Wednesday, November 21st was an official Oreo cookie day for the students of Mrs. Goucher’s class. We learned some interesting facts about the Oreo cookie, like the Golden Gate Bridge is 28,000 Oreo cookies long. Interesting….
We also estimated how many cookies were in a package of Oreo cookies. Our guesses ranged from 14-58 cookies. Did you know that a package of Oreo cookies has 39 cookies in it?
Next, we estimated how many Oreo cookies we could stack on top of each other. Many students predicted from 21-30 cookies. The most we were able to stack was 29. The least stacked was 7.
Finally, we made turkeys out of Oreo cookies, Whoppers, M&M’s, candy corns, and frosting. Check out the pictures from our amazing day!!!
Project feederwatch started at our school last year. This year was Mrs. Goucher’s and Mrs. fraher’s 2nd year of doing Project feederwatch. Project Feederwatch is a project with Cornell University. Both of our classes watch birds and keep track of which birds we see. Throughout the whole project we would hang up different bird feeders in different areas. Sometimes we can go outside and take pictures of the birds on our feeders. Now, Here’s what happened at our bird bash.
Talking about birdy things, we recently had a Bird Bash in the 3rd and 4th grade halls of Peralta Trails Elementary School. It had 13 different centers. Mrs.Goucher and 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Fraher thought it would be a good way to introduce the Cornell University project called Project Feederwatch. Everything had to do with birds, art, creativity, a nature walk, and a kick from brain power. We even got to get videotaped and ask a question about birds, those questions would be sent to A.S.U students to answer.
One station is pinecone birdfeeders. What we did was spread peanut butter on a pine cone, then we spread it around in a little put it in a pan of bird seed and it sticks on. When it is all done we put them out by the bird feeders, which are in the wash that we can see out of our classroom windows.
Another station is making a collage. Mrs. fraher drew some birds and cacti on a large piece of paper. She also cut up some magazines. We glued pieces of the magazine on the piece of paper.
Another station is drawing bird sketches. There are pieces of paper on a desk for students to use to create their sketches. There were also examples of professional bird sketches. We could draw a landscape but mostly just a bird. That was the bird sketching.
Another station is Ask A Biologist. Somebody would hold an ipod and record a question that you would like to say about birds. Your question would have to be specific. It was kind of like an interview.
Another station is Bird Sounds, There is a big book of bird sounds. It is called a bird bible. You can type a number one through nine hundred ninety nine. when you press it, you hear a bird sound. When you hear the bird sound, you have to guess what the bird is.
One of the other stations at the bird bash was clay heads. At clay heads you had to chose from different birds to make them into a clay head. Then you choose a clay color and start sculpting. And when you were done you could take it home.
One of the stations at the bird bash was where you dissect an owl pellet. An owl pellet is owl puke. When we dissected them we had to pull out all the bones and other stuff to see what the owl had eaten.
Another station at the bird bash was Guess That Bird. Guess that bird is an app you can get on your iPad. The app shows different bird pictures and 4 different bird names. Out of those 4 bird names you have to guess which one is the correct name of the bird in the picture.
At feather painting what you did was you took a feather and you dipped it in the paint if the paint was wet. Then you took a piece of paper and drew a desert scene with the feather you had.
There was also a station where you make bird tracks. You tie 2 pieces of pipe cleaner together making a shape like bird feet. Then we dipped the pipe cleaners in paint and dotted them on strips of paper.
When you were at the nest station you took raffia and string and made a nest using tweezers. The whole point of this station was to act like a bird making a nest with a beak like a bird, so you couldn’t use your hands.
The next station is paint. Most of you should know the app “paint” on the computer. Well, we used that app. We had to draw a bird and you had to make it colorful. You could also draw the desert habitat we live in.
The last station was the nature walk. While doing the nature walk you went out on a walk with a group and a grownup and took pictures of birds. You walked out into the wash outside our school where most of the birds are.
The Bird Bash was a great way to get students ready for our FeederWatch Project! :0) Please watch the Animoto created by the authors of this article: Justin, Cody, Lilly, and Claire.
What kind of birds are found in your area?
If you could have joined us for the bird bash, which station would you like to go to?
Mrs. Goucher and Mrs. Martinez’s classrooms collaborated on a project to create a glogster that explained an essential question based on water quality in our school. Students worked together to test our school’s drinking water for hardness, chlorine, ph, copper, and nitrates to determine if our water quality up to par. To view Melissa and Jacob’s award winning glogster click on the link below.
