Saturday, October 15, 2011

What's Been Going On?

We have been learning about Living and Non Living Things in the classroom. Since we have reorganized and set up our Science Center, we have had lots of opportunities to observe living and non living things.
In our tiny Science Center we have:
2 Aqua Frogs
3 Hermit Crabs
1 Beta Fish
1 Ghost Fish
I Sucker Fish
1 Mystery Snail 
1 Growing Aquarium Plant
6 Mini Greenhouses
AND... 20 Budding Scientists! 
Every morning we check on our classroom pets and see what they are up to. 

We have used tools to help us observe our crabs and crab habitat. 

We have learned that animals need:
Food
Water 
Shelter
We have noticed lots of crabby play goes on in that crab shack! 
We have seen the changing of shells. 
We witnessed our crab problem solving as he was trying to get in his coconut hut but his shell was stuck. He came out of his shell and pulled and pulled on it until he finally got it inside! 

We added a live plant to our aquarium and we are hoping it will take root and grow! 
We read The Tiny Seed and learned about seed dispersal and about the basic needs of plants. 
We learned plants need:
Water
Nutrients
Sunlight
Space
The Tiny Seed is a great book that actually addresses the importance of space. 

On a field investigation we found two objects that look like berries. We think they might be figs from a fig tree but we have to do a little more investigating. 
We have completed our first Science Team project by putting together Mini Greenhouses. Right now we are growing:
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Sweet Peppers
Zinnias
Sunflowers
We have learned the parts of a plant:
Petal
Seed
Stem
Leaf
Roots
We are recording our observations and new understandings in our Science Notebooks. 

We have had way more fun than we should...watching our Growing Brain actually change instead of grow. We have been able to observe these changes and record our observations in our Science Notebooks. And we have discovered that although things can appear to grow, if they do not have basic needs, then they are not living. 
We have had fun learning that Scientists share information with others and discuss their findings as we work through the Scientific Processes. 

3 comments:

  1. Just found your blog. Cute science things.
    BusyBees

    ReplyDelete
  2. My name is Heather and I work for Worth Ave. Group. We’re currently holding a contest for K-12 teachers. Over $150,000 in grant money and prizes will be given away in the Technology in Education Grant. Get the teachers you know involved in this great giveaway by voting for them and you'll give them a chance to win an iPad 2, 30 iPod touches for their classroom and a $25,000 technology grant for their school. Voting has just begun and end will end March 31st. Visit www.voteforteachers.com today or call 1-855-834-7660 for more information.
    voteforteachers@worthavegroup.com

    ReplyDelete