Moving Over the Old - Ocean Explorers

Ocean Explorers

1/4/12  We finished up learning all about waves and have been looking into currents lately.  Today we had our last two current experiments.  The first showed how phytoplankton moves with currents to keep the food chain healthy while the second showed what El Nino does when it interacts with cold water current called Humboldt.  The experiments were awesome, but I sure made a mess!  I think the kids enjoy a little mess now and then!


11/16/11  Tara Bushnoe and Travis Lipscomb from Upper Guadalupe River Authority were here today teaching second grade study group all about our local river.  The kids got to try an experiment to find the pH of different water and observe all sorts of invertebrates.  It was awesome!  Enjoy all the pictures - I got a little camera happy!

Warming-up and thinking about how we use the Guadalupe River.

Learning there is about as much freshwater on Earth as one person's pinkie finger compared to their whole body.

 Some of the kids getting to be scientist!

 

 Checking out the invertebrates!

11/9/11  Today was all about waves.  One of the coolest things we learned was waves do not travel.  The only thing moving is the wave energy.  Check out my little scientist discovering this!

11/2/11  I really missed this group today.  The Challenge Lab was closed.  I'm always sad to miss a group!


10/26/11  We had an awesome lesson and experiment today on ice in the ocean.  Not only did we learn about glacial ice and sea ice, but we were able to see which one raises the water level and which doesn't.  Do you know?  Afterwards, the kids got a huge kick out of just sticking their hands in the icy cold water!  Experiments rock!

Two of our oceanographers checking out the sea level after our "Glacial Meltdown."

10/19/11  This week was all about freshwater and saltwater!  We got to use some cool new words like buoyancy, density and salinity.  Four experiments took place!  The first showed what happened when a river (freshwater) empties into the ocean (saltwater).  Oh yes...we used the word estuary too!  Then we dropped saltwater into freshwater and weighed saltwater and freshwater on a balance.  Finally, we made a carrot float by adding salt to freshwater!  The kids were pumped!  Many were planning on trying the experiments again at home!  We were so busy, this is the only picture I snapped!

The aftermath (a.k.a. clean-up) from our awesome experiments!

10/12/11  We wrapped up our water cycle unit with an experiment.  Here are some of my stylin' scientist:

 These guys and gals made a water cycle in a jar.  We changed our experiment slightly by putting warm water in one cup and water from the drinking fountain in the other.  There was definitely more rain in the glass with warm water.  We also took an adventure through the book, A Drop Around the World.  Starting next week, we will be wading into the oceans and seeing what happens when fresh water and salt water meet.  More excitement and experiments await!


10/5/11  We had an awesome lesson on how many oceans there are: one world ocean, four oceans or five.  Ask your little scientist and see what they tell you!  Afterwards, we discussed how scientist going into space helped us know the percent of the world that is water.  Check them out...

When your hand is super close to your face, you cannot see it all!  In the same way, scientist cannot see the whole world when they are on it!

Move your hand away, and you get a clear picture.  Scientist can prove that about 3/4 of the world is water based off pictures taken in space!

 Just like scientist, we learned sometimes we just need facts (the percent of the world that is water), and sometimes opinions help in new discoveries (how many oceans there are)!  All in all, it was a whole bunch of fun!

9/28/11  I am so sad I did not get a picture of the kids!  We just got so wrapped up in our activity!  The kids were in scientist coats, learning the correct ways to do an experiment.  They looked awesome!  We tossed an inflatable globe to figure how much of the world is land and how much is water.  Every time they caught the globe, the student reported where their left thumb landed.  Here are what our results looked like after ten tosses and a hundred.  We calculated the percents using change!

9/21/11  We are gathering information right now to allow us to participate in some pretty awesome thinking!  Be on the lookout for our discoveries to these questions:  "How Many Oceans Are There, Anyways?" and "What Percent of the World is Water?" Also, some super deep thinking is about to take place on facts that can be proved (the percent of the world that is water) versus facts that lead to an idea (the number of oceans)!  How awesome!  We get to have fun and be smarty pants all at the same time!  Love it!


9/14/11  Today was all about creative thinking!  We started by brainstorming creatures that live in the ocean.  From there I took the kids through the flexibility, elaboration and originality steps of creativity.  Trust me, it was MUCH more fun that it sounds!  Once everyone had a truly original ocean creature they drew and colored it!  The next step?  Writing down what their creature eats and what eats their creature!  Don't be surprised if these crazy ocean creatures appear again during a food chain lesson!  Hmmmm.....

Here are some of the ladies letting their creativity flow!

Jarrett's Evershark

Ian's Octoray

9/7/11  We are still getting our feet wet in all this ocean and water information.  The highlight from this week has to be the kids learning the water cycle.  I was showing them simple hand movements for condensation, precipitation, and evaporation.  I planned this to be a quick activity to help them remember these gigantic words.  Well, by the time we were done, these hand movements were almost a fabulously choreographed dance!  It was too much fun!  Then while reading a short paragraph to them about the ocean, I started seeing certain hand movements appear when key words were said!  I love, love, love it when something simple takes our enrichment even further!  Next week I MUST get a picture of this fabulousness!


