#ObserveEverything October

OBSERVE.... EVERYTHING!

2nd graders complete an #ObserveEverything challenge.

This month's work was inspired by one of my favorite programs on National Public Radio-- Science Friday. Science Friday has a Science Club online. For one month, they asked people to OBSERVE EVERYTHING... and Maury students did!

Observing our newly emerged Monarch!

My goal was to provide a context for students to work together to observe phenomena and draw conclusions based on their observations. I also wanted to make the data derived from these observations as REAL as possible, to have students not only observe but live the thing they were observing. For example, who wants to use a print out of last year's weather data when you can live the data anyway? Who wants to watch a time-lapse of food decomposing when you can live it happening each week?

                                      Lucy explains her observations about decomposing foods.

At all levels, students have been honing their observation skills! More importantly, they have used their observational findings and applied them to finding patterns, analyzing data, asking questions and working together to find solutions to problems! Each grade level has been involved in different projects so here are a few highlights.

                                          Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grades:
With the Next Generation Science Standards,  K-2 are expected to understand are that scienti

sts use different ways to study the world, look for patterns when making observations, and use drawings, sketches and models to communicate their findings. In Think Tank, students have had the chance to practice these scientific skills in various ways.

KINDERGARTEN OBSERVERS:

Kindergarteners have set up an experiment to see if worms make a difference in how fast a banana peel decomposes and predicted which of three foods would decompose fastest. Each week they make observations and check back at their original predictions.

Students are able to rotate around to various Sci-Centers in my class. Each center allows students to explore some aspect of science and engineering and boy do they love it!

In addition to our weekly class, students are tracking daily weather conditions. They made predictions about what kind of month we would have and we are watching closely to see if our predictions were correct

1st GRADE OBSERVERS:
 1st grade students have continued observing changes in their Wisconsin Fast Plants over time but have also started a classic Habit of Mind Think Tank Challenge: Contribute Positively to the Group and Inspire Teamwork to create a single structure. This is harder than it seems, but our 1st graders are up to the challenge.

They are practicing using positive words and voice to communicate their ideas and resolve conflicts surround design through discussion. Each week they improve. While they work, I pull groups to meet and do close observation of our plants so it's the best of both worlds: practicing the PRACTICE of problem solving in a group and working on a scientific phenomena in a small group.

2nd GRADE OBSERVERS:
As noted in my last post, this group has spent a lot of time looking very closely at their work and the PROCESS of that work. Last week they completed an #ObserveEverything Scavenger hunt. We were supposed to go outside to explore our schoolyard ecosystem but it was raining...again! Not a problem though, students were asked to look past the obvious in the classroom and OBSERVE EVERYTHING!

Students explore the classroom documenting their findings.

 

 Students each had a role: Researcher, Recorder, Photographer. They rotated jobs every 3 observations.

 

Their observations were detailed and interesting. I always find it fascinating to look through the "eyes" of my students. This challenge allowed for that with this group. Just check out their eye for macro photography!

3rd GRADE OBSERVERS:

This group continues to work with the amazing Toni Burnham of DC Beekeepers on exploring the fascinating world of honeybees. During our last class students got to use ALL 5 senses to explore the hives! 

While Ms. Toni was away last week we finally had a chance to delve into our weather wall. We have been recording air temperature at the same time every week since the 1st week of school. Students looked for temperature trends and then used those observations to make predictions for what the temperature will be like in 5 weeks!

Our data since the first week of school. Two classes = two data points!

 

 

Student journal since week one.

 

                              Individual student predictions and the RANGE of our our predictions.

4th GRADE OBSERVERS:

This grade has spent the last month collaborating to explore levers and conducting experiments with them. 

They have conducted a fair test to determine if fulcrum placement in relation to the load and the effort makes a difference in the effectiveness of their catapult.

Students then used that knowledge to design a catapult from scratch that would send "Lego Ford" the farthest! 

 We will be finishing up this unit in the next week and after that.... ENERGY!

5th GRADE OBSERVERS:

 5th Grade continues to work hard to get themselves to SPACE CAMP! In fact, Astronaut Don Thomas visited us October 20th to share what it's like to live and work in space. His presentation was AMAZING and the students were enthralled! 4th and 5th got to participate:)

"We are never washing our hands again! They shook the hand of an astronaut!:

This visit really helped students add context to what we are studying in class too. They are finishing up an exciting Space Systems unit. In this unit they have explored the phenomena of day and night by traveling the globe using EarthCam.

They have started tracking monthly daylight changes over time and have started graphing their findings in their notebooks. Stay tuned for their observations and conclusions about the cause of these changes!

 

 They also took on a fun inquiry where they had to work together to graph stars based on their brightness and temperature. This week we will be analyzing our chart! ( They will soon figure out it is a

 Hertzprung-Russell Diagram)

Now if it would only be sunning on a Wednesday we could conduct a fun shadow experiment. It hasn't been sunny on a Wednesday in 5 weeks!

  

SCHOOLWIDE MONARCHS:Lest we forget the many flying friends who emerged over the last month. In total, Maury sent off 25 Monarchs this year! Students watched each step eagerly and with anticipation and we had many beautiful send offs.
                                

