Cells and the Constitution

Today just happens to be the 222nd birthday of the United Statues Constitution. Happy Birthday! I love American History, I get that from my father, and times like today excite me. It excites me to think of the intellect, forward thinking, and perseverance of our founding fathers and of the framers of the Constitution. If you are an American History buff too, visit the National Archives site and the National Constitution Center site. Both are amazing!



Switching gears completely (unless you consider that the framers were made up of cells!), we made model cells today in science. Students decided on everyday items to represent organelles within animal cells. We got a lot of great information from Cells Alive. Do you know what a vacuole is???

Where The Wild Things Are

Yes there are a lot of WILD things in fifth grade, but today there was a rare (thank the Lord) exception. We had a snake visitor named Heidi. She and her owner Mrs. Bryan shared a ton of cool information with us about vertebrates, reptiles, and more specifically snakes.

Some of us that aren't scared of snakes had a little meet and greet with Heidi. (Note to self...don't let someone 1 1/2 feet shorter than you take your picture, you will look like a GIANT!)


Some others, were very brave to get up close and personal with Heidi



Then others could not be convinced, no way, no how! (Just look at that expression on his face, priceless!)



We also read a great book today with fabulous illustrations. The author, Arthur Dorros, does an excellent job of mixing fun words with actual science concepts. What if a fungus ate our school?

Our Great News of the Week!

We read all of the great news that you sent us, and we couldn't pick just one entry. We'll share with you news that brought smiles to our faces this week:

* A sister and her family visited a family member in the hospital after an accident and brought her a basket full of goodies, since she does nice things for others all the time. Good things happen to those who do good for others!

* A group of middle schoolers took time out of their busy lives and served food at a soup kitchen! Way to go guys!

* A Tallahassee volunteer spent her weekend in the magical place of Disney World as she chaperoned child cancer patients during a bonding trip. What a special place to bring such deserving children.

* A mom passed a child waiting for the school bus in pouring down rain, but turned around and stood with him under her umbrella until the bus came. Way to go mom!

* A neighbor passed out back to school goodies and notes of encouragement to children in her neighborhood.

* A customer in the Starbucks drive through had her coffee paid for by the person in front of her. After being short on patience, she realized that the wait was worth it!

Our class project can only continue with your help. Make sure to share those random acts of kindness sightings with us at great.news.grizzlies@gmail.com.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Bees Are Really Busy!

After learning about honeybees, a type of invertebrate which fall in the phylum of arthropods, we enjoyed some biscuits and honey this morning during science. What a nice treat courtesy of Reid's and Rachel's families. Honeybees are quite fascinating check them out here.



We also met with our 3rd grade science buddies from Mrs. McKnight's class (also known as my mom!). We set up a great experiment to see microorganisms at work. All you need are some bananas, yeast, sealable bags, and water. We're keeping our eye of these, and we will report back our conclusions.

All In a Day's Work

Today was busy, what am I talking about, every day is busy around here! We finished off our portrait board, some budding journalists had their work displayed, and Mrs. Crowell showed us a monarch caterpillar (which is going to turn into a beauty!).

We Were Curious?

Today in science we learned about the world of invertebrates. As a matter of fact 95% of the species of animals on Earth are invertebrates. Remember...that means that they don't have backbones. An annelid is a type of invertebrate. You will find a lot of worm type animals in this phylum. We were curious today about the "ring" around our friend the Earthworm. Drum roll please...it is called the clitellum. We hypothesized about what this "ring" could be, but come to find out it is a place where eggs are deposited. Believe it or not Earthworms are very helpful creatures to our world. If your curiosity is still swirling, here and here will slow your head down.