As part of our pumpkin unit, last Tuesday afternoon we dissected the class pumpkin that I got from our trip to the Laity Pumpkin Patch.  I had a bulb / root that had come out of my garden when I was collecting leaves for our Elements of Art lesson a few weeks ago.  So we began by talking about the ways that plants grow – bulbs or seeds.  We talked about the similarities and differences between the two methods. While one is a bulb, and the other a seed, they both are planted in soil and begin by sending roots down into the earth.  The jobs of the roots are to hold the plant securely in place and to suck up water to provide the plant with the means to make food.  Once the plants are ‘grounded’ they send shoots up into the air from which the plants grow.  We have spent a fair bit of time over the past two weeks discussing the process of photosynthesis – the way that plants use water, air, and sunlight to make their own food (glucose).

I had cut the lid off of the pumpkin and then let the students clean it out.  Those students, who wanted to, formed a very productive assembly line which included: some students cleaning out the seeds and pulp; some washing the seeds; and others drying the seeds and putting them onto a cookie sheet.  I baked these after school and left them for the students to have the next day.

The students had all tried the pumpkin pie that I brought into class the day after Thanksgiving so they were interested in seeing the part of the pumpkin that we eat.

Who says that penguins can’t fly??

Students created penguins with loops of construction paper.  They have been flying around our classroom for a few weeks now.

We have been doing research on a variety of (six) penguins with Mrs. Anstee, our librarian.  We began as a whole class learning about the Adelie penguin.  We then divided into 5 groups of 4 students to work on a different penguin (as a group) each week.  These penguins are: the Gentoo, the Galapagos, the Rockhopper, the Little Fairy, and the Chinstrap.  We have two weeks left in our research timeline.  Each week the students have completed a booklet on one of these penguins.

In addition to this research we have created a height chart (with the penguins and the students recorded on it).

Students have enjoyed doing their research and learning about penguins.

Last week we began our science theme of bats.  We began by brainstorming things that we ‘know’ or ‘think that we know’ about bats. All answers were accepted.  We then made a chart of the things that we ‘wonder’ about or want to know.  Over the course of our study we will either prove or disprove the things that we thought we knew while we answer our ‘wonders’ or questions.

We read the story “Stellaluna” and leaned some differences between bats and birds.  We will be pursuing this further this week.

Stay tuned …