Our Field Trip to Umstead State Park

Today the first graders took a field trip to explore the woods of Umstead State Park. They went on a hike, played games, explore dirt and soil, and befriended a tree! Here's what they have to say about their experience:

We played games. We played Beetle, Frog, and Hawk.

We got to play in the dirt!

We went hiking.

We explored the dirt.

I learned that the leaves turn into soil.

I learned about the soil.

We dug holes in the ground.

We learned that trees give us oxygen.

We met a tree.

We learned that there is clay underground.

We got to explore the trees.

We were able to touch worms.

We saw worms.

We guessed what tree we met.

We found clay.

We actually got blindfolded then we hugged a tree.

We got to know that the more wide a tree is the older it is.

The soil was kind of like clay.

We touched the worms.

This was my first time riding a bus.

We played Bat and Moth.

We saw millipedes.

We played a game called Fire.

The worms looked like they were dead... but they weren't!

We explored part of the woods.

We used our "deer ears" to listen to nature.

There was a bird's nest.

We went on a hike.

We saw a centipede that was moving all around. It did not want to be picked up.

I dug a millipede out of the ground.

We got to look around and we got to hear lots of things in nature.

We dug in the dirt.

OUR FIELD TRIP WAS AWESOME!!!!!!

In third grade, students have been charting growth and comparing and contrasting our classroom plants!  Broccoli fans will be pleased to hear that broccoli is in the lead.  By far, our broccoli plants both inside the classroom and outside in the greenhouse is growing much more than our lettuce and pansies.  Check back for more updates soon!

Primary Onion Plant Update

The Primary classes have been using all their senses and what they have learned about being a scientist to observe the seeds we planted.  Our first observations were how small onion seeds are.  We compared the onion seeds to other types of seeds that the children brought in: apple, avocado, orange, sunflower, corn, pumpkin and pear.  The onion seeds were the smallest.

                                                               ^^^ Observing seeds ^^^

We observed the soil using all our senses (except taste).  We planted our seeds in a variety of settings.  The seeds we planted outside and inside grew about a half an inch in one week!  They are now standing 2 inches tall.  The seeds we planted in the greenhouse struggled due to the heat.

                                                                     ^^^ Inside ^^^

^^^ Outside ^^^

We are looking forward to seeing how big our plants will be next month.  We are predicting that if our plants survive, they might have an onion forming under the soil.  

From Fish to Dish update

5^th grade students are watching aquaponics in Ms. Smith’s classroom.  They planted lettuce in peat pods in October and moved the seedlings to the aquaponics towers in November.  Most of the lettuce is thriving, drawing water from the goldfish tank underneath.  The plant water is fertilized by the fish waste and is then filtered and cleaned as it runs through the wicking and pods in the tower.  A few plants have withered and the water was adjusted, but most are growing.  We have also discussed whether natural light would be helpful in increasing growth since so far, the towers have received light from indoor plant lights only. Students think it’s cool that we aren’t using a lot of water, but just recycling the same water.  Students are researching the benefits of aquaponics in writing class and will be writing persuasive arguments for or against this modern farming technique, which, if successful, holds promise for feeding people in areas with small land and water resources.

5^th grade students are watching aquaponics in Ms. Smith’s classroom.  They planted lettuce in peat pods in October and moved the seedlings to the aquaponics towers in November.  Most of the lettuce is thriving, drawing water from the goldfish tank underneath.  The plant water is fertilized by the fish waste and is then filtered and cleaned as it runs through the wicking and pods in the tower.  A few plants have withered and the water was adjusted, but most are growing.  We have also discussed whether natural light would be helpful in increasing growth since so far, the towers have received light from indoor plant lights only. Students think it’s cool that we aren’t using a lot of water, but just recycling the same water.  Students are researching the benefits of aquaponics in writing class and will be writing persuasive arguments for or against this modern farming technique, which, if successful, holds promise for feeding people in areas with small land and water resources.

Second grade growing greenery

Second grade has had some successes and some failures when it comes to growing greenery! Some have grown and lived and some have not been so lucky. Some have decided not to grow at all. But we learn from it all! We are watching our plants closely, making sure they get what they need to grow healthy and strong. We are beginning to learn about weather and will be investigating how weather affects plant growth....hopefully we will continue to have more successes! Here we are checking the growth of our plants. Looking good!

Engineering Bird's Nests!

Today during their STEM special, Ms. E's class learned about how birds build nests. We then went outside to engineer our own! We all had jobs and did our best to help our team. We are learning how to collaborate and listen to everyone's ideas in our group :)