Salmon Temperature Units
/This week we were immersed in the world of salmon. Each day students diligently checked on our salmon eggs and used their mathematical skills to calculate the daily temperature units. We've been keeping a record of daily temperature units and accumulated temperature units. Our salmon eggs have received approximately 790 temperature units and they typically hatch when they've received a cumulative total of 850-900 temperature units. Our second grade math group worked to determine an approximate hatching date of November 23-27. We are crossing our fingers that some will hatch before we leave for Thanksgiving break. Our first grade math group has been participating in a math workshop involving calculating various equations involving double addition facts (2+2=4, 9+9=18, 9000+9000=1800, etc. The sky is the limit!). These mathematicians created a number line for our classroom wall that we can refer to as needed. Ms. Ren joins us on Wednesdays for mathematical explorations and this week we worked to solve a logic puzzle involving fire stations. In Writer's workshop this week we learned how to conduct research and take notes. We read books and took notes about the egg stage of salmon development. Then students used their notes to write the first page in their nonfiction salmon books. During writer's workshop we also designed posters and fliers for our can food drive. This week we read a book called The Story of Ruby Bridges and discussed how Ruby might have felt being the only black child in a white school. We imagined how it would feel to have angry crowds yelling and jeering at you simply because you wanted to attend school. We also finished our Boxcar Children read aloud. At project time this week students chose from a variety of options. Several students created tape art flags and paintings. Others were excited to try our new engineering set called Turing Tumble. Still other students used a recipe to create slime and then modified that recipe to make their slime even better. Students continue to make interesting discoveries in our outdoor classroom and students have been holding “art auctions” during out outside choice time. Today we walked to the library to choose new books.
