Chemistry Unit

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Last Thursday we got to attend a science demonstration put on by Pacific’s Chemistry Club. We learned about acids and bases and got to watch a chemical reaction that created big, foamy elephant toothpaste. This demonstration inspired many questions and observations from our Otters. They wanted to learn more, so we decided to start a unit that would allow students to explore their questions about matter, states of matter, and chemistry. Students began by writing down the questions they had. Then we started researching by reading a book called What Is the World Made Of? We went around the school on a search for different solids, liquids, and gases. We added our findings to our anchor charts. Then we did an experiment with Sprite. We noticed that Sprite is a liquid, but it has small gas bubbles inside the liquid. We made predictions about what would happen when we added raisins to the Sprite. Many of us were surprised to see that after a few moments the raisins began to dance. They went up and then down, and repeated that motion. We did some more research to determine that the CO2 gas bubbles were attaching to the raisins, causing them to be more buoyant. This caused the raisins (with the bubbles attached) to be less dense than the water and they floated up. When the bubbles popped or detached, the raisins became more dense than the water and sank again. Just like adult scientists, throughout this process students made predictions and recorded their findings. Students were excited by their findings and wanted to test different ideas. The next morning we tested what would happen when we added the raisins to hot water (since boiling water contains bubbles, students wondered if those bubbles would also attach to the raisins, causing them to rise through the water). It turns out that the raisins didn’t dance in the water. We also tried adding raisins to regular Coca Cola. We think the raisins were dancing in the Coca Cola, but it was hard to tell because the soda was the same color as the raisins. Our spelling words for this week came from words that teachers noticed misspelled in our scientific writing.

Today we continued our chemistry explorations by making play dough. We talked about the following vocabulary: solution, mixture,  immiscible, solid, liquid, gas, and chemical reaction. We were interested to see that when we mixed the ingredients for play dough it formed a liquid batter. Only after cooking the ingredients did a chemical reaction occur, which resulted in the formation of a solid ball of dough. Students found that they needed to do a lot of math while we were doubling our recipe. We discussed fractions, addition, multiplication, and division concepts. Later in the week we will use our play dough to form volcanoes as we test other chemical reactions.

Meanwhile, on our nature table we have been observing painted lady butterfly eggs. Several eggs have hatched and out popped tiny caterpillars. In our outdoor classroom we’ve been noticing that more tubes in our mason bee house have been plugged with mud. The mason bees must have been busy pollinating plants and laying eggs. Several Otters have been busy planting home gardens and seeds. One of our Otters even made a fairy garden!

Avid Readers

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The last few days we’ve been talking a lot about the habits of good readers. Good readers often carry books along with them on errands so they have something to do while they wait. Our Otter students pull out books to read while waiting in line, while waiting for shows to start, and during choice time. Avid readers often enjoy reading and discussing books with friends. In addition to individual reading time and guided reading groups, our readers also hear multiple read alouds each day. Teachers intentionally select a variety of genres and lengths of text for read alouds. Lately we’ve been focusing on science and history texts. We are loving the important conversations that naturally emerge as we discuss people and places in our history.

To increase our fluency with our math facts, we’ve been playing Knock Out, Clumsy Thief, and Dragonwood. These games encourage students to strategize and think about numbers flexibly, all while increasing their number fluency. This week Otters have also been taking math assessments about a variety of math topics. These paper math assessments will allow teachers to plan targeted, individualized math curriculum for the remainder of the school year. 

During project time this week our artists have been creating three-dimensional flower art. This project was inspired by Morgan- what fun! Other artists are practicing their sketching techniques by drawing stuffed animals and other inanimate objects. Puzzles continue to be a popular center this week as well.

During outside choice time we’ve been practicing our hand-eye coordination as we play OgoSport. We’ve also been fine-tuning our jump roping skills, designing water pathways in the sandbox, and enjoying picnic lunches.

Engineering continues to be a popular activity at all times of day. Here are some of our latest structures…

Honeybee Art

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Here are our (mostly) finished honey bee art pieces. Students demonstrated persistence and patience as they completed this multi-step art project. We used pencils, crayons, and water colors. We discussed art techniques and vocabulary such as in-lining, shading, and dimensionality. We also practiced some of our realistic drawing techniques as we drew the individual honeybees.

La Thunkuna Hopscotch

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Today we learned to play a version of hopscotch called La Thunkuna, which originated in Boliva. Sawyer mastered the game and then taught other students how to play. During classroom choice time student engineers designed a large Rigamajig structure. Our engineers engaged in much debate and problem solving as they determined the best design plan. They are planning to return to working on this structure tomorrow. During writing time today we continued talking about the elements of story. We discussed how to write an interesting setting description. We are working on adding interesting details in our stories. Some of our advanced writers are working on varying their sentence lengths to create a higher quality of writing. Pod 2 learned how to play Banangrams.

Hopscotch Around the World

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This week we started a new reading routine. At the end of Treasured Reading each day, our readers are encouraged to put a book in their backpack to take home for the evening. Then at pickup time, students pull these books out of the backpacks to snag a few extra minutes of individual reading time. Students are invited to take these books home and read them to family members or on their own. We hope this new routine will encourage readers to sneak a few extra minutes of reading into their days and give families an idea of what students are reading at school. When you find yourself waiting for an appointment or stuck in traffic, please encourage your child to pull out his/her book and start reading. We are striving to create the habits of lifelong readers. Students should plan to bring these books to and from school each day when possible. This week we are wrapping up our unit on bees. We learned about some different types of Oregon bees today. We also watched a video of a honeybee hive and observed some of our classroom mason bees in action. We continued working on our honeybee art project too. Last week when we brought out chalk, students immediately began creating hopscotch courses. This week we introduced the book Hopscotch Around the World. We are exploring some different hopscotch games from around the world. Today we learned about how play Pele, which originated in Aruba. We used GoogleEarth to learn more about Aruba. In writer’s workshop this week we are discussing the elements of a story. Students are using a graphic organizer to plan out a story that contains a setting, characters, a problem, and resolution, and main events. During classroom choice time our engineers have been designing interesting structures out of our small wooden planks. In math we are perfecting our ability to tell time down to the minute. Please invite your child to read analog clocks when you come across them.