We are back together again to collect some additional tools for our pedagogical toolbox! We began our lesson with some inquiry about forests, reviewing the different kinds of forests that there are; rain forest, sequoia forest, redwood forest, etc.
We enjoyed some more hands-on science activities with an investigation into tree cookies. A tree cookie is a cross section of a tree, or tree branch, that is about 2-4 inches in diameter. Here are some of the samples we examined:
At our next station we listened to a book on the iPads, The Trees Grin Beside Me. This is a beautifully illustrated book about a girl and the nature around her, trees in particular, and beauty, strength, and peace that there is in both. We wrote a little story about trees at this station.
At the next station we used some of the Project Learning Tree (PLT) activities to continue our exploration of trees, completing a worksheet with the names of the different parts of a tree.
Our last station was to make a personal tree cookie, here is mine:
We've done so much and yet, there is still so much more fun to be had!
We took some time for journalling and started a reflection page on the differences between Linda Vista and Rio Vista. Even though they are very different in SES, in the end kids are kids :)
Now it was time to embark on some new stations and we conducted an investigation into owls. At my first station we discussed owls and started a KWL chart, then we looked up information on the iPads to get the answers to what we wanted to know about them. At the next station we read a book about owls called Owl Moon. In this book a little boy went out "owling" with his Pa. Jenny and Peter did a fine job reading the book for us, especially the "whoo, whoo, whoo, whoot" of the owl!
Then the grand finale.....OWL PELLETS!!
For those that don't know, owl pellets are the undigested parts of what an owl has eaten that has been regurgitated. Fun stuff!
This concluded our Day in the Forest, but it was a perfect companion to our reading for the week about living things. The chapter focus was on living things, growing a seed into a plant and learning about earthworms. The chapter gives great resources to accompany both of these adventures, in print and web based. Additionally, we read a chapter about assessment and the key to matching your assessment to the instruction. In science, most of the assessment types are the same as other areas of study, but keeping a science notebook is an additional way to assess the students learning.
Today was another day of learning how to incorporate the 5 E's into the classrooms that we will one day have. After our lesson we went and taught our third graders (actually Doug & Cherie did the teaching) about Matter, next week it's on to Changes in Matter.
After our class, we all relaxed with a little pizza and conversation then on to....
Family Science Night
Break the Force was the activity that Jessica and I facilitated and we had a steady flow of attendees. It was a fun night and it was fantastic to see the families enjoying the science together!
Whew...it's been a long day!
Leaving you with a quote from Carl Sagan (astronomer and author):
"Science is a way of thinking
much more than it is a body
of knowledge."
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