September was a month of getting accustomed to new routines and jumping into new curriculum very quickly for fifth grade. In science class, students have witnessed the growth of plants in our aquaponic garden.  The basil is big and healthy.  The lettuce is not as thick but looks quite edible. Students have been learning about writing opinion essays this month and have just completed their first one.  Now they will take on the subject of feeding a world with a growing population and dwindling resources.  Is aquaponics a viable solution?  Students will read about a project in West Virginia that feeds people in poverty with fish and healthy produce grown aquaponically.  They will read about the Netherlands, one of the largest producers of agricultural products in the world with small land resources and a cold climate.  They will consider costs and pros and cons and then write their opinions.  In a world with an exploding population, our young generation needs information to make future choices and direct public policy.  We are happy to be doing this project with our students.

In the outdoor gardens it has been a fun month as well.  Many of our students new to Kingswood were not aware that we have an herb garden.  Imagine when they saw their teacher reach down and stick a leaf in her mouth.  Following was a discussion of the mint, cilantro, parsley, chives, and basil in the garden.  Now, since recess is after  lunch, the students walk by and get an after dinner mint on their way to and from the playground.  We asked students not to pick the peppers since there weren't enough for everyone.  Some who did it anyway gave themselves away when their eyes began to water in math class!! The pepper was a little spicy.  It is fun to see that some of our favorite flavors start in the garden.

The Primary classes have enjoyed watching the construction of a new rain garden outside of their classrooms.  It has been exciting to see the diggers and other equipment transform this area of our school.  The students have also spied the new cistern outside of the media center.  The students were able to note the places where construction has taken place on our maps of the school during our map unit. 

Fourth Grade Goes On a Rock Hunt!

The fourth graders are in the midst of a very exciting Earth Materials Unit. In this unit, students are looking and testing rocks and minerals in order to identify the type of rocks they are observing. Students are also learning different tricks and techniques used in order to classify rocks. 

This week classes went out and looked for rocks in different environments and rocks that have different characteristics. Students found rocks that were made up of different layers and sediments. 

Three Sisters are Blooming!

The second graders have been taking care of our three sisters garden and are happy to report that the plants are growing and blooming! We have planted corn, squash, and beans together strategically to help create an optimum growing environment.

Here you can see one of our squashes growing in the garden.

The students finished the year by taking data and tending to our growing garden.

The 2016-17 year is ending and we have been busy in fifth grade enhancing our outdoor learning areas.  Some 5th graders worked with Randy Senzig digging holes and looking at types of dirt as we get ready to have some wetland areas built around the school this summer.  Students looked at rock and soil as they discussed the placement of the wetlands.

Our final STEM project was building a new hexagonal tree bench after EOGs.  Students had learned how to use geometry to build something that made a perfect hexagon.  Each interior angle was 120 degrees because the total degrees in a hexagon is 720 and there are 6 angles.  The problem was how to cut angles in wood to make the space where there was no wood 120 degrees.  It got fairly complicated but our work with the Harpedonaptae of ancient Egypt helped us figure it out.  Ms. Z cut the wood and students assembled it using power drill, hammer, bolts, washers, nuts and a wrench.  Everyone got to participate in the joy of creation  and the beauty of creating something to leave to future classes to enjoy. 

Garden club celebrated on June 2 with a picnic using lettuce and herbs we grew in the garden.  We had parsley spiced potatoes, salsa with black beans, corn, avocado, and onion, a salad with spinach, arugula, green leaf lettuce, and cucumber, and pesto toast with basil we grew from seed.  The garden will come in more this summer and the staff and neighbors will enjoy the bounty.

Have a great summer!

Planning for the Rain Garden!

After much planning, our school will receive a rain garden over the summer! Our 4th graders spent time over the last 2 weeks working with Mr. Randy Senzig, from The Center for Human Earth Restoration. He taught us about the purpose of a rain garden, and how it might help improve our outdoor space. He led us through activities that helped us analyze our campus and determine the best place for a rain garden. We also learned how to use a compass to navigate! We had a great time learning outdoors! 

S more's of Fun After EOG's

On Friday June 2, Third Grade had camping day. Students took turns reading inside a tent and created folktales that they told around the camp fire. In the afternoon, we discussed the sun's rays and its effect on different colors. Student's created solar ovens out of supplies found in the classroom. 

Creating Hypothesis! S'More

Solar Oven's working hard!

Making changes to our solar ovens! 

                               Discussing how the chocolate melted before the marshmallows!                                                          
                                                      Colors effect the rate of melting! 

                                      

Primary's Plant Update

We loved checking our sunflower seeds each day and watching them sprout. 

Many even had the seed coat stuck to the sprout!

Below you will find our half-eaten pepper plant. At least somebody was able to enjoy them!:)

Worms aren't just for books!

Third grade students LOVED getting dirty creating a habitat for our worms!  We collected organic material from around the schoolyard to create compost bags for our live red worms.  This activity was a fun way to end our Plant and Soil unit in science!

"Souper" Soup Time!

First grade will be enjoying the last week of school with a fresh batch of soup! Yum!

We grew scallions and celery which will be soon be transformed into a bowl of vegetable soup. We had hoped to add some freshly grown potatoes, but they have yet to sprout. 

