Friday, January 15, 2016

1st Graders Sifting Through Soil with a Civil Engineer

First Grade Students from Mrs. Till's and Mrs. Shriver's classes spent the morning exploring soil with civil engineer/GREEN Charter Parent, Mr. Gonzalez. After discussing the exciting career of a civil engineer, the class dove into the Earthly materials.  

The 1st graders analyzed samples of top soil, sand, and clay and were able to use their senses to fully compare and contrast the materials. They discussed which type of soil would be best for plant growth.

They headed back to class with renewed interest in learning more about soil and finding out what lives in soil. 

















Thursday, January 7, 2016

2nd graders are Happy with Habitats

 2nd grade has been learning all about different types of habitats.  We've learned about the weather that each habitat has, the landforms found in each habitat, and about the plants and animals that live there too.  

We utilized our knowledge about habitats and created a 3D replica of a habitat of our choosing.  We were sure to include the proper weather, landforms, plants, and animals in our habitat models.  Then, we presented our habitats to our peers to show that we could discuss our habitat in a meaningful way!  











Budding Botanists in 4th Grade

Our 4th graders have just begun their Life Science unit and were excited to get some hands on experience in the lab. Our standards ask students to be able to classify plants as either flowering or non flowering. After being taught characteristics of both flowering and non flowering plants it was time for students to test their knowledge in real life! Students brought in many different types of plants to try and classify in the lab utilizing iPads.

Not only was this a wonderful science learning experience, it also gave students a chance to talk about their cultures. Some students brought in plants that their families use for cooking, good luck, or healing. Students used both prior knowledge (from school and home) along with their research skills to help classify their plants. This is only the beginning of our life science unit and we can't wait to experience even more connections with our environment!