  I am now home in DC. Had to make a mad dash from school this afternoon to the airport to make my flight. Tofore sday though, the last day before spring break was quite zany. The kids were all abuz about getting to go on spring break--and wouldn't stay in their seats.
I taught about viruses and did an activity in which students can see the spread of a virus through body fluids. To do this activity you give each student a test tube of "body fluid" (water) and a dropper. They each then exchanged body fluids with 5 partners which they keep tract of on a "dance card". The kicker is that one student started out with a test tube of water and a drop or two of NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide).
After they all trade body fluids they have to go to the "doctors office" and get tested for the "virus". The "doctor" (teacher) then adds phenophalyen (spelling? ) to each test tube to see which students contracted the virus from the others. The students then use their "dance card" to figure out who the originator of the virus was. In one of the classes 60% of the students ended up contracting the virus.
It really gave them some perspective on how things can spread. Only one glitch in the lesson. Today my mentor was out and a sub was there to babysit (laws of course say I as a practice teacher can't be there alone). Anyway the sub saw fit to jump in and throw some sex ed buisness and advice in--I sat in silence since I had talked to my mentor previously about this. She said she avoided the topic of sex ed because of previous experience with parents being mad over her not teaching solely abstinence====anyway the sub didn't say anything out of line---I just hope students didn't take their own interpretation of it home to their parents.....arh. 