                                                     Monarch emerging. AMAZING!

 WHAT ABOUT PRESCHOOL AND PRE-K???

 

Our youngest students are just finishing up exploring all of the exciting sci-centers Think Tank has to offer. We studied Monarch's in-depth and last week all students told me what they wanted to learn about next. From dinosaurs to space, oceans to plants and princesses to buildings, our 3 and 4 year olds are eager to learn. Our next study begins this week! We are studying HOW THINGS MOVE! This was the best way I could integrate their varied interests. Stay tuned to see us learn about how animals move, how the ocean moves, how people move and more!

FINALLY.....

Thanks to the amazing work of all your students, Science Friday asked me to come on their show on October 24th and discuss how we use observation in the classroom and why it's so important!  You can listen to the interview HERE! It's a great segment, but if you want to here me talk about your children, I start around the 11min20second mark:)

In the quietest place I could find for the interview... my car! Waiting for the call!

Until then,

Mrs. Ford

PELLETS TO ANIMATED SHORTS....THINK TANK IS ROLLING!

Of course I was an owl pellet for Halloween! (I'm being dissected here!)

Before I begin I must give a MASSIVE shout-out to the incredible parent volunteered weekly in nearly all my classes to ensure I can stay at work while my still healing back.... heals! I'm constantly amazed by the incredible community I work in, and thankful to have such wonderful support. I now have parents acting out my read alouds, engaging in content, and adding a new level of knowledge and excitement to the classroom. My back thanks you... as do I!

(We were acting out "How Tall was Milton" a fairy tale about why people may want to use standardized units of measure. Subrat Biswal, parent volunteer extraordinaire, acts as Milton here!)

Now onto everything else....
The Owl Pellet Obsession has not ceased! In fact, the interest students have shown has forced me to delve much deeper into the content than I originally planned! We began our study with a Donor's Choose funded project through Carolina Biological Supply Company then supplemented with wonderful, small business pellet retailer Owl Brand Discovery Kit . (Thanks OBDK for your quick turn around time and unique inventory at the last minute!)  I even lead the Maury Staff in their own exploration so they could see what it was all about!

As a teacher, when I plan school-wide studies, my challenge is to take one "thing" and make it accessible, engaging, enriching and challenging to ALL students. Since I teach Preschool through 5th, that isn't always the easiest task, but so far, as our study continues, it is proving to be a valuable one! Of course, in addition to content, all of our lessons are based in using Multiple Intelligences and strengthening our Habits of Mind! Specifically, we " Wonder, Explore and Ask Questions", "Look Carefully", "Use What we Know, Transfer Learning" and are"Adventurous and Open-Minded".

 K and 1 students get their first try at using scientific tools to carefully dissect their fragile pellets. Fine motor, sorting, inquiry.... this group took right to the task!

                    

2nd grade not only dissected pellets but then used new, unique pellets collected from a variety of sources to see if they could find evidence of where the pellet was found.

Left and Right hand collaboration in 2nd grade on their lab!

 

3rd Grade has been lucky enough to have the DC Department of Environment's Wildlife Biologist and Ornithologist Dan Rauch come to present about raptors. I've never seen students have soooo many GREAT questions about a topic! He's such a great sport because for each of their questions, he has written back a response! All questions and responses are, or will soon be, posted in the first floor hallway.

 4th and 5th grades took their dissections farther and have begun using dichotomous keys and other organizers to more accurately identify the prey in their pellets. While younger grades are sorting bones into "rodent, mole or bird", this group of students is using clues found in the bones to find out what KIND of rodent, KIND of mole etc.... Did you know that voles have angled teeth and mice and rats have lobed teeth? ( Yeah, me neither, but now we all know!)

After using a bone chart, students began sorting bones. They will be able to determine the number of prey in their pellet, as well as other details from this data.

Lots of drying work... apparently vertebrae "run" when the glue isn't dry:)

Drying completed Dichotomous Keys! Each mandible used in the key is glued to the bottom

Love this key! It was fascinating to learn so much more about the prey, and narrow down more about the owl's diet through this investigation.

Moles have COOL jaws!

IN OTHER THINK TANK CLASSES....

PS3 and PK4  are in the middle of various studies, including "Buildings", "Insects" and "Trees". During Think Tank, students still have center choice with a variety of materials but our read-aloud and songs are content specific. I've been particularly impressed with how excited the students have become about measurement and creating structures that stable or unstable. Whatever the center, students continue to explore science concepts at their own pace.... perfect for their age!

                       

FINALLY.... What do you do when you have indoor recess during construction? You make short animated videos using a great Stop Motion app! Thanks to Animation Chefs for the inspiration! I know that there will be many more of these types of videos to come. Here are our very first student made animated shorts from today!

PHEW..... I'm off to the National Science Teacher's Association Regional Conference in North Carolina bright and early in the morning so I better pack! I will be taking part in the Next Generation Science Standards NSTA training on Saturday and can't wait to bring what I learn back to DC! I'm so lucky to have such a great job, in a school and District that values #STEM!

Until next time...
-Mrs. Ford