First Grade Newsletter - October 4, 2013 Unit of Inquiry Updates Students have been studying the water cycle through many different contexts. We made water cycle bracelets and learned several different water cycle songs (the water cycle rap is, of, course, the favorite) and we did watercolor paintings of the steps of the water cycle. Students brainstormed ways that humans and animals use water in different and the same ways. They practiced their geography skills by identifying 25 large rivers in the world on a map. Students used the arts to interpret water sounds. I played sounds such as a river running, the rain, etc. and students visited different stations where they expressed the sounds in drawing, writing, and movement, as well as one station to just lay and listen. Students learned a lot about how people in different parts of the world use water and how not everyone has access to clean water. They each wrote a diary entry as a child in rural Ethiopia going to collect water. After this, they decided that it was important to conserve water since we are so lucky to have clean water and we shouldn’t waste it. Students brainstormed ways to to conserve water and made a public service announcement via video about tips for conserving water and why it is important to conserve water. Students worked incredibly hard on writing water persona poems and painting beautiful pictures to go with them to put into a book for the auction. They each took on the perspective of two different forms of water such as the waterfall, the river etc. and wrote a poem from that water’s perspective. Continuing along the lines of thinking about someone else’s perspective, we practiced being open minded with cloud watching. Students learned that even in one cloud, people may see different things and that it ok. Its important to listen to others who think differently than you do.
Fun Field Trips and Guest Speakers A huge fun event this week was going on our Marine Biologist For A Day field trip at the Denver Aquarium where we got to spend time with a marine biologist and see what his daily activities were like. Students prepared food for the animals and got to feed them (including archer fish which spit a stream of water at your hand that is holding food!) Students got to go on a scavenger hunt in the main part of the aquarium, learning some cool facts about aquatic animals along the way. Then they got to dissect a squid and find the ink sack inside to write with! Finally they got a special behind the scenes tour of the Top Secret Areas of the aquarium where the public are not allowed to visit such as going above the tanks and looking down and seeing the baby animals, the pregnant animals, and the sick animals. According to Koben, the field trip was even more fun than having recess and choice time all day! We also had a special presenter come in to talk to our school that serendipitously aligned perfectly with our unit! Scientist Josh Wurman (of the TV show Storm Chasers) came in to speak with Mackintosh about the science behind the recent floods in our area. He had to stay late because there were so many burning questions for him to answer!
Quote of the Week: Me: “Sebastian, why don’t you try cutting the squid open to see what’s inside, I can hold it down for you if you think that would make it easier.” Sebastian: “No thanks, Miss Bolch. I find this kind of grotesque. I would actually prefer if you did the dirty work for me.”
U of I Math Students have been using their brilliant math skills to plan a part for underwater sea creatures. They have been working on if we invite 100 creatures, how many can they each invite, how much food will we need, how many tables, etc. We will continue to plan our underwater sea animal party for the next week or two until we have every mathematical detail figured out!
U of I Science I did a water cycle and states of water magic show in the science lab. Students assisted me in performing some magic tricks and I even gave away some of my magic trick secrets so they got to try them on their own! They did an experiment about clouds where you put shaving cream (the cloud) in the top of a cup of water and drip food coloring down into it. As the food coloring settles on the bottom of the cloud, you can see it get darker and darker until finally it begins to precipitate! Students did some fun sinking and floating experiments to see what sinks and what floats in water.
Other Fun Stuff Students got to see the fifth and sixth graders perform their class play of the Jungle Book based on the book by Rudyard Kipling (rather than on the Disney version!) They loved all the characters and many played Jungle Book at recess afterwards!
Upcoming Dates October 11th- Guest speaker from One School At A Time to talk about building wells for clean water access in rural Africa October 15th- Field Trip to Thorne Ecological Institute
Photos Front Page (top to bottom): Visiting with a turtle in our classroom, mapping world rivers, fascinated by sharks at the aquarium Back Page (top to bottom): Interpreting a rain storm through dance and movement, sinking and floating experiment, clouds in a cup experiment, Koben teaching us all about the recent flood for his world affairs presentation with a cool model he built with his dad that visually demonstrated how one inch of rain water could turn into much deeper water in low areas