New school year

I am really excited about this new school year. It is great to have more space and more families to work with. This year I am teaching science and gardening/nature. In science classes, children are scientists exploring different branches of science. During this first trimester, the Owls (kindergarten) and Magpies (grades 1 and 2) are studying life science, while the Hawks and Crows are focusing on earth science.  If you want to take a look at the standards, Peregrine Elementary uses the Next Generation Science Standards - http://www.nextgenscience.org/, and I am writing a more detailed summary of what each class is studying below.

Although the kids will definitely spend a lot of time outside planting during garden/nature classes, they will also be ecologists, and health scientists. The content covered in each class will vary. I will make the content relevant to topics the kids are studying in science and/or social studies. Here is a brief summary of what we are doing in garden/nature classes this trimester. The Owls are ecologists studying the animals that live in our school (outside), and this week they planted a small vegetable garden outside their classroom. Since the Magpies are studying food with teacher Pa, they are responsible for the school’s vegetable garden and they will also study nutrition. The Hawks will help with the school’s compost (connection to earth science study) and plant native species around the school (connection to Native Americans study). The Crows will study health and help the school develop the garden area. They mapped the school area, and are analyzing soil quality (pH, N, K, P) before planting.

I started the year by bringing one of my favorite tools to school: my handheld microscope. We had a lot of fun taking a close look at clothes, hair, skin, nails, ears, a spider, a fly, and more. We have also had very good discussions and hands on activities in science classes so far. Here is a quick update of what each class is doing:

Owls

The Owls are always engaged in science activities. Our focus this trimester is on animals and plants – their needs and habitats. We are starting the study with animals, and focusing on species we can find around the school. The kids will be making their own books about these animals.

The owls studied worms. One of the things that they investigated was whether worms prefer dry or wet areas. 

The owls had fun listening to their hearts with stethoscopes, and finding their pulses before and after running.

Habitat study! Quiet owls observing burrows outside the school.

Magpies

The Magpies will be studying structures and functions of living things. What do animals and plants need in order to survive and how do they get what they need? The Magpies started the trimester studying plants. So far, garden and science have been integrated. We have been talking about plant structures, plants’ needs and our needs (focus on nutrition).

The magpies are great gardeners. So far they have planted broccoli, carrots, radishes, beets, celery, mint, parsley, cilantro, artichoke and asparagus.

Hawks

The Hawks have been enjoying their geology study. They have learned about the Earth’s structure, and the rock cycle. The kids had fun digging in the dirt to study the Earth’s crust, and looking for different rocks around the school. After finishing our rock study, they will learn about plate tectonics and study California’s landscape (its formation and history).

Crows

The crows started the year discussing California’s drought, and water distribution in the world. They were surprised to learn that only 3% of the planet’s water is not salty. Our next topic is the ocean. We are going to start by taking a quick look at how the ocean interacts with the atmosphere and then we will take a look at the different ocean ecosystems. The final topic will be Earth and human activity.

Nursing students Alissa and Jasmiene training crows to be first aid responders.

New trimester

Owls - This trimester the owls will be studying energy flow in organisms.  We are starting this unit by studying what plants need to survive. This week we had a class discussion about the field by our school – the kids noticed that the field is really dry, and the plants are mostly dead due to the lack of rain. Next week, we will talk more about other things that plants need to grow – with a focus on soil and nutrients. Later in the trimester the owls will learn about decomposers, and producers.

Magpies – The magpies will have two exciting projects this trimester. During the first week of school, we started to talk about the vernal pool project. The kids will have a mini vernal pool in their classroom. We have been waiting (and hoping for) some rain! Vernal pools are perfect (and local) environments to illustrate examples of local adaptation. In addition to studying vernal pools, the kids will play an evolution game throughout the trimester that will help me address the concept of evolution in a fun and informative manner.

Crows – The crows have been busy finishing up their study of structures and functions. We started by finalizing the human body study – the kids had to put things together by making a life-size drawing of the human body and making connections between the different systems. After this, we focused on plants’ structures and functions. The kids learned how water moves through a plant (you should ask your child about the function of stomata), and saw xylem vessel members and guard cells under a compound microscope. The crows have also talked about how plants respond to their environment.

            During the next two weeks, the kids will be learning a little about cells. Afterwards, our focus will be on physical science – they will have fun learning about potential and kinetic energy.

