Our Terrariums

On this lovely fall morning we headed outside to make our very own terrariums.  I love teaching about living and non-living things through these pint sized ecosystems.  I also love my pint sized scientists! 

 

They carefully filled their terrariums with living and non-living things like soil, rocks, plants, and oxygen. 

 

Oh and of course a dinosaur or two!

A Science Lesson in Compassion

 

My 3rd graders have been learning a lot about using their observation skills.  We've been using our sense of touch, hearing, taste, smell, and seeing through many science experiments over the last several weeks.  Last week we put our sense of touch and kindness to the test.  My sweet students made a touch and feel book for a very special little girl.  Baby Nora is almost 8 months old and was born with Trisomy 13.  A chromosonial disorder that has presented her with many challenges from her heart, to her motor skills, to being blind.  But she is one tough cookie!!  She has already beaten so many odds, and is a tremendous blessing to her mommy, daddy, extended family and friends.  Through Nora we've learned to count our blessings, be thankful for how each of us were created in unique and glorious ways, and to fight and good fight.  She's is one of a kind and so are each of my students.  I'm proud of them for creating this special book just for her! 

Neighborhood Scientist: The Vet

We've been learning to think like a scientist, and off we went on a walking field trip to see an everyday scientist in action.  Just down the street is an animal hospital, and that's where we found lots of science going on.

The students were able to look at a variety of X-Rays to make predictions about what was causing the dog pain.

They saw the boarding area where the cats and dogs are cared for during their stay.

Students asked LOTS of good questions about scienctific tools, procedures, and more.

 

 

This group of junior scientist is definitely an inquistive bunch!  I love that about them!  

Rembering September 11th Today and Always

Science is Popping with Excitement

We've been having some fun around here!  Over the last week we've been learning about the scientific method.  We've been paying close attention to our senses and how scientist make keen observations.  We practiced by doing a lab called "Science is Popping with Excitement!"

 

The first graders got in on the popping excitement too with their 3rd grade science buddies, but they also desgined their own experiment.  They asked the question, "Which car will go farther?"  This allowed them to make observations, pose questions, state a hypothesis, test, retest, and draw conclusions.

 

First Graders Think Like Scientists!

It was our first enrichment class today, and it was great!  We put ourselves in the shoes, or labcoats I should say, of scientists!  We focused today on using our senses to make observations.  The little scientists got creative when classifying beans.

 

Used their sense of touch to guess what was in their Mystery Bags.

 

 

We headed outside and gathered a variety of leaves during a nature walk.  We used magnifying glasses to use our sense of sight up close!

 

 

We came back to our cottage classroom to do some leaf rubbings (a first for some of thes junior scientists).  Then they compared their leaf to a classmates.

 

Snow Day in C.A.!

It snowed in sunny Florida today!  At least it did during our enrichment class.  We had fun designing snowflakes, constructing snowmen, learning more about the water cycle, writing about snowy habitats, and took a closer look at some snowflakes (Insta-Snow that is!).