Hatching & Harvesting

Hatching

Our duck eggs are a quarter of the way in their growth! Mrs. Junck visits once a week to guide our learning.

Mrs. Junck is always full of surprises and she brought two grown ducks from her farm. We compared the drake (male) and the hen (female), noticing that the female is brown and camouflages well. This is because she has to sit on the eggs for 28 days and stay safe from predators. 

We candled a few eggs in our incubator. Candling shows us if the egg is developing into a duck. We made our classroom very dark. Using a bright light, we were able to see if there was a developing duck inside the egg or not. Bright, lit up egg? No duck (bottom R). Dark, shadowy egg? Duck (top R)! 

Harvesting

The seeds we planted in our tower gardens a few months ago have thrived! Today we sampled the fruits (or veggies?) of our labour and had a little salad! What a wonderful treat!

Our classroom is bursting with new life, signs of spring, and lots of joy!

Animal Research Projects

After spending a week at Zoo School, it was clear how much we all love animals! 

The children were challenged to learn more about an an animal of their choosing. We explored the San Diego Zoo Kids website to find an animal that piqued our interests. Then we worked with our Grade 4 buddies to read challenging text, gather information, and complete our animal research.

After completing the research part of the project, we wrote complete sentences about our animals and illustrated with detail. Wowzers!

We can't wait to share our reports with our Grade 4 buddies!

This writing and research project dovetails nicely with our forthcoming Science Unit, Living Systems of Plants and Animals. Watch for your child's animal report in our next package of Evidence of learning.

Seeds & Spring Chickens

Seeds

Today we had a visit from a quirky character. You see, Mrs. Beliveau didn't return to class after recess. Rumor has it she was spotted at Starbucks. Rather, Dr. Discovery arrived in her place, challenging the students to join her in "seed surgery"!

As part of our Needs of Living Things Unit in Science, the students have recently begun exploring plants. This week's "seed surgery" helped us understand that not all seeds look the same! We were surprised that different fruits and vegetables have different amounts of seeds, too, and that many seeds are eaten. 

So many more hands on investigations are to come as we learn how to care for plants!

Spring Chickens

Our chicks continue to grow! We are well over halfway through the 21 day incubation process. We monitor temperature and humidity daily and are eagerly awaiting the chicks' arrival early next week!

Today we "candled" several eggs from our incubator by placing them up to a bright light. This allows us to see inside of the egg and check on development. Can you see the blood vessels? Can you see the shadow, on the right, where the baby chick is growing? God is so good!

We are having so much fun with our learning!

Awesome Animals

Back in January, Zoo school really thrilled our students, so we decided to learn a little more about animals!

This week, the children were challenged to learn more about an an animal of their choosing! They drew and labelled a detailed diagram of their animal and wrote three facts with accompanying illustrations. We used the San Diego Zoo Kids website to help us with our research.

This was not an easy project, but we rose to the challenge! Students navigated challenging text, gathered information, wrote complete sentences, and illustrated with detail. Wowzers!

We can't wait to share our reports with the students in Kindergarten tomorrow!

Watch for your child's report, along with a mini-rubric sharing his or her progress. Happy reading!

Rising to the Challenge!

Oh, was this a challenge!

This week, the boys and girls were challenged to learn more about an an animal of their choosing! They drew a detailed labelled diagram of their animal and wrote three facts with accompanying illustrations. We used the San Diego Zoo Kids website to help us with our research. 

Students researched their own animals, but worked in partners on a Chromebook to research. This allowed partners to troubleshoot, decode challenging text, and collaborate to write amazing animal reports!

Your child's report came home today in our monthly Evidence of Learning envelope. Happy reading!

Boys and girls, you rose to the challenge! Did your internet decide to take a nap? You didn't panic. Was the text tricky? You tried your best to figure it out. You worked hard and were kind to one another. Three cheers!

The cherry on top of our "animal-crazy" week was a presentation by the Earth Rangers! They empower kids to protect animals and their habitats through child-led fundraising. We were blessed to meet a black pine snake, an armadillo, an American kestrel, and a hawk! Wowzers!

How will we care for God's creation?

Busy little bees!

The kids returned to school rested and ready to learn! Today we were busy as bees as we continued to explore our Science Unit, Needs of Living Things!

ANIMALS

After experiencing chicks and worms, we have almost completed our focus on the needs of animals. Today the children began researching an animal of their choosing in partners. Students explored National Geographic Kids. Partners chose an animal that interested them, and throughout the week will continue to research, using both print and electronic sources. Stay tuned!

PLANTS

Last week we examined seeds, cutting open fruits and vegetables and graphing our findings:

Examining and graphing the seeds of an orange, snap peas,
cherry tomatoes and a peach.

This week we have many ongoing experiments and activities that will deepen our knowledge about the needs of plants. 

How important is light to a plant? We have taken two plants, and have placed one in a dark cabinet and one on our sunny windowsill. We keep everything else the same, such as how often we water them and how much water they receive. Which plant do you think will do better?

Our two plants before beginning our LIGHT experiment.
One student predicted "I think it will blum (bloom) in the light."

How important is soil to a plant? We have collected 4 different samples to grow grass seeds in: rice, sand, soil, and cotton. We are placing these on the sill too, and are watering them all at the same time. Will we be needing lawnmowers for all of the grass we may grow?

How important is water to a plant? We have two plants. One will receive water, the other will not. Which do you think will do better?

Our two plants, prior to beginning our WATER experiment.

We have also been exploring the roots of a plant and how they transport water and nutrients. We have placed some celery and carnations in coloured water, and are watching carefully to see what will happen. Any predictions?

The celery was just placed in the coloured water. One student predicted,"I think that the one in the red will tern red and the one blue tern blue."

The white flowers that were just placed in coloured water. What will happen?

Finally, we took some time to plant our own bean seeds in clear cups. It is only day one, so there are no changes yet, but the clever eyes in our class are keeping a close watch! In the meantime, we will ensure they get a few squirts of water each day. 

We continue to be in awe of God's creations as we learn about the Needs of Living Things!