We took the chance to get wet outdoors, and explore science in the process. Students used air pressure to "pop" off some plungers, took the paper towel challenge of putting it under water and using air pressure to keep it dry, and finally used air pressure to make a fountain. Air takes up space, and puts smiles on faces too.
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Well, just like life cycles, we're circling back around for an exciting finish to school. The Miller Family had a discovery that they wanted to share with the class. We took ownership of some unhatched tadpoles this week. They looked like little black dots on long pieces of scotch tape. By the end of the day, they'd hatched, but they didn't look good... Everything was laying on the bottom of the tank. Next day, BOOM! Hundreds of (toad?) tadpoles are now growing and swimming happily in the new tank. Pretty excited to see them grow and transform.
In addition, on Friday, I kept my promise to try and raise some butterflies. Our last batch (for all of first grade) wasn't very good. None of the 20+ larva made it through the pupa stage. So we're going to try it again! Fingers crossed...
Our classroom was paid a visit by the representatives of the DuPage Children's Museum who furthered our understandings of geometric space. We learned about 0D to 3D, from a single point (0D) to 3D shapes like the triangular prism and cones. The class had the privilege of building their own 2D and 3D shape collages that morphed into MineCraft characters, animals, and underwater scenes (just to name a few!). Thank you to the parent volunteers that were able to come join us and help with the construction.
Fire Fighter Chris Neal of the Batavia Fire Department (east side) joined us to teach us a little bit about the gear that helps keep him safe while he works to save lives in burning buildings. He gave us an extensive introduction to his bunker gear and a variety of fire fighting tools. He even demonstrated how he would pull a 400 pound man out of a fire! A willing class volunteer helped in the demonstration.
The class took the chance to interview a friend and write biographies. We shared these reports, and even had one presentation via Skype! The blessings of technology.
