other books.

I asked them the question: What don’t you like about the AR program? 20% didn’t like the tests and 80% didn’t like the projects. I then asked them what they liked about the program. 60% liked reading in the AR program, 20% liked the tests and 20% liked the projects. I also asked them what size books they like. 40% liked bigger books (100-1000 pages), 40% liked smaller books (0-100 pages) and 20% liked all sizes.

This program is an important part of the Charter School. Our school has a wide variety of book sizes and types to fit the wide range of abilities and interests of students.

CAT and Benchmark Tests Taken

By: Jessica and Ramon

On Tuesday, February 27 through Thursday, March 1, the students of the Anvil City Science Academy started taking the CAT (California Achievement Test) and the Alaska State Benchmark tests. 7th and 8th grade students were divided by their grade and by the first letter from their last name. The eighth graders whose names started with A-M went to Mr. Spink's, and the ones with N-Z went to Mr. Miller’s. The 7th graders who were taking the CAT test were also divided up into two groups. The 8th graders that names started with A-M went to Mrs. Ige and the ones from N-Z went to Ms. Bradway's room. The 6th graders took the Benchmark test at the Anvil City Science Academy with Mr. Brannon, and the 5th graders met Mrs. Scofield at the Kegoayah Kozaga Public Library.

The Benchmark tests are taken so that teachers and schools can know what that certain student need to work. For example, if a student is having trouble memorizing the multiplication facts, the benchmark test will show that the student is having problems in multiplication. Then, the teacher can help that student memorize the multiplication facts.

The CAT tests are just a regular test that scales how the student is doing academically. If the test shows that the student is doing poorly academically, then the teacher will work with them personally.

The CAT tests are multiple choice, the Benchmark test is a written test. For example, the Benchmark test will ask you to write a page on a specific subject, or on what you read about. The CAT test will give you a problem and give you 4 answers to choose from.

We’ve Got Spirit, Yes We Do…

By: Elise and Abby

The A.C.S.A student council held a Spirit Week the week of February 19, 2001. Spirit Week is a week where students can show their spirit for their school. The Student Council decided to have a Spirit Week because they felt our school needed to show more school spirit. Mr. Hindman referred to this as “Break the Rules Week”, because what the students would do on each day was something that would not be allowed on a regular school day.

On Monday, students were allowed an extra 30-50 minutes to read, because Monday was Reading day. Many students wore sport uniforms or sporting objects to school on Tuesday, because it was Sports Day. Wednesday was Snack day, so students were allowed to bring candy, drinks, etc. to school to eat throughout the day. Music day was held on Thursday, students brought discmans and walkmans to school and listen to them when Mr. Hindman or Mr. Irelan were not giving directions or lecturing. Since Friday was Movie day, the class watched Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run., Mr. Hindman treated the class to popcorn during the movie.

The students who participated in Spirit Week received 10 merit points for each day that they participated in. The student council awarded extra points fore students who went all out on each day. For example: on music day a student brought many CD’s or tapes and a Discman or Walkman. The students determined the winners by adding up the points fore each day. Student council is treating the winners to pizza. They put on a dance to raise money for the pizza. Instead of one winner, there were three. Elise, Abby, and Emily received the most points for Spirit Week. They will be treated to pizza at Milano’s on the 13th or 14th of April 2001.

The majority of the class enjoyed Music Day the most. Vice President Jenelle stated that “It was good” when commenting on Spirit Week. Student Hailey said, “I think student council could come up with better ideas” when asked what she thought about this Spirit Week.

Takin' It To the Hoops

By: Clinton

The Nome-Beltz Jr. High School basketball program started the first week in January. The basketball season ended on March 3, 2001. The boy’s basketball coaches were Mr. Miller and coach Omalina. The students practiced every day from 3:30 to 5:30 or from 5:30-7:00 PM.

On the first day the team learned a block out. A block out is where you block the person you are guarding trying to grabbing the rebound. Basketball practice continued for more than two months, practice helped students get better at the sport of basketball.

There were two boy’s and two girl’s basketball teams for the season. The basketball teams played about12 games. The regular games were every Thursdays and were held at the elementary school. Each team had uniforms to keep after the basketball season is over.

At the end of the season, a tournament was held at the Nome-Beltz High School. The out-of- town teams who attended were from Barrow, Shishmaref, Unanakleet and St. Michael.

Nome/Golovin Snowmachine Race

By: Louis

The Nome/Golovin snowmachine race started in the year 1967 and is still going to the present. The course runs from Nome through White Mountain to Golovin then back to Nome. It started at the Nome port and went along the coast until you hit Topkok. From Topkok it went over the hill straight to White Mountain, then down Fish River to the Golovin bay. Sometimes the bay is not frozen and is very coarse; this is what makes the course on the bay. It can be straight or jagged. After the racers hit Golovin, they made a U-turn and went the same route they just ran.

The average speed of the racers ranges from 0-120 mph. The most racers that have raced was close to 60 racers at one time. They start off in 10-second intervals until every racer is gone. Everyone was clocked to what time they started from and what time they come back on.

There were checkpoints so the racers could be accounted for. The checkpoints were in Safety, Topkok, Timber, White Mountain, and Golovin.

The race starts with a drawing from the night before, which is called “Calcutta”. At that time, the racers picked numbers and then they stood in the front of everyone and were bided upon.

There are two divisions in this race, big and small. Class “A” is the small class and Class “B” is the big class. This means that the big class is the bigger machines (engines) and the small is for the smaller engines.

The amount of prizes depends on the number of the racers entered and other donations by various donators. In some years, there has been a winning pot of $5,000or more

The best time overall of the races is 1 hour and 57 min. Calvin Schaeffer, a Kotzebue racer, got that time in 2000.

Nome Students Buzz Around

By: Megan C. and Emily

The local Spelling Bee took place on February 22nd at the Nome Elementary School. The Spelling Bee is a program where students from 3rd through 8th grade test their spelling skills against each other. The student that is the best speller wins the Spelling Bee. The PTSA sponsored this year’s Spelling Bee.

Every year, around 30 kids from Nome Elementary School participate in the Spelling Bee. This year, there was an abundance of students participating in the Elementary School Spelling Bee. But, there was a shortage in the Junior High Spelling Bee. This year, only three students in Junior High participated in the Spelling Bee. They were all Academy students. They were Emily , Megan H., and Abby . Four Academy students participated in the Elementary Spelling Bee. They were Megan C., Chase, Dylon, and Akim.

Junior High Spelling Bee practices took place at the Anvil City Science Academy. During practices the Academy teacher, Todd Hindman, read the words aloud from the Spelling Bee Book while the students wrote them down. The elementary students at the Academy also practiced there.

The Spelling Bee took place February 22nd, in the Nome Elementary School Commons. The Elementary Spelling Bee winner was Joshua and the first runner up was Chase. The Junior High Spelling Bee winner was Emily and the first runner up was Abby . The awards given to the first place winners were trophies with a symbolic “spelling bee” on the top. The second place winners were given a slightly smaller version of the first place trophy. All participants received Spelling Bee medallions.

At the Spelling Bee there were many teachers on the Spelling Bee panel. Todd Hindman and Karen Chadwick were the judges, Libby Carlson and Stacy were the recorders, and Darlene Orr called out the words for the students to spell.

Kremer and Head both received two trophies, one for winning 1st place and one for winning 1st place for their grade level. There were 32 elementary students and 3 junior high students involved in the Spelling Bee. Emily and Joshua will be traveling to Anchorage for the Regional Spelling Bee, which takes place on March 29th, 2001.