Plants

Today we started our plant journal. We will record many things about our plants.  We made a calendar and took an observation of our Brassica plants.  We do have very small plants growing.  We will take observations throughout the growth cycle.

Plants under the grow light.

We also planted some herbs and a tomato plant.  We did this back in mid March.  

Basil, Cilantro and Dill

Cherry Tomato plant

Making our calendar to record information.

Taking our first observation.

Synonyms

We have been talking about synonyms.  Synonyms are two or more words that have the same or similar meanings.  We read a special book about the man who invented the thesaurus, Peter Roget.

We made a list of synonyms and practiced using the thesaurus.  

Today we made synonym flowers.  We cut three hearts for the petals and a circle for the center.  On the center we wrote a word and on the petals we wrote the synonyms.  We glued all of this to a piece of paper and added a stem and petals.  

Banana Results

Today we examined our bananas one last time, took an observation of the inside and outside of the banana and wrote our results section.  We learned a few important things.  Overall, we felt that keeping the banana on the counter or in a cool, dark place was most effective for keeping it fresh.  Ask your child what else we learned about the banana.  All in all, it was a fascinating experiment.

Too hard to cut open.

Day 2 Banana

Today we took another observation of our bananas.   They have changed a bit between the two days and are showing signs of their condition and location for the study.  It is safe to say the banana in the freezer is looking the worst.  It is very brown.    

We will cut open the bananas on the last day to compare the insides for freshness and discuss if they look appetizing.

Observation Day 1

Today was our first observation of our bananas.  We looked at and studied them.  They looked a lot like the did yesterday with the exception of the banana we put in the freezer.

We took notes and drew pictures of our bananas in our journals.  We tried to describe the banana and draw an accurate picture.   Ask your child about his/her banana.

The Great Banana Experiment 2016

Today we started our experiment.  We are being scientists and trying to figure out how to make a banana stay fresh and last a long time.  We talked about making predictions, writing an hypothesis and working as a scientist to observe our banana throughout the week.

We have bananas 1) in the fridge  2) in the freezer  3) on the counter in our classroom  4) in a warm, sunny spot  5) in a cool, dark spot and 6) wrapped in tinfoil.

We will let you know our results!

Being scientists, writing in our journal.

The Red Cup Challenge and Observations

Today we did the Red Cup Challenge!  Teams worked on building a 6 cup pyramid.  Sounds easy...but the challenge was that they could not use their hands.  The only tools they could were the rubber band with string tied to it.  It was really hard!  Teams learned that they needed to have good communication, share equally and listen to ideas in order to be successful.  Ask your child about what they did and learned.  

Almost there - CRASH!

SUCCESS!

We also practiced being good observers.  We talked about how observers takes notes and write about what they see.  They might make some guesses about things, but mostly they describe what they see and not how they feel.  Each team had to observe an everyday object like a bottle of glue or a book.  We shared our observations as a class.  Next week, we will be  doing The great Banana Experiment and will put our skills to good use.