Nature Walk

Our reading theme in October  was "Nature Walk."  We decided to take a little urban nature walk of our own one Thursday.  The kids and I really enjoyed the cool, crisp fall weather while we looked for leaves, seed pods, pinecones, etc.

Later we sorted the leaves by color, shape, or size.  Then we used them to make art!  What a mess!

Chemisty Class!

We all became scientists last week when we investigated what temperature was best for growing Borax crystals.  The kids used hot, hot water  mixed with Borax until saturated, and I used cold water and room temperature water.

We learned the scientific method of questioning, writing a hypothesis, including all our materials and procedures, and documenting our results.  Our results were beautiful, white or clear, crystals!  Try this easy experiment at home and create gorgeous ornaments for gifts!
Step 1: bend a pipe cleaner into the shape you like.  We tried hearts, candy canes, circles, etc.  Then tie a string to your pipe cleaner.
Step 2: add hot boiling water to a glass jar.  Then, add Borax until it is saturated (can't dissolve anymore!).  Experiment with the amounts of Borax.  Lots of Borax will create soft, fuzzy white crystals.  Just the right amount will create hard, clear crystals.
Step 3:  Suspend your ornament inside the jar.  We just tied ours to pencils and rested them on top of the jars.  Let sit overnight and voila!

What makes us happy

We are planning to coordinate with a local skateboard designer to put our art onto decks!  The theme was "what makes me happy."  Here are a few selections!  Loving the "HMS Titanic!" 

Kids working

Since I haven't had the camera in a while I just figured on sharing some pics of the kids in action, doing daily activites like reading their writing to the class, working in their workbooks, writing or reading.  Enjoy!

Lifescience is a "Hoot"

Biologist Kellen Watson from Klamath Outdoor Science School visited yesterday.  She presented a lesson on owl adaptations that was amazing!  The kids and I were lucky enough to get some hands-on time learning about:*
* different species of owls
* how owls can hear so well (ears that are placed in two different places and can move independently; a face cupped like a satellite dish to catch all sounds)
*how an owl's talon works
*how owls can fly so silently (it's due to the flutes on their wings which help break up air)
*what an owl likes to eat and how the crop/gizzard works
*how far an owl can turn its head (300 degrees!)
* why an owl has to turn its head so far--its eyes are fixed and can't move like ours

Then we got really "hands on" and dug (literally) into some owl pellets from local owls to discover what they had eaten.  Kids practiced identifying and sorting bones, and worked to identify the type of animal found by its skull.  Then, they glued their bones onto black paper by type.  Come by and see them in the hall when you have a chance.  What a fabulous experience!   Thank you Kellen!

November Art

The lost camera has been found!  I can get back to taking pictures of the kiddos in action!  During November we read "Owl Moon" in our HM reader, and we really loved the cold, dark illustrations that won the Caldecott Award.  We practiced mixing mediums by drawing trees and people with oil pastels, and then painting over the pastel with a real wet wash of dark watercolor.  We talked about how we felt when we read the poem, and the overall mood the kids came up with was cold and calm.  I totally agree!

We also made bean art by gluing beans onto outlines of turkeys or corn.  We worked on making a pattern in our pictures.  This was such an awesome project for those tactile learners!  The beans just feel so neat and smooth after they are glued.  The class LOVED this one!