Mystery Box

Today I introduced the "Mystery Box" in my classroom. I like to call it the "I Wonder...Box." I placed an unknown object in the box related to something we have been talking about in class. The students sit in a circle and pass the box from person to person. When a student is in possession of the box they can shake it and move it around. Then they must ask me one yes or no question about the object. This helps the students gather more clues in order to identify the unknown object. If the object is not guessed the mystery box goes around the circle again and students are allowed to add the sense of touch. Again asking yes or no questions. If the object makes it all the way around the circle again without being identified, I give additional clues.

The children did not guess the exact object, but they asked great questions. They deductedthe object was a seed that would grow a tree, so they were very close. The object was an avocado pit.

Next we watched a "How To Plant an Avocado Seed" video, we followed the steps and put the avocado in our science center with our sunflower plants. Last week we read, "Frog and Toad Together." The characters Frog and Toad grew gardens. We planted sunflower seeds February 11th. The students have been observing the seeds daily and recording their observations in a science journal. Most of the seeds sprouted within seven days.

 

At the end of the day, I told the class we needed ladybugs for our garden. We went outside to observe hundreds of little yellow creatures crawling all over our milkweed plant. I put a leaf full of creatures under a magnifying glass for students to observe more closely. Then, I read them a book called, "Are You A Ladybug?" to see if the information in the book would help them figure out why I made the statement that we need ladybugs. One of my students knew right away. He said because ladybugs eat aphids. This same student made a connection with another book called, "A Very Hungry Caterpillar," because a caterpillar eats, grows and sheds like a ladybug. So we talked about life cycles and metamorphosis. Which led to another book connection, our reading text this week was called, "I'm a Caterpillar."

 

One of my students told me we didn't need ladybugs that we could just spray the plants with soapy water. I asked him how he knew this. He told me his dad was putting soap on their plants at home and he asked his dad why he was putting soap on the plants. His father told him that soap gets rid of the bugs, but does not harm the plants. So, here these boys are spraying the plant with soapy water. We shall see what happens. During this conversation we talked about pesticides and how people should "go green" and use less harmful ways of getting rid of pests. One student asked why do people use pesticides in the first place if it harms animals and our water. That led to a conversation about needs and wants; supply and demand; and GREED (money). I'd like to point out we did not do any worksheets or write any papers, but we certainly had a rich discussion.

 

Next we looked at the aphids under a microscope. We ended our day comparing and contrasting how aphids look under a magnifying glass and under a microscope.

Don't Feed the Neigh-BEAR-hood!

As mentioned in an earlier post in January, my class is planning a community service learning project. They have chosen to advocate for Florida Black Bears.

 

Early in the bear project planning stages, the students decided they wanted to make garbage can stickers to remind people not to feed bears. I researched cost of producing stickers. In order to do that I had to play around with some sticker ideas on the internet. In the mean time a parent informed me she has a machine that makes vinyl stickers. She took a PDF I had made and produced a sticker prototype. Here she is demonstrating putting the sticker on our classroom garbage can. The first thing the children realized was that the sticker was the same color as our large classroom garbage can, so we quickly grabbed a different colored trashcan for the demonstration. Hmmm! something we need to keep in mind for final sticker production. I should mention, the children will design the final garbage can sticker. Which we will be calling a, "garbage can tattoo." During the sticker demonstration, one of my students said, "Look, Ms. Gossett the trashcan has a tattoo!"

 

 

While our class brainstormed bear slogans, this student jotted this slogan in his science  notebook:

Don't Feed the Neigh-BEAR-hood!

The class loved it! So this will be our bear slogan.

 

Here the students are adding their brainstorming ideas to the class "Beary Good Ideas" bear chart.

 

 

 

This student's parent helped us get a large map of our community, so we can plot bear sightings.

This student thought the class Bear Campaign needed a mission statement.

Here's what the students came up with:

We the Neigh-BEAR-hood Watch Kids will protect Florida Black Bears. We will inform others not to feed bears. We will teach people what to do if they see a bear.

 

Our Project Time Line

The students are making t-shirts to wear during events. Each student learned how to use a stencil.

So serious.

 

Here is a completed shirt.

Upcoming Events:

On March 6th a bear biologist is coming to our classroom to teach us about Florida Black Bears. Check this story out:
Biologist Shares Experience of Tracking a Black Bear- Explorer's Journal
.

On March 7th we are taking a field trip to Hardee County Wildlife Refuge in Zolfo Springs.


The students' first event will be held on March 27th at Cracker Trail Elementary's Annual PTO Hoedown, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Come on down to the Neigh-BEAR-hood Watch Kids booth to learn about Florida Black bears and decorate a cupcake to look like a bear.

Black Bears, Black Bear Pictures, Black Bear Facts - National Geographic

Read all about Black Bears!

Black Bears, Black Bear Pictures, Black Bear Facts - National Geographic

Biologist Shares Experience of Tracking a Black Bear- Explorer's Journal

Valentine's Day Parfaits

In place of a Valentine Party with of a ton of Valentine Goodies (JUNK FOOD), my class made Strawberry Parfaits which are kind of like Strawberry Triffles. The students cut up Twinkies and strawberries and layered them in tall  transparent cups. Then they topped the parfaits off with whipped cream and Valentine sprinkles.

Sunflowers for Songbirds

In our reading book we read the story, "Frog and Toad Together." Frog has a garden and Toad wants one too, so Frog gives Toad some seeds. Toad is very impatient and demands that his seeds grow. Frog comes along and tells him he must be patient and wait. Toad reads and plays music for his seeds, then eventually falls asleep. When he wakes up he is pleasantly surprised to find that his seeds have sprouted.

 

 

Here the children are planting sunflower seeds.

 

Our seeds sprouted a week later.

 

 

The students record oservations about their sunflowers in a science journal. Today they measured their plants using cubes a non-standard of measurement. In a few weeks we will be learning about measurement in math. This hands-on activity is great for building background knowledge.

 

Friday Celebrations

Today began like every other Friday. My students took their weekly spelling and reading test. However, the rest of the day was one BIG celebration. My class was the top class for Box Top collecting for January, so we won a "Cookies and Hot Chocolate" party.

 

In the afternoon, we cooked as usual, but instead of me teaching a birthday student and her grandma lead the class in a sequencing cooking lesson. Students built edible snowmen step by step.

 

 

 

I think this look tells all!