{Nocturnal Madness}

Our Nocturnal Animals Unit is one of my favorite units of the year! The students were greeted like this the morning our unit began!

We had a lot of fun learning by flashlight this week!

 We researched bats and owls together and learned how to pull facts from informational texts. We dissected owl pellets to learn more about the interesting creatures!

 The students ended our unit by conducting their own nocturnal animal research and creating a Google Slide to share their learning. Check these out below:

  

{Happy Halloween}

The Twosies had a great time celebrating Halloween at school!

Here we are getting ready for the Storybook Character Parade...

All of the second grade teachers were one of the Splat characters!

We also celebrated with a STEAM Challenge! The students had to design a  Critter Catcher that would catch and hold the largest amount of creepy crawlies.

Here is the winning design:

It held 40 critters!!

{Coaster Challenge}

Whoo hoo! Energy and Forces is one of my favorite units of the year! 

The Twosies learned that heat, light, sound, and motion are all forms of energy. We experimented with the energy of the sun with solar ovens.

We made s'mores! They sure were yummy!

To study forces, we looked closely at roller coasters! 

We began by collecting some data from our class mates. Have you ever ridden a roller coaster?

 

 We then represented our data and discussed our results. Most of Mrs. Hilley's class has ridden a roller coaster!

For those that hadn't ridden a roller coaster...we went on a virtual ride!!!

Ahhh!!!

We then explored the history and workings of roller coasters. After lots of experimenting with ramps at different heights and cars on different surfaces, we felt prepared to take on the Roller Coaster Challenge! Using pool noodles and duct tape, students had to create a roller coaster track that would carry a marble through a loop without falling off! Check out the video and pictures of our hard work: