Second grade biologists are taking this question through the scientific process. We made our hypotheses and now we are waiting to see what happens. Be sure to check back!

One week later, we observed that the grapes were slightly smaller and had lines on them. Why do you think that happened?

My kindergarten scientists have been studying the farm. After a lesson about the parts of a corn stalk and an ear of corn (cob, kernel, silk, and husk), we shucked an ear of corn, removed the kernels, and broke the cob in half to look at the inside.

Then we put on our goggles and moved to the lab tables for an experiment. We poured 1 cup of vinegar from the beaker into a jar filled with two cups of water. Next we added corn kernels. The kernels dropped to the bottom of the jar. Then we added 1 T of baking soda and we couldn’t believe what happened next! After the “explosion”, the kernels rose to the top, but moved up and down with the bubbles because the reaction created a gas- carbon dioxide.

Fourth graders found this luna moth caterpillar during recess and couldn’t wait to show it to me. We returned it to a tree and were amazed at how quickly it was camouflaged by its surroundings.

You have to finger paint when you are learning about the sense of touch! Objects are classified by their texture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we finished using the cold, squishy, slimy finger paint, we took a print of our favorite design.

All of my scientists look forward to observing our lab animals! It isn’t often that I catch all three frogs together. Yoda is usually hidden away during the day. As soon as I took this picture, he disappeared.

Jabba likes to go for a swim.

Uno, a Pekin duck, and Percy, a silver appleyard, live in the retention pond behind school. They were hatched in the lab and cannot fly. We had some visiting mallards last week. Our ducks were not very welcoming, and they didn’t stay long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squirt loves to sunbathe- just one “toe” in the water!

Our tadpole’s front legs appeared last week. On Sunday, he still had a long tail, but today it turned black and has almost disappeared. He is also using his new lungs to breathe.

After we returned from our days off because of the hurricane, my youngest scientists discovered nearly perfect circles of “white dots” on the playground. They were very curious about what they might be and started thinking like scientists. Not certain, but I think it is lichen.

I saw these unusual mushrooms on the other side of the pond when I was feeding our ducks.

Our campus is like working in a nature center! We are very blessed to have such a beautiful place in which to learn and explore.

Although, we weren’t able to test our original hypothesis, my fourth grade biologists learned more about mold (a living organism) through this experiment. They were thinking like scientists as they made observations and thought of future testable questions about mold growth.

My older scientists and I have been learning about hurricanes. Click here to watch a video about hurricanes.

Jabba is a white dumpy tree frog (indigenous to Australia) and Luke is a Georgia green tree frog. It is not recommended to put different species of frogs together, but when these frogs were donated to my classroom, they were already in the same habitat and the best of friends!