Scientists Record!

Today we recorded what living things need to survive in our Science Journals. We discussed our findings in regards to our big question "How can we help the living things at Spencer School survive?" and, using our journal recording, narrowed it down to food. We have evidence that Spencer has shelter from our hike, air that we all breath, and water from our expert. Take a look at these science as they record their findings and discuss with their partners!

We heard from an EXPERT today!

Our scientists have learned that there are many ways to research, investigate and look for answers to questions. Everyone was very familiar with using a computer, tablet, google, Alexa and phones. We also figured out that you can get information from nonfiction texts OR we can ask an expert! We are so lucky that today Eli's dad, Ranger Andy, came to answer some of our questions about how we can help animals survive!
Our main question revolved around the berries we found on our hike:
Are they poisonous to animals or humans?
Ranger Andy told us that yes, they are poisonous to humans but not to animals. He did say they are an invasive species and we might want to think about asking Mr. Renner about cutting them back and planting more plants that can help feed the animals in winter.
Here you see him explaining to us:

We are so lucky!

Combinations of ten

Today our mathematicians worked with different color bears to come up with various combinations that add up to ten. They worked with partners. One partner would pick a number card and put that many bears on their "bus". The next person would then figure out how many more bears were needed to make ten and put their different color bears on the bus. They then recorded their work on a paper that you will see come home today.

This is an easy enough game to play at home! You can use pennies and dimes. One person gets ten pennies and one gets ten dimes. Pick a number card 1-10 and put that many pennies out. Then the other person figures out how many dimes need to be added to equal ten coins all together!

Mathematicians Study Weight

This week mathematicians worked with balances to study weight. We talked about how to tell which objects were heavier and which were lighter. We also tried to "weigh" objects using bears. For example, a ruler is as heavy as three bears. Mathematicians noticed that when weights were equal, the scales were perfectly horizontal. I was very impressed as I watched them discuss their thinking! I love when there is such an excitement and "buzz" around the room during math!

Hike to look for Food

Well, we know that Spencer school has a lot of shelter, and when we went on our walk we saw some berries. We know that animals eat berries, but we weren't sure if this is a type they would eat. We added this question to our "Wonder" column in our chart.
Here a the first picture of our discovery of berries several weeks ago:

Notice all the berries in the background as well. We went back today to see if the berries would still be plentiful enough to sustain the animals all winter.

Here is what we found:

They are gone!!

We found that some trees along the path had berries still though:

We predict, when we return, they will be gone. Therefore, our answer is that there is not enough food around Spencer School for the animals to survive.

We then looked for water:

A frozen pond in the outdoor classroom!

More questions arise-- How can they get the water when it is frozen??

We have some research to do!

Check out the additions to our chart:

Science is the best!

Hike to Find Shelter

In order to answer our question:
"How can we help the living things at Spencer School survive?", we needed to see what the grounds already provided.
Scientists hiked to the Evergreen Forest and used their science eyes to make discoveries.

Ask your learners about these pictures!

What do living things need to survive "Chalk Talk"

Scientists used a thinking routine called "CHALK TALK" to record what we've learned so far about living things. This is a process in which thinkers answer a question without talking to each other about their thinking. After a few minutes, the groups shared out their thinking to the whole group.

I love watching them work this way!!

Scientists Begin Studying Living Things

We have a new "driving question" in the Fawn Room!

"How can we help the living things at Spencer School survive?"

In order to answer this question, we first had to think about what it means to be a living thing.

I sent scientists to record what they already knew:

We looked closely at the poster you see on the bottom of our chart.
I couldn't believe what they came up with! We took all their thoughts and put them together to come up with the ideas that animals need food, water, shelter, and air to survive. Some friends also agreed we must add that animals need to have a heart as well :-)

We then did some research:

We sorted some pictures:

We discovered that all living things move, breath, eat, grow and drink

Thinking and Learning Time Week of January 7

These learners are working to write words with three sounds (CVC - consonant/vowel/consonant). Ask your child to read you their words when they come home. If they have not finished, you can work at home to see what they can do!

These writers are working on unscrambling and writing a sentence. This is great work as it encourages our thinkers to look for the first word by noticing the uppercase letter and to fine the last word that has the punctuation.  We are also working hard on handwriting and forming the letters correctly.

These thinkers learn more about what animals need to survive using the "Pebble Go" ap on the ipad.

Readers also worked to match the pictures to the color words in this little book. After coloring, our thinkers went on to read the book using all of their reading SUPERPOWERS.

When our learners complete their work they can always look at books!

Ask your Fawn Friend about their week so far!