Is two months too long to go in your life without learning about science? NPR has a new podcast for kids and their families - "Wow in the World". The shows are only 20 minutes-ish, perfect for quick errands or long road trips, and they are super fun. For example, the latest episode is about cow farts and eating crickets - and what they have in common!
Start listening here: http://tinkercast.com/shows/wow-in-the-world/
Green Paws Summer Camp was a blast! We went on hikes, found salamanders in the creek, planted wildflower seeds in the vertical gardens, picked carrots, played games, ate popsicles, planted fruits and veggies, created artwork using rubber worms, and had a great time overall!
Last week Mrs. Blick's class helped release "Yoshi" a Common Snapping Turtle baby. Yoshi spent the school year in Mrs. Blick's room having moved their from the Science Lab the year prior. He enjoyed his time at Tritt, but after consulting with the Chattahoochee Nature Center it was decided that it was time for him to move on. He wish you luck buddy!
He settled in just fine as you can see in the picture below:
Wrapping up our study on plants and animals, 1st grade looked at how animals use plants as shelter. There is no better animal engineer than the beaver, and we thought we'd try and copy some of their work. Students designed their dams and collected the materials. Here Mrs. Hughes' and Mrs. Friend's classes show off their work.
So this is pretty fun: A squirell "borrowed" (it seems placed to me, somehow intentional) this guys GoPro camera and took it for a treetop adventure!
We made model cells out of cookies!
We have been studying plants and animals in 1st grade. When scientists and engineers are inspired by something from nature we call that "biomimicry". We just finished planting sunflower seeds using homemade garden tools that were inspired by a story we read in class.
Thank you to the parent volunteers who came in to operate the hot glue guns!
We have been studying plants and animals in 1st grade. When scientists and engineers are inspired by something from nature we call that "biomimicry". We just finished planting sunflower seeds using homemade garden tools that were inspired by a story we read in class.
Thank you to the parent volunteers who came in to operate the hot glue guns!
We have been studying plants and animals in 1st grade. When scientists and engineers are inspired by something from nature we call that "biomimicry". We just finished planting sunflower seeds using homemade garden tools that were inspired by a story we read in class.
Thank you to the parent volunteers who came in to operate the hot glue guns!
We have been studying plants and animals in 1st grade. When scientists and engineers are inspired by something from nature we call that "biomimicry". We just finished planting sunflower seeds using homemade garden tools that were inspired by a story we read in class.
Thank you to the parent volunteers who came in to operate the hot glue guns! We were dealing with a little bit of rain during the planting, so I apologize for so few action shots!
We have been studying plants and animals in 1st grade. When scientists and engineers are inspired by something from nature we call that "biomimicry". We just finished planting sunflower seeds using homemade garden tools that were inspired by a story we read in class.
Thank you to the parent volunteers who came in to operate the hot glue guns!
We have been studying plants and animals in 1st grade. When scientists and engineers are inspired by something from nature we call that "biomimicry". We just finished planting sunflower seeds using homemade garden tools that were inspired by a story we read in class.
Thank you to the parent volunteers who came in to operate the hot glue guns!
When visiting the Science Lab, Second Grade spent a lot of time this semester studying astronomy. We examined the rotation of the Earth and the affect on seasons; the sun's movement across by tracking shadows; the phases of the moon; the movement of the Big Dipper and other stars; and even learned about exoplanets and Trappist-1.
Our engineering challenge came when we decided to add shade to a model of our playgrounds. Students had to track the sun during their recess time and determine where to add walls/trees/roofs/screens. You can take a look at their creative ideas below!
I've been thinking about the "A" in STEAM a lot lately, and stumbled upon this article. I think that some of scientists' ideas could be communicated better to non-scientists, and that is where ART can play an important role.
From the Scientific American: "Art and science. To those who practice neither, they seem like polar opposites, one data-driven, the other driven by emotion. One dominated by technical introverts, the other by expressive eccentrics. For those of us involved in either field today (and many of us have a hand in both), we know that the similarities between how artists and scientists work far outweigh their stereotypical differences. Both are dedicated to asking the big questions placed before us: “What is true? Why does it matter? How can we move society forward?” Both search deeply, and often wanderingly, for these answers. We know that the scientist’s laboratory and the artist’s studio are two of the last places reserved for open-ended inquiry, for failure to be a welcome part of the process, for learning to occur by a continuous feedback loop between thinking and doing." - John Maeda
Read the rest here: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/artists-and-scientists-more-alike-than-different/
In Fourth Grade we wrapped up our study of gravitational forces and the wheel & axle by building restraint systems for raw eggs that traveled down a ramp on our VEX cars. Take a look at their designs here: (click on photos to scroll through)
Mrs. Moffett's class demonstrates "seed bomb" creation. A little clay, a little potting mix, some water, and a teaspoon of wildflowers, rolled into a few ball, dried out, and you get "seed bombs"! Toss them wherever you think could use a little more color, and in a couple of weeks you'll see blues and purples and yellows!
This mimics the way the owl and elephant help plant seeds from the story we read in class!
We were gifted 150 cabbages from Bonnie Plants. Our 3rd graders recently revisited soil in a vertical garden experiment - so i figured, what better way to spend Spring Break than outside planting food!
We will make a contest out of it: largest cabbage wins! Instructions below...
I was fortunate to be asked to sub for a very pregnant Mrs. Walker on Target's field trip today to Sope Creek, part of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Our Park Ranger was Mr. Jerry Hightower, who first taught me about the Chattahoochee River Watershed over 10 years ago! The students were able to search through leaf litter to find macroinvertebrates, indicators of the health of Sibley Pond, and by extension Sope Creek and the Chattahoochee River. The more biodiversity, the healthier the water! It didn't look healthy today though, as much needed rain brought silt into the creek from the surrounding areas.
I was so excited to join Mrs. Pirlot's class on their trip to Driftwood! It was 3 days full of science: reptile demos (Gators, Gopher Tortoises, Copperheads, etc.), an encounter with a Barred Owl, a nighttime hike all about our five senses, dipping into the inter coastal to capture microscopic plankton - and finding them under the microscopes, team building activities (trust fall!), campfires (I know the counselors secret language), a ferry ride, tree climbing, picnic lunches, old ruins, wild horses, a beach hike (with discoveries of crabs, fish, Cannonball jellyfish, and horseshoe crab exoskeletons), and even more when we used our seine nets! Here are just some of the pictures that I was able to take of our class and others!
I love the transitional seasons, Spring and Fall. Sure, the weather can be hard to predict: 80 degrees and sunny one day, and literally freezing a couple days later - but that is kind of exciting, right?! And Green Paws, First and Third Grades are all starting planting/gardening projects, which is SUPER exciting.
So when does Spring really begin? Even though March is almost over, I like to go by the equinox. Because the Earth orbits the sun on a tilted axis, our days are shorter in the Winter and longer in the Summer - really, that is what makes them Winter and Summer! But twice a year, on the Equinox, the days and night are exactly the same length: 12 hours each. The Spring Equinox was this weekend, so.... WELCOME SPRING!!!