Our low-carb soup will be the perfect ending to a fabulous year:)

Busy birds!

We've been busy with EOG's in fourth grade, but our Kingswood birds have been busy too! We currently have a "full house" with all of our birdhouses full with nests. So far, we think we've had bluebirds, chickadees and house wrens build nests on our playgrounds.

Our chickadees hatched! We were able to observe them for a couple weeks, until they were big enough to fly and they fledged the nest!

This strange looking nest was in one of our boxes. It was deep, like a cave, and made of all sorts of materials.

Once the eggs were laid, we predicted that this nest belonged to a house wren. We hope to see them hatch soon. 

Second Grade Three Sisters Garden

Second grade is doing a project based learned project based on a Three Sisters Garden. This type of garden, originally used by Native Americans, has three different types of plants that are all planted together strategically to help each other grow.

Mrs. Kelaher's class has planted squash, which has big leaves and provides shade for the roots of all of the plants. Mrs. Black's class has planted beans which provide extra nutrients for all of the plants in the soil. Mrs. McLeod's class has planted corn which provides a stalk for the beans to grow up.

Students are taking care of the garden as well as taking data on the plant's growth. We are excited to see how our plants work together in our garden!

When the weather is warm we take class outside..  In April, 5th grade students solved problems while soaking up the sun on the blacktop.
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The garden club transplanted seedlings the Friday before Spring Break.  Unfortunately after days in the 80s, that Friday turned out cold and windy, not a good day for planting, but the only day available.  Ms. Zeugner watered twice over the break, because, we had no rain.  Not a fortuitous start for our outdoor gardens.  And then, there were the critters.  Our cucumber and squash were eaten, but the spinach is still surviving.

Tomatoes also suffered, and some were bitten off near the ground.  We tried again, with plants from the hydroponics stand near the cafeteria.  Keep your fingers crossed!
Herbs fared better, with cilantro thriving, and partly eaten basil trying to grow.  There are a few chives, one parsley plant, and nasturtiums.
 
During April, students also planted seeds for the aquaponics stand in Ms. Scharen's room.  Each homeroom put plants in the tubes and they began growing well.  They, too, suffered over spring break when a tube came loose, spraying the floor and not the plants.  Ms. Scharen and Ms. Zeugner came in mid-week and repaired the damage.  The lettuce was looking great, basil thriving, and parsley curly and thick.  Then again, a weekend snafu.  The water to the lettuce stopped dripping and we lost that crop.  It is hard running gardens when you can't monitor them every day.

We are learning.  We will put out newspaper to organically keep weeds at bay outside and spread hair collected by a 5th grade parent, to deter the bunnies and squirrels.

Our field trip on April 20th was again a success.  Students traveled to Carolina Beach where they boarded a boat to Masonboro Island.  There, they learned about the tidal ecosystems where crabs thrive along with snails and sea oats.  Students were careful with plastic bags that collected shells, learning that when dropped into the water, they are a great threat to loggerhead turtles that think they are jellyfish.  We saw oyster beds, and jumping dolphins .  We saw the difference in color where the fresh water of the Cape Fear River, meets the salty Atlantic Ocean.  We learned about how sand dunes form.  We collected and sorted shells. We enjoyed  perfect weather, with no threat of storms like last year!  Students also visited the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher and played on the beach.  The water was cold but felt great on hot, tired feet.  Thanks to all who contributed to our trip, especially volunteers who donated in the office, chaperones, and to the PTA for purchasing our pizza. We are loving this event and hope to continue for years to come.

Are you tired of waiting for April the Giraffe?

I don't know about you, but we're beginning to think that April the giraffe is NEVER going to have her baby! BUT, don't worry! Kingswood 4th graders have exciting news:

WE HAVE BLUEBIRD EGGS!

Stay tuned! Fourth grade has given up on April the giraffe, and are now on bluebird watch! 

First Grade Thinks Plants ROCK!

What does first grade want to share about the garden?

How has the garden changed from winter to spring? How does it look?

"When it's winter, some flowers die. They didn't have a lot of water, and it was very cold"

"There are earthworms in the garden now!"

"The garden looks healthy! The soil looks damp."

"The flowers and leaves are getting bigger and everything is starting to grow"

"The garden has been weeded."

"It is ready to start planting."

How do you think we are going to plant?

"We need to give the plants soil and water."

"We will have to make sure the garden has the right temperature to grow."

"We have to make sure it has sun."

"We need some seeds to put in the soil."

"We need to work together."

"We need to water the plants."

"Plants need air."

What Other Things Besides Seeds Do We Need?

We need shovels and our hands.

We need to take care of the garden.

We need plant food.

We need seeds.

We need craft sticks to label the plants.

What do you think about growing a garden from Kitchen Scraps?

"I thought of composting"

"We could use the seeds inside the fruits and vegetables."

"We could try to grow things from the scraps we would normally throw away at home"



Tune in next time to see what happens...

The Weather Outside is Delightful!

This quarter the second grade students have been learning about different types of weather and tools used to measure them with. The students have been analyzing, observing, and testing different aspects of weather and weather tools firsthand. The students observed wind patterns and made observations using bubbles, anemometers and kites. The students also analyzed different types of clouds and how that could help them predict the weather.