I feel like this needs celebrating...
We have AIR CONDITIONING!
Technically, it's at 50% functionality right now, but that's far better than 85 degrees with 100% humidity in my class every day.
Week 3 began our first official unit that wasn't process-centered: The Flow of Energy.
Monday:
We used a foldable to help us learn our unit vocab. We spent about 10 minutes discussing the words together before I set them free to do their foldable. They were very familiar with this vocab, so I didn't want to spend an eon discussing it. I handed everyone two of the following...
If you google vocabulary foldable, this is the first link that comes up. It actually comes as a front/back page, but I wasn't yet proficient enough at front/back printing with our old risograph printer when I printed this, so I simply gave them a one-sided sheet.
The kids wrote the word and drew a picture on this front side (yes, they had to color).
They wrote the definition on the back side in the right hand column (on the reverse of where their name/date is).
Tuesday: Photosynthesis
I used a prezi to outline the ingredients, products, and process of photosynthesis.
http://prezi.com/opfbxgq8yqdv/photosynthesis/
The kids had a similar-looking notes page which we taped into their journals.
They took a few notes on this page as we went through the prezi.
Bottom right: Roots-absorb H2O/Water (filled in the molecule with HOH)
Trunk: Xylem-tubes that carry water from roots to leaves
Top Left: Leaves take in CO2/Carbon Dioxide (filled in the molecule with OCO)
Top Right: Glucose=Sugar C6H12O6
After the Prezi, we did an activity on the back of this sheet.
The kids were broken up into groups and given a baggie with centimeter cubes in it (because I lack snap cubes). The bag had 12H (red) 6C (orange) and 18O (blue).
I told the kids that the top 6 molecules were H20 and they filled those in. The next 6 are CO2, and they filled those in as well. We discussed how these, plus sunlight, are the ingredients in photosynthesis.
They had to build 6 water and 6 carbon dioxide molecules using their cubes.
Once they had that done, we labeled the Glucose molecule at the bottom. They broke apart their ingredients and made the glucose...and figured out what they had left over (Oxygen).
I had a number of Ah-Ha! moments when they realized that THAT is how trees give off oxygen!
Wednesday:
We played catch-up on a lot of things that we'd fallen behind on. We taped a few pages into our journals, finished up some lesson review pages out of our (Consumable) textbooks, and studied vocabulary
Thursday: Stomata Lab
I used my (semi) free time on Wednesday to set up their stomata lab. I had intended for them to do the setup but we needed Wednesday to catch up. Plus, as I discovered, the peeling of nail polish off of leaves is rather tricky.
The stomata lab exists in different versions. I decided to do it this way:
1. Paint a swab of clear nail polish on the underside of a few leaves (still connected to the plant).
2. Wait for polish to dry (this requires a lot of patience)
3. CAREFULLY peel the polish off and place it on a microscope slide...add cover slip
4. View on low>medium>high power and draw stomata
My original intent was to have them view stomata from a plant that had been in the dark, and some from a plant that had been in the light. However, I must have removed the "light" plants too early from the outdoors as most of their stomata were still closed. I wanted the kids to see both open and closed and compare them, but apparently I get to work too early *overachiever*
Still, they had fun, and got a better understanding of what a stoma is.
Friday:
The kids took their Vocab Quiz.
After, we talked about producers, primary/secondary consumers, and decomposers. We practiced picking them out of sample ecosystems (desert, arctic, and forest).
Week 4
Monday: Compost Lab
The kids were split into 4 groups, and each had a 2 liter bottle, potting soil, salad (from the school lunch on the previous friday, kept in my fridge over the weekend), apples/oranges (also from friday's lunch), and some plants from my garden (that my mother had pulled over the weekend).
They layered the ingredients in the following order (top layer on top, bottom on bottom)
Soil
plants
soil
apples/oranges
soil
salad
soil
My compost bottles from 5 weeks ago are looking great! They're almost completely composted. Here's a pic lab station 1's bottles
Tuesday: Food Chains
We spent the day talking about food chains.
I had the kids set up a page in their journal for all of this week's notes. They divided a page into thirds. One per day we spent talking about this stuff:
1. Food Chains-show the flow of energy from one organism to another
[ ] > [ ] > [ ]
The kids filled in the boxes with Producer, Primary Consumer, Secondary consumer.
We took a few minutes to point out what the arrows mean. I had seen a STAAR question about that and wanted to drive that point home. They DO NOT show you what is eating what. They show the direction of the flow of energy!
Wednesday:
2. Energy Pyramids-show the amount of energy that is transferred from one level to another
We drew an energy pyramid, filled it in with Producer, Primary Consumer, Secondary consumer. We talked about the 10% rule.
To help them visualize it, I separated 500 centimeter cubes into bags. I used the C-scope 10% rule activity sheet as a guideline. I showed how much energy goes to the following:
Unused sunlight 20% (yellow cubes)
Photosynthesis: 30% (green cubes)
Reproduction: 30% (red cubes)
Respiration: 10% (blue cubes)
Stored in body: 10% (passed on to primary consumers) (45 white cubes, 5 black)
We talked about where that 90% energy was going, and how the 10% is what we'd get if a rabbit ate the plant. We then took it one step further.
Now that the rabbit has that energy (50 cubes)...
10% respiration
20% digestion
30% reproduction
30% movement
10% stored (passed onto secondary consumers) (5 cubes left)
The kids were shocked at how much energy is lost along the way!
Thursday
3. Food Webs
We're discussing this tomorrow. After, I plan on having them making a food web poster, using whatever animals and plants they want. I'm going to ask for 2 producers, 3 primary consumers, and 3 secondary consumers, plus 1 decomposer. They must have their web labeled and colored.
