Widening our circle: Brief summary

I can’t believe it has been almost two months since classes started. Time is definitely flying by, and I apologize for the delay in writing this summary.

As you are aware, the school year started with a study of “what happens to our trash”. The owls learned where certain things should go – we worked on a sorting activity that included items that can be recycled, composted and thrown “away” (landfill).

The magpies and crows learned about what happens to trash in the landfill (methane and leachate production), and what happens to recyclable items in recycling facilities (sorted, melted and repurposed). The crows also learned about the average amount of time that certain items take to degrade in the landfill. We finished this unit by talking about reducing the amount of resources that we use and the kids came up with ideas of what they want to do at the school. On the last day of the “reduce, reuse and recycle” unit, the kids sorted the school trashcans – we started with 3 cans full of “trash” and ended up with 3 almost empty trashcans! The kids noticed that most things could be recycled, reused or composted. The head teachers and I have noticed that there is still some confusion on where things should go when kids are cleaning up after snack and lunch, so we will keep working with them on that.

Please note that we are also starting a “collection center” for our community at the school. Thanks to Mary Lynn, we already have a container for batteries that is located on the table by the front door. Batteries should not be thrown in the trash (go to landfill) since they contain acids and toxic metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and nickel that may harm people and the environment. We also plan to start collecting fluorescent light bulbs, plastic bags and possibly Styrofoam at the school for proper disposal. It would be greatly appreciated if some families would volunteer to help us take these items to the proper facilities.

The activities focused on “reduce, reuse and recycle” took place in the first two weeks of school. By week three each class started a new science unit. Below is a brief summary of what the kids have been doing in science:

Owls

The owls have been exploring pushes and pulls. This is a very simple concept, and all the K-1 kids are familiar with most of the ideas we covered so far. One of the reasons teacher Juliette and I chose to start the year with this unit was to help kids feel confident about their scientific skills, and to allow them to have fun with science!

The kids had to identify pushes and pulls in some everyday activities (they played indoors and outside, sorted images and drew their observations). They also explored the effects of small and big pushes and pulls on the distance traveled by an object, and on the speed in which things move. This week the owls started observing how different surfaces/textures affect the speed in which an object travels. We will continue our exploration of friction next week.

Magpies

The magpies spent a few weeks investigating why some animals live in groups (social behavior in animals is one of the third grade standards that teachers Brittany, Pa, and I chose to cover this year), and they have also been learning how to think like scientists.

I noticed, while doing a pre-assessment, that only a few kids had an idea of why some animals live in groups. Since it is difficult to observe the behavior of social animals in the wild, I chose some short videos to share with the kids. We watched videos, played games and had some very good discussions. With these activities, the kids were able to figure out the advantages of living in groups - protection, getting food, and helping each other/sharing tasks.

During our first science class, the kids helped me set up our first experiment. We had two bins with soil and carrots, and each kid added a worm to one of the bins (at the end we had one bin with soil, carrots and worms, and another bin with soil and carrots). Each kid made a prediction of what they thought would happen in each bin, and we made observations every three weeks. Last week, the kids noticed that all the carrots were gone from the bin with worms. We had a class discussion to address what happened, and the kids (divided into 3 groups) created and presented a poster summarizing the experiment.

In addition to this experiment, the kids had another opportunity to go through all the steps of the scientific method. I gave each kid a small cup of soda and a few raisins, and asked them to observe each item and predict what would happen when they dropped the raisins in the soda. They were surprised and excited to see the “dancing raisins” – the raisins sink, get surrounded by bubbles and float. After comparing the results with their predictions, a few kids volunteered to present their findings.

This week we started studying electricity. Each kid had the opportunity to assemble a flashlight, and teacher Pa had a first discussion with the kids about what happens in the flashlight for it to work (electrons flowing). We will continue exploring electricity next week.

Crows

The crows started their study of structures and functions by dissecting a squid. The kids had a lot fun finding the beak, the pen, the ink sac, the eyes, and feeling the tentacles. Some kids even used the pen and ink to write their names on a piece of paper.

After this fun introductory activity, we started focusing our study on the human body. So far, the kids have learned about the skeletal, muscular, and nervous systems. I usually introduce the material (with presentations, videos and worksheets) on Mondays and Wednesdays, and have hands on activities (including dissections) on Fridays.

We were very lucky to have Dr. Callie Diamond Lindsey (Lauren’s mom and neurologist) help us with the study of the nervous system. Not only did she clarify some misconceptions, but she also came to the school last Friday and answered a lot of questions that the students had. The kids are currently working on a short video about the nervous system, and we will start studying our five senses next week.

Below are some pictures for your enjoyment. I will be posting more pictures soon. : )
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Here you can see the kids sorting the school's trash (with gloves):