Comparing Planetary Distances...with toilet paper???

They say teachers will go to any length to create an image that their students can hold on to in order to grasp a concept. Did they have in mind the length of 305 squares of toilet paper? Today we headed outside to compare the distances between each of the planets in our solar system (we included Pluto because we just feel sorry for it). Students represented the sun and all the other rocky midgets and gas giants. As we slowly unrolled the toilet paper and counted each square, we quickly realized why some planets are so hot, some are just right, and some are way too cold (does that sound like a familiar fairy tale?). Today starts the beginning of our space science unit and we are already going to "great lengths" to learn more about not only our lovely planet, but the universe around us!

Our Trip to the Challenger Learning Center

Many moons ago we had a teacher planning day while I was a student at Gilchrist, and that was the day the Challenger space shuttle exploded 73 seconds after lift off. I remember it well, and I'm sure that most of you reading this do too. The thing I remember the most is that a teacher was on board, and I remember telling my parents who are teachers that she must be the best teacher ever to risk her life for her kids. The legacy of the Challenger astronauts surrounded us today while on our field trip. We gazed at the sky in the planetarium, watched as the Apollo Missions courageously explored our moon, and took on the challenge of mission control and running a spacecraft. The kids had a great time and really rose to the occasion. A big thank you to all of the parents that joined us on our day downtown.

Six Little Pumpkins

I am the mean teacher that doesn't have a class pet for my students. I do have a dog at home named Sis (the students know this well), just not at school. To replace a "pet" we decided to create pet pumpkins this year. The kids had a great time painting, and dressing their pumpkin up! I am not sure where all these wigs came from!

Decision 2008: From Past to Present

Currently my students are busy trying to persuade their peers to reelect a former U.S. President. Although some of their candidates would be pushing over 200 years old, the students are working hard to research some main talking points when it comes to these past presidents. Will's father, Rich Rasmussen has introduced me to a great website called www.livingroomcandidate.org. I have had tons of fun checking out television commercials of election years past. The website has created a fascinating collection of presidential advertisements that date back to the early 1950s! Make sure to check them out and see how our focus, our attention span, and our priorities of changed throughout the years!

Make sure to also tune into the presidential debates tomorrow night!

Moms on the Move!

Over the last two days we have had two great guest speakers. They both have a daughter named Maggie, and they both are awesome at what they do! Mrs. Harbin came to talk to our class about the different forums of journalism. What a relevant topic with a huge election just around the corner. The students had a great time hearing the inside scoop when it comes to broadcast, newspaper, and radio journalism.

Then today in science Mrs. Trowbridge brought owl pellets for the students to dissect. Since we are currently studying about food chains and food webs, this was an awesome hands on activity. Students were able to pull apart their pellet, categorize bones, and then graph their findings. We have had an eye opening two days in fifth grade!

Thanks Moms! I encourage all parents to come share some of their expertise with our class!

Mini Terrariums

In science this morning we constructed mini terrariums. Within our containers we layered rocks to represent our earth's bedrock, moist soil, seeds, and organic materials. We will observe our terrariums over the next several days and see if our hypotheses are correct. This is a great way to see ecosystems at work!

Where In The World Is My Biome?

My young explorers headed out across the globe to journey through the world's great land biomes. A biome is a large ecosystem that has relatively similar organisms and climate. Some explorers treked through grasslands, rainforests, tundras, taigas, deserts, and decidious forests. Our planet is full of beautiful lands and we've enjoyed learning a little more about them. If your family hasn't sat down to watch Planet Earth, I highly recommend it. It will deepen your appreciate of the world around us.