They'll finish these up on Friday.
It's 7:30 on a Wednesday and I'm just about ready for bed. Ms. Kat is pooped! And sore from Drill Team practice yesterday = )
Peace, Y'all
Ms. Kat
We have AIR CONDITIONING!
Technically, it's at 50% functionality right now, but that's far better than 85 degrees with 100% humidity in my class every day.
Week 3 began our first official unit that wasn't process-centered: The Flow of Energy.
Monday:
We used a foldable to help us learn our unit vocab. We spent about 10 minutes discussing the words together before I set them free to do their foldable. They were very familiar with this vocab, so I didn't want to spend an eon discussing it. I handed everyone two of the following...
The kids wrote the word and drew a picture on this front side (yes, they had to color).
They wrote the definition on the back side in the right hand column (on the reverse of where their name/date is).
Tuesday: Photosynthesis
I used a prezi to outline the ingredients, products, and process of photosynthesis.
http://prezi.com/opfbxgq8yqdv/photosynthesis/
The kids had a similar-looking notes page which we taped into their journals.
They took a few notes on this page as we went through the prezi.
Bottom right: Roots-absorb H2O/Water (filled in the molecule with HOH)
Trunk: Xylem-tubes that carry water from roots to leaves
Top Left: Leaves take in CO2/Carbon Dioxide (filled in the molecule with OCO)
Top Right: Glucose=Sugar C6H12O6
After the Prezi, we did an activity on the back of this sheet.
I told the kids that the top 6 molecules were H20 and they filled those in. The next 6 are CO2, and they filled those in as well. We discussed how these, plus sunlight, are the ingredients in photosynthesis.
They had to build 6 water and 6 carbon dioxide molecules using their cubes.
Once they had that done, we labeled the Glucose molecule at the bottom. They broke apart their ingredients and made the glucose...and figured out what they had left over (Oxygen).
I had a number of Ah-Ha! moments when they realized that THAT is how trees give off oxygen!
Wednesday:
We played catch-up on a lot of things that we'd fallen behind on. We taped a few pages into our journals, finished up some lesson review pages out of our (Consumable) textbooks, and studied vocabulary
Thursday: Stomata Lab
I used my (semi) free time on Wednesday to set up their stomata lab. I had intended for them to do the setup but we needed Wednesday to catch up. Plus, as I discovered, the peeling of nail polish off of leaves is rather tricky.
The stomata lab exists in different versions. I decided to do it this way:
1. Paint a swab of clear nail polish on the underside of a few leaves (still connected to the plant).
2. Wait for polish to dry (this requires a lot of patience)
3. CAREFULLY peel the polish off and place it on a microscope slide...add cover slip
4. View on low>medium>high power and draw stomata
My original intent was to have them view stomata from a plant that had been in the dark, and some from a plant that had been in the light. However, I must have removed the "light" plants too early from the outdoors as most of their stomata were still closed. I wanted the kids to see both open and closed and compare them, but apparently I get to work too early *overachiever*
Still, they had fun, and got a better understanding of what a stoma is.
Friday:
The kids took their Vocab Quiz.
After, we talked about producers, primary/secondary consumers, and decomposers. We practiced picking them out of sample ecosystems (desert, arctic, and forest).
Week 4
Monday: Compost Lab
The kids were split into 4 groups, and each had a 2 liter bottle, potting soil, salad (from the school lunch on the previous friday, kept in my fridge over the weekend), apples/oranges (also from friday's lunch), and some plants from my garden (that my mother had pulled over the weekend).
They layered the ingredients in the following order (top layer on top, bottom on bottom)
Soil
plants
soil
apples/oranges
soil
salad
soil
My compost bottles from 5 weeks ago are looking great! They're almost completely composted. Here's a pic lab station 1's bottles
Tuesday: Food Chains
We spent the day talking about food chains.
I had the kids set up a page in their journal for all of this week's notes. They divided a page into thirds. One per day we spent talking about this stuff:
1. Food Chains-show the flow of energy from one organism to another
[ ] > [ ] > [ ]
The kids filled in the boxes with Producer, Primary Consumer, Secondary consumer.
We took a few minutes to point out what the arrows mean. I had seen a STAAR question about that and wanted to drive that point home. They DO NOT show you what is eating what. They show the direction of the flow of energy!
Wednesday:
2. Energy Pyramids-show the amount of energy that is transferred from one level to another
We drew an energy pyramid, filled it in with Producer, Primary Consumer, Secondary consumer. We talked about the 10% rule.
To help them visualize it, I separated 500 centimeter cubes into bags. I used the C-scope 10% rule activity sheet as a guideline. I showed how much energy goes to the following:
Unused sunlight 20% (yellow cubes)
Photosynthesis: 30% (green cubes)
Reproduction: 30% (red cubes)
Respiration: 10% (blue cubes)
Stored in body: 10% (passed on to primary consumers) (45 white cubes, 5 black)
We talked about where that 90% energy was going, and how the 10% is what we'd get if a rabbit ate the plant. We then took it one step further.
Now that the rabbit has that energy (50 cubes)...
10% respiration
20% digestion
30% reproduction
30% movement
10% stored (passed onto secondary consumers) (5 cubes left)
The kids were shocked at how much energy is lost along the way!
Thursday
3. Food Webs
We're discussing this tomorrow. After, I plan on having them making a food web poster, using whatever animals and plants they want. I'm going to ask for 2 producers, 3 primary consumers, and 3 secondary consumers, plus 1 decomposer. They must have their web labeled and colored.
They'll finish these up on Friday.
It's 7:30 on a Wednesday and I'm just about ready for bed. Ms. Kat is pooped! And sore from Drill Team practice yesterday = )
Peace, Y'all
Ms. Kat
