Mapping the Stars...

In our study of the solar system, we learned about constellations. Mrs. Deeley brought star charts and we learned that the stars we see are not the same ones our friend Harris sees in Australia! Groups chose a hemisphere and mapped the stars they would see.

Oreo Moon Phases!

We had a great time creating the moon phase cycles out of Oreos this week!

Spirit Week - Color Block Day!

My sweet class...

But turn your back for just one second....

Day, Night, Seasons, Time Zones... Oh My!

Our most recent Science Enrichment was hard to photograph... It was in the DARK! Mrs. Deeley helped introduce our next unit by demonstrating how the Earth's rotation and tilt brought us the different seasons as well as day and night! Students could judge the angle of the sun on a particular location by the shadow cast by a dowel on the globe. The students practiced bringing sunrise to particular areas, and placing the globes in the correct angles for the seasons. Modeling these concepts will make it much easier to understand the unit!

Spirit Week - Country Western Day!

Lookin' sharp for Country Western Day!!

Tagging Monarchs

At the beginning of the year, Mrs. Fenker, an upper school teacher, mentioned that she was part of a Monarch tagging program, and asked if we would be interested in getting a caterpillar to raise. A couple of weeks ago we got our jar, and watched as our caterpillar munched away at astounding volumes of milkweed leaves... Before we knew it, the caterpillar was in its "J" position at the top of the jar, and the next morning was encased in a stunning bright green chrysalis with tiny gold beads. We waited patiently, and got excited this morning when the chrysalis was completely transparent, and the butterfly's wings were visible. Within an hour of arriving at school, the Monarch emerged! Mrs. Fenker came by before lunch, and talked to the class. We helped her tag the Monarch, and this afternoon released her (it's a girl!!) for her long flight to Mexico.

Just beginning to see the wing pattern through the chrysalis!

Minutes after coming out

Mrs. Fenker shows us how to tell whether it is a boy or a girl!

Holding the butterfly carefully to tag it.

The sticker in place!

The wings continue to dry

Finally, she spreads her wings, telling us she is ready to be released!

We opened the jar, but she was a bit shy...

Took her out on the stick...

Mrs. Grayson had to coax her a bit...

First flight! On her way to Mexico!

Fabulous Fossils

Our class is really starting to look forward to our Science Enrichment resource classes, thanks to the hard work of Mrs. Deeley! This week, enriching our study of rocks and fossils, Mrs. Deeley met with the class to discuss how fossils are formed, and what fossils found in the different layers of sedimentary rock can reveal to us about Earth's past. Then we headed out to the garden for a fossil hunt! Mrs. Deeley had buried some of her treasured fossils, most of which were from organisms that existed over a million years ago! Our resourceful archaeologists discovered that once they found remains at a certain level, that they were likely to find more at the same depth! Here's to messy learning!!

Using brushes to clean off the fossils

Hey, that's really cool. Can I see it?

 

He worked hard to dig this one out!