8/31/11  Before diving too deep into the ocean, we are going to learn some awesome things about water so we know what we're dealing with!  The Ocean Explorers surprised me this week with all the knowledge they have about problems affecting our oceans including:  overfishing, pollution, and multiple problems caused by ocean liners!  Wow kids!  Keep up the great work!

Moving Over the Old - Awesome Egyptians

Awesome Egyptians

1/3/12  We learned about the scarab beetle today and how they Egyptians worshiped it.  Ask your kids for the details.  They were intrigued yet disgusted at the same time!

11/15/11  So we had fun, tons of fun, this week!  But guess what?  I didn't take any pictures!  I sure wish I would have!  We learned all about the life of kids back in Ancient Egypt.  Everyone seemed a little concerned that Egyptian kids did not wear any clothing.  This was just too, too gross for my Egyptologist!  Afterwards, we participated in some games the kids played back in the day.  Xander and Jake dominated in the leap frog races.  Egyptian tug-of-war was a little rough on the arms!  Egyptian kids did not use a rope, they just linked arms and pulled!  Now, don't you wish I had pictures of all the excitement?  I must have just been too into the fun!


11/8/11  Today we had a great lesson on Egypt being backwards.  We learned all about Upper Egypt, Lower Egypt, the Red and Black Land and how the Nile River is backwards.  We even made awesome foldables to show how the Nile flows from south to north instead of north to south like most other rivers.  Our rivers actually move!

11/1/11  It took most of study group, but we finished our "Peek-a-Boo" Maps.  Check them out along with the covers for our Egypt books we will be adding to all year!

10/25/11  Today we worked hard on our "Peek-a-Boo" Maps.  They are not quite done yet.  Check back next week to see exactly what this is!

10/18/11  We had our first "real" lesson, and these guys and gals were awesome!  We had the opportunity to look at Kerrville and Cairo (and the rest of the U.S. and Egypt) on Google Earth.  How cool is it that these kids could see the differences of these two locations!?!?!  Next, we discussed how the hippo was an important animal in Ancient Egypt and wrapped up by making hippo amulets to help us on our journey through time!  

Here are two of the guys creating their hippo amulets!

Look at these awesome hippo amulets!  Each has the lotus flower on it somewhere - a very important part of Ancient Egypt!

10/11/11  These Awesome Egyptians got off to a great start!  After getting all the "housekeeping" stuff out of the way, we brainstormed a list of everything we could imagine might have to do with Egypt.  Next, we watched a little video to introduce us to Ancient Egypt and learned some cool things and some ewwwey things!  All in all, the kids are excited but think the Egyptians might have been a little strange.

Moving Over the Old - WOW Questions

WOW Questions!

The goal of my classroom this year is to get the students asking questions, really good questions.  Learning begins with questions, progresses with questions, and only stops when the questions do.

One bulletin board is reserved just for "WOW Questions!"  These are any questions students ask that make me stop and think, I do not know the answer to, or a question that makes me look at anything in a new and interesting way!

When a "WOW Question" is asked, the student gets to write it on an index card and staple it to the board.  How cool would it be if the questions overflowed from the board to the surrounding walls!?!?!?!

Here is a picture of the first question being placed on the board.  "How did a scorpion become our mascot?"  Apparently Mrs. Stern, the principal, does not even know!  WOW!


Normally I am more "with it," but I just do not seem able to get this picture to turn.  Please tilt your head and enjoy!

More "WOW Questions" we have encountered:

• What kind of bugs do they have in Egypt?  -Brianna
• What happened to Mrs. Althaus's emergency lights? - Jordy (We had to have the assistant principal come down to see if he knew!)
• When did the world first start?  - Jose 
• What happens if the electricity goes out in a hospital during surgery?  - Haley
• Does a monk fish move?  -Sam
• What does a monk fish eat?  -Ian 
• Can people make water? - Ian
• How do you grow?  -Joel
• Since opossum starts with an "o," should it have "an" in front of it?  -Paige
• How did our human language begin?  -Audrey
• Do you eyes stay the same size your whole life?  -Lenae
• Do all whales eat krill?  -Charlie and Jordy
• Why do chickens have wattles?  -Regan

Let's Try Again...

Last year the blog went into a technology induced coma when Blogger became blocked on my computer.  Honestly, once that bug was fixed, my momentum had disappeared.  Obviously I ignored this poor precious communication tool.  Yet, here I stand, humbly ready to try again.  Let's see how things shape up this year! 

To make the world of blogging easier, I am going to post everything on the main page and delete the study group tabs.  I will try to diligently tag every post to add ease to your viewing pleasure! 

Deep breath, and we're off...

Dear Forgotten Blog,

Dear Forgotten Blog,

With the new year, I will work more diligently on updating you.  I will pay special attention to the study group updates as they were somewhat neglected the last few weeks of the semester.  I hope the students and parents who check this will hold me accountable.  I never want to be too busy to share the fun we are having in the Challenge Lab.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Althaus

Also Long Ago

Once upon a time there was a boy who is not so little anymore.  In kindergarten he built a roller coaster from K-Nex.  Today, as a fourth grader, he built a cool "beehive" using Contraptions.

 

 

A Long, Long Time Ago

A long, long time ago a group of first graders built the "tallest marble run EVER."  Those first graders grew-up and are now fifth graders.  One from the old group and a few new kids built the new "tallest marble run EVER."  I enjoy watching the drop-ins at moments like this!