Goodbye, Butterfly

It often takes a while for any important occasion to take place.  This was true for the release of the butterflies flying from Ms. Hicks' first grade classroom into their new outside home.

While they were waiting, the kids reflected upon how they felt about saying goodbye.

"I'm happy," said Adam, "because the butterflies are going to find a whole new world out there."

"I'm happy and sad," said his friend.  "Sad because I wanted them to stay with us, but happy because this means they can go make other butterfly friends."

 

Finally it was time.

Songs were sung.

"Caterpillar, caterpillar, what do you say?

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle all of the day!"

Dances were danced and then...

Good wishes and butterfly-decorated noisemakers sent the butterflies on their way.

In a moment, they were gone. 

We Read, We See, We Learn

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Ms. Hick's first grade class has been studying the life cycle of the butterfly.  

Just is case this is new to you, it starts with a butterfly laying eggs, which eventually hatch into caterpillars.  The caterpillars eat and grow.  When it's time for them to transform, they they spin a chrysalis around themselves to stay protected.  Finally the new butterfly breaks out into the world of sun, flowers, food, and more butterflies.  

The kids learned about this marvelous transformation in many ways.  They read about it, of course.  Ms. Hicks explained the facts. They also experienced the best kind of learning.  They watched the process with their own eyes!

They had a butterfly garden.

They could watch the caterpillars eat and grow.

 

They could see the caterpillars spin their protective sacs.  They also got to see them hatch!

What's next?

Inch by Inch

The Garden Song starts with the chorus: 
"Inch by inch, row by row,
Gonna make this garden grow."

Learning works much the same way.  A new idea or lesson or observation builds upon the last, then another and another.  That's how we learn and acquire knowledge.  Ironically the way Ms. Hicks' first grade class applied this type of learning has been with plants and gardens.

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First they explored their senses.  One thing they thought about is how they can use all their senses to learn about something.

Smelling beautiful scents and seeing bright colors is a plus, especially when your next science unit is about plants.  Of course, it's also important to learn how plants get the energy and nutrients they need to grow.

The kids' senses came into play again as their unit moved to learning about water and watched different ways that it moves.  Grownups might think of these processes as the hydrologic cycle and osmosis; those words are fine, too.

Then it was time to put all these ideas and lessons together and into action--a test, an experiment.  The kids put one group of white flowers into a cup of regular water just to see what would happen to the flowers normally (that's called a control group).  They put other white flowers into cups of water tinted by food coloring. WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN?

  

THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!

The kids wrote up their observations.  After all, that's what scientists do.    

We Can, Common Core

Today, it's time to report on Ms. Leverett-King's first grade class and its adventures with Common Core.  For those who don't know, Common Core State Standards are the new guidelines for what students should learn and when.  

Ms. Leverett-King's class has tackled Standard RI.1.9: Identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).  This standard is for nonfiction or informational texts and the subject they chose was a first grade favorite--dinosaurs.

Remember, you can click on any picture to enlarge it.

After reading about two dinos, the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Triceratops, the class started brainstorming about how the two animals were different and what they shared in common.

Ms. Leverett-King got them ready to write up their findings by writing helpful compare-and-contrast words on the board, such as, "but," and "and" along with phrases like, "Although they are different, in many ways they are the same.  

What ways?  Let's see some examples:

Eliana preferred to stress the two dinosaurs' differences on one page and...

their similarities on another.

Jaylen took the same two-page approach, but organized it differently.

 

While Jasmine managed to get a little bit of both on one page.  

There are many ways to compare and contrast!

How Do You Learn?

The answer is: Be curious; ask questions. That is how the kindergarten started their science unit on animals.    

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So what do inquiring young minds want to learn about animals and their behavior?  Here are just a few examples:

 

The Worm Farm: Learning by Looking

"Today we are doing an interesting experiment," explained Ms. Flaherty, our head worm farmer.  We are going to see how much we can learn just by observing.  Does anybody know what that means?"

"Looking," offered one of the kindergarteners in Ms. Breneus's class, and she was exactly right.

Before the kids took an up-close-and-personal look at the red wiggler worms in their worm farm, Ms. Flaherty read them a book to explain more about what they would be looking at.  The kids learned that worms have no eyes, no ears, no legs, no arms, no lungs, but that they are still very well suited to live their lives digging through soil.  Or, in our classroom, digging through coffee grounds and wet newspaper.  

Instead of legs, they have bristles on each segment of their bodies that help them move. Ms. Flaherty moved a Slinky to show them how having so many segments lets the worm turn and maneuver.

The kids already knew that worms need to stay moist.  So they each sprayed a piece of paper towel to get ready for their temporary guest. 

Then they each got a worm and a piece of apple.  Since the red wigglers love apple peels, the kids wanted to see if they would wiggle their way in the apple's direction.

Then it was time for each student to do exactly what scientists do. They learned by looking. The observations came fast and furious.

"Mine is a real wiggler."

