{Digital Animals}

The Twosies worked this week on inventing an animal and creating a digital representation. Their animal had to fit all the characteristics of a certain animal kingdom. Check out their creations below!

{Peeps, Peeps, PEEPS!}

We experimented with applying heat to Peeps to change the state of the marshmallow. After melting, we added powdered sugar and oil to mix our Peeps into playdough...that we could EAT! Super messy. Super fun. Super yummy!

Mixing...

...molding...

...eating!!!

{Animal CSI}

Dun, dun, dun!! Somebody (or something) kidnapped our class jaguar last week! 

The Ransom Note

Thank goodness some bystanders saw four suspicious animals around our classroom and passed along the information to me! We were then able to research our four suspects to get as much information as we could about them. The four suspects were a black bear, wolf, moose, and grizzly bear.

Conducting Research

The next day, the Crime Scene Investigation: Animal Division dropped off some evidence they had collected.

The evidence envelope included the following clues:

The Twosies were then able to analyze the evidence and compare the clues with their suspect research. They narrowed the suspect list down clue by clue and finally determined that the culprit was...the grizzly bear!

The suspect was later apprehended and the jaguar was safely returned to our classroom! CSI: Animal Division wins again!! 

{What is a Veterinarian?}

Dr. Ekman visited our classroom to tell us all about the job of a veterinarian! She showed us how she performs an exam, makes a diagnosis, and prescribes medication. Dr. Ekman also talked to us about taking x-rays. I think our favorite part was looking at x-rays of animals that had eaten some of the craziest things. Some dogs and cats had eaten tennis balls, fish hooks, a sewing needle, pacifiers, and even a plastic dinosaur!!!

Dr. Ekman and her assistant Molly

At the end of her presentation, Dr. Ekman gave all of the Twosies some of their very own veterinary tools. They all received a scrub cap, surgical mask, and a set of latex gloves.

Getting geared up!

Thank you Dr. Ekman

{Natural Disasters}

We demonstrated our learning of Natural Disasters by creating meteorologist reports of 6 different natural disasters! 

Each report had to include:

 -where the natural disaster could occur
-how it forms
-an interesting fact
-its appearance
-effects on land, animals, or plants
-precautions people should take
-a disaster from history

We used a Green Screen App for the first time called Veescope Live! We uploaded photos and videos to put in place of the green screen while we filmed! Very cool!

This is what our setup looked like:

Here are the final products...

{Questions for a Real Meteorologist}

We sent a list of questions to my cousin, Ashley Miller, who is a meterologist.
Ashley currently works for the NOAA.
She graciously prepared this PowerPoint to answer their questions: 

Meteorologist Questions PowerPoint

Enjoy!

{Argh, Me Mateys!}

Shiver me timbers! What an exciting time me crew had learning about Pirates!

Of course the landlubbers started off by accessing their Pirate Schema.

We then set off on an adventure to scrounge up as much information as we could! We learned about the first pirates, the new world pirates, the golden age pirates, pirate ships, pirate life, pirate treasure, pirate attack, piracy after the golden age, and piracy today. 

Me mateys also researched several famous pirates. 

Yo, ho, yo, ho, a pirate's life for me! The landlubbers then had to batten down the hatches and sail through a pirate narrative writing. Of course, bein' a good cap'n and all, I gave them a map to help them plan for their writing. We worked a lot on a great story starter and using transitional words.

Avast, we ended our study with a Pirate Booty Challenge! The mateys had to build a pirate sloop that would float and then test it to see how much "gold" it would hold. They made adjustments along the way in an effort to allow their ship to hold more gold. 

Well, blow me down! Who knew you could make a ship out of aluminum foil?