Food Chemistry & Plant Guest Speaker
/This week we wrapped up our States of Matter & Chemistry unit with some fun food science activities. We mixed a variety of solid and liquid ingredients to bake rolls. The yeast in the bread created gas, which left air pockets in our fluffy dinner rolls. We also made butter by vigorously shaking heavy cream until the fat molecules clumped together to form butter for our rolls- yum! Students created posters of things that are not considered matter and presented these posters to the class. Some examples of things that are not considered matter are memories, light, heat, rainbows, shadows, reflections, thoughts, and feelings. On Thursday morning Pierce's mom came in to share her vast knowledge of plants with us! She brought in many different types of plants for us to examine, observe, and care for throughout our upcoming plant unit. We discussed how different plants have different needs and require varying amounts of sunlight. Rachel brought in many plants, including succulents, aloe vera, pitcher plants, a rock plant, a thanksgiving cactus, and a venus fly trap, amongst others. She also brought in tickle me plant seeds for students to plant. Next week we’ll start learning about the native plants growing in our cedar classroom and around the Pacific northwest. Throughout our plant unit we will be comparing and contrasting native and nonnative plants and what different plants need to survive. We will also be learning to identify several types of native plants and will be researching the plants in our outdoor classroom. We are so excited about this upcoming unit! In writer's workshop this week students created writing and art pieces depicting our favorite parts of our outdoor classroom. We shared these art and writing pieces with the Brim family, whose generous donations helped build the Brim Family Outdoor Learning Center. On Monday one of our literacy volunteers, Ms. Robin, led us in creating a Kandinsky-inspired collaborative art piece. This week Ava B. also brought in caterpillars for us to raise. Our classroom is teeming with life! Other highlights of the week included time reading with our buddies and examining the insides of a digital camera at our take apart center.