"Mine is hungry.  It's moving toward the apple."

"The bristles are so tiny!"

"Mine is staying in the coffee dirt.  Maybe it's scared."

"It's so soft," says one scientist, carefully touching his worm."

"Mine loves its worm tunnel," said another, "but he didn't stop to eat some.  Why?"

That's science for you: It raises as many questions as it answers.

The Worm Farm: Paying a House Call

It's been a while since the red wiggler worms set up housekeeping in Ms. Breneus's kindergarten classroom.  In fact it was time for our gardening expert Ms. Flaherty to check in on them, to make sure they had everything they needed to be healthy and as happy as worms can be.

Off came the cover, so Ms. Flaherty could look at the wigglers.  She wasn't the only one who was curious.  The worms seemed to be okay; they were indeed wiggling.

One boy asked to hold a worm.  He had to learn to be gentle and not squeeze.  

He enjoyed it so much that Ms. Flaherty decided all the kids should have a chance.  Next week, she'll come and the kids will get to look closely at the worms like scientists and learn through observation.  Maybe we can bring some magnifying glasses so they can really get a good peek.

Ms. Flaherty explained that we didn't want the paper to dry out--or, the worms either.  So each student who wanted to could spritz the paper one, two, three times.

As Ms. Flaherty circled the room giving the kids turns, other students drew pictures of their new class pets.  Here is Emanuel's.

Brianna did a fine job too.

Fishing for More Knowledge

As you might remember, Ms. Harden's fourth grade class went to the New England Aquarium. You can read about their partnership with the aquarium and their visit here.



















While they were there, the kids had an assignment to study the animals in the Boulder Reef Exhibit. They were supposed to think about the kind of living place (habitat) the animals had. Then they each had to pick one of the creatures and write about how it was suited to live its life in that environment.

Time was short, however, and there were rays to pet and penguins to watch. Luckily Jessica, the educator from aquarium, had a date to come to the Perkins to continue discussing habitat and adaptations.

There, the kids had a chance to talk about the observations they had written down. Here are some examples of their work:

































































































Jessica had a chance to talk about many of the adaptations the kids mentioned. She also added a few more of her own.

To the blogmaster, author-in residence Susan E. Goodman, one of the best parts of the assignment was having the kids write down questions THEY had at the bottom of the page. In the case of--

Renny: How fast does this animal (seastar) move?

Isabel: Why do fish get scared when you tap the glass?

Shakira: Why do the (seastar's) suction cups look macaroni?

Curiosity is great. How else do you learn? Questions are great. How else do you learn? You can be sure that most discoveries made by scientists began with questions they wanted to answer!

The kids will be answering these questions and more when the next part of their scientific adventure begins--WRITING THEIR OWN CLASS BOOK ABOUT AQUATIC ANIMALS AND THEIR ADAPTATIONS.

Fishing for Knowledge at the Aquarium

The Perkins School now has a partnership with the New England Aquarium. And, Ms. Harden's fourth grade class is learning about animal adaptations--aquatic animals, that is. Jessica, an Aquarium educator, has already visited the Perkins, bringing some animals into the classroom.

Last week, it was the fourth grade's turn to visit her--along with everything else at the Aquarium from 80-year-old, 500-pound Myrtle the Turtle to the most beautiful seastars.

Before the kids went in, they got some ground rules: Don't drop anything in the water; after all, gum can get stuck on a seal's coat. And, don't tap the glass. It scares the fish!

Then Mrs. Harden added, "Make sure you look a as well. In fact, each of you will have to come back and report on two things that you never knew before."



















Just two!?! The kids set off in small groups with teachers and chaperones and learned something new just about every minute! Ms. Harden's group went to see the seals first, reading signs about each one and then picking them out in the pool. Cordova makes yelling sounds.



















Isaac can't see so well. Nevertheless, he manages to see a trainer's signal and do the trick that gets him a fish!


Another group stared for a long time at the leafy seadragon exhibit. It takes a while to realize that the seaweed is actually a seahorse.

"What is that animal's adaptation?" the chaperone asks. "Camouflage!" the kids answer.

The seadragon was something new, but not the idea of camouflage. Since the kids had been studying adaptations, they know that all living things have special things about them that help them fit into their worlds.

They learned even more about the subject when they visited the Boulder Reef Exhibit. There, Jessica asked them to act like scientists as they looked at the tank of creatures. Then they filled out a paper with their thoughts about how the bodies and actions of these animals helped them live on the reef.
























Some of our kids learned that cownose rays and little bonnethead sharks liked to be petted. That's probably not an adaptation, but it is a fun activity for fish and kids alike.

"I was surprised," said one girl, describing her reaction to touching the ray. "It feels so soft--and a little greasy."



















Azaryah wasn't as interested in touching the fish. She had a favorite spot, scrunching down to watch them eye-to-eye. "It's more fun," she explained. I can see them better and actually watch what they are up to down there."

Good for her, that's just what scientists do.