Forces, electrcity and five senses

Below is a brief summary of what happened in science during the last two weeks:

Owls

Thanks to David Wittman (Linus’ dad), the owls were able to play with hover pucks to further their understanding of friction. Most kids had already grasped the concept while playing with cars on different surfaces, but they absolutely loved playing with the hover pucks! We also used these exciting new toys to explore what happens when things collide.

Teacher Juliette and I agreed that the kids have mastered the first part (forces and motion) of the set of science standards that we had planned to cover this year. So, on Friday, we had a final activity: the kids created their own obstacle course using pushes, pulls, friction and collision. It was great to hear the students using the vocabulary they learned while designing their obstacle course.

Next week we are starting a new science unit. The focus will be on a part of the life science standards - Energy flow in organisms and structures & functions.

Magpies

            The Magpies spent the last two weeks learning about electricity. We slowly built on the information they had learned during the flashlight activity. After reviewing the definition of electricity, the kids built their own circuits using battery packs, alligator clips and small LED lamps. Students were able to build a simple electric circuit in small groups – we just gave them the materials and asked them to try to make the light turn on. The kids were not only able to build a simple circuit, but they could also explain what was going on.

We continued our investigation of electricity by talking about conductors (materials that conduct electricity). The magpies tried to add different materials (straw, aluminum foil and pipe cleaners) to their circuits to see which would conduct electricity.  We finished this unit by building squishy circuits (http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/buildingCircuits.htm). The kids had a lot of fun making their LED lights light up with play dough. They were able to light multiple light bulbs (simultaneously) with the conductive dough. 

Crows

            The crows started their study of the five senses by learning about the eye. After learning about the structures and functions of the eye, and successfully completing a worksheet about it, the kids had a chance to dissect a sheep eye. They had a lot of fun, and definitely learned a lot with this particular dissection. I think their favorite structures were the lens and the tapetum lucidum

            The crows have also learned about the structures and functions of the ear, the nose and tongue. We finished the week with some fun activities that reinforced some of the concepts they had learned. You should ask your child about the role of smell and saliva in tasting. They had to taste a jelly bean with their noses plugged, and distinguish between salt and sugar after completely drying their tongues with paper towel. 

                                                                  Owls colliding hover pucks:

                                                              Owls building obstacle course: 

                                                              Magpies building circuits:

                                                                     Crows dissecting eye:

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.  : ) 
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. If you would like to receive a notification every time  I update the blog, make sure to follow my blog (just type your email on the box at the top right corner).

Here you can see the kids sorting the school's trash (with gloves):

                                These trash cans were full before the kids started the sorting activity:

                                                Magpies working on their research posters:

                                         

                                                           Crows dissecting squids:

                                Owls learning about friction and drawing their observations:

New trimester - grades 1 and 2

During the last trimester of this school year I will be working with Teacher Pa's class. Teacher Pa and I have been working together to cover a few very important and related topics. The main focus in science classes will be on life cycles, plants and pollinators. The kids have been observing painted lady caterpillars and ladybug larvae. Both species are native to our area and we will be releasing the adults towards the end of the school year. My goal is to have the kids understand, and observe the connectivity between plants and insects.

During our first science class we discussed how humans need plants to survive and what plants need for survival. To address the importance of plants, I asked each kid to draw what they had for lunch or dinner the day before and trace every item back to plants. This part was really straightforward for them.

After the break, I asked each child to draw a plant and label the parts of the plant that was in their drawings. The kids included flower, stem and leaves in their drawings, but no root system. We talked about their drawings and drew a complete plant diagram on the board. We then used this diagram to summarize what plants need to survive. We discussed how plants use roots to get water and some nutrients and how they use leaves to get carbon dioxide and absorb energy from the sun.

During the last 20 minutes, we started an experiment with bean plants. I germinated a few pinto beans 3 days before our meeting, and let the kids observe how seedlings develop from seeds. We then used these seedlings to start an experiment to shed light on what plants need to grow. We have some seedlings growing in the dark, some with no water, some with no added nutrients (fertilizer), some with "no" carbon dioxide (plants are being covered with a glass container, getting less carbon dioxide) and some with everything  a plant needs (our control). The kids made predictions of what they think will happen to the plants in each treatment, and they have been observing and measuring these plants on a weekly basis.

First field trip to Jepson Prairie

Isabella and Jackie identifying some of the plant species.

Setting up the pollination experiment.

Tour with Jepson prairie docent.

Taking a closer look at tadpole shrimp.

Getting ready for the pollination experiment.