We had another group that was also chosen as a winner in the contest. Congratulations Rudy and Nicolas! The following is the Earth Day Glogser they created for the contest:
In February, 2012 our class did a video conference with an Art Center, in Georgia. One good reason why you should video conference, is because you get to meet special people around the world and learn about there culture, which gives the class different ideas for projects. For example, our class learned about Native Americans, and we made Kachina puppets. The second good reason why, is it will give the students a chance to ask questions, and the opportunity to learn something new. If you don’t want your students to have a video conference because you think that it is a waste of classroom time when you could be teaching something else, you are wrong. Your students can be learning something other than classroom work. That is why you should video conference in your classroom.
The Fishing Trip By:Sarah,Hannah,Melissa, Jack, and Heath
Our class went on a field trip to the Game and Fish. We went fishing and some people caught fish. The people who caught the fish are Sarah, Hannah, Jack, and Heath. They all caught rainbow trout. It took us a long time to catch it we had to sit and do nothing for a long time. We just had to be patient, and hope we’d catch something.
The first thing we did when we got there was learn the rules then get our fishing poles. Some of us put our own bait on, and some of us got the parents and teachers to help us. There were four kinds of bait – meal worms, power bait (corn), salmon eggs.
After we got the bait on we went by the lake when, and at the back of the fishing pole by the reel there is a button. You put the fishing pole behind you, press the button, and remember to push the button unless you might get hooked like Jack, a guy in our class. Then you throw it over, and when it’s up on top of you’re head, you let go of the button. It flies out into the water and if it has some loose string, you should reel in the line a little so it’s nice and tight, otherwise when a fish tugs on the line, you won’t be able to feel the tug, and the fish will get away.
There are different ways to hold the fish when they are out of the water. You don’t want to hold them by their fins because they are sharp and spiny, and you don’t want that to cut into your finger. The Game and fish guy told us that he saw a person get five holes in his hands and it was not pretty. Remember when we talked about Jack – well he did get hooked and that’s why you pay attention at what your doing and by the way, he is okay.
Quiz
1# What did Hannah, Sarah, Heath, and Jack catch?
A. Jack fish
B. Catfish
C. Rainbow trout
2# Who got hooked?
A. Sarah
B. Melissa
C. Heath
D. Jack
3# Where did we go fishing?
A.Game and Fish
B. Rodeo
C. Antarctica
4# Where do you not want to hold a fish?
A. belly
B. fins
C. head
5# What was by the reel?
A. stuffed animal
B. hat
C. button
D. fish
As part of our Project FeederWatch we learned how to sketch the different species of birds we see in our windows. I was amazed at how good our students are at sketching. They have shared their work on voice thread for you to check out. Click on the link below to see our sketches.
We did bird sketches of birds in the desert.We had to hold our pencil a certain way .We would hold it on its side to make a light line so it will be easier for us to erase our mistakes. We had to make a background first so we could put the bird in the setting then we had to make the silhouette. Then you start making some details like the feathers. Finally you shade in their feathers or their eye to make the bird 3D.To shade it you have to hold your pencil on its side. Then your done with your bird sketch. Look for our bird sketches with voice threads soon!
Look out the window, is it Superman? No! Is it a sasquatch? No! It’s birds from the Sonoran Desert! Mrs. Fraher and I have a dream for our students. We are always looking for ways to integrate technology into our classrooms and we found a grant that would help us accomplish our goals. The grant was through AZtea and CenturyLink. We wanted to involve our classrooms in a collaborative project, Project FeederWatch, that allowed students to participate and share their results with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Our class is currently working on a project because we were awarded the grant for $10,000! We used the money to purchase iPads, binoculars, bird seed, and bird guides to help students in collecting data for the project. Students are able to view bird species from our classroom windows and keep track in digital notebooks from their iPads. So far we have observed nearly 30 different species. Each day we put out fresh bird seed and take 15 minutes to observe the different bird species and record our data. Students are keeping journals of all the interesting things they see when they view. So far we have made two kinds of bird houses, one from reclaimed wood from a barn, and one from recycled materials found around the house. We have also done research on some of the different birds found in the desert, and created presentations to share with the class. Finally, we pulled in some are by teaching the students about sketching and creating some sketches of our favorite birds.
In our school, we do something called ”Ecology Explorers.” In this club, several kids get together before school. My teacher, Mrs. Goucher started this club. Diane, a Gold Canyon Master Gardener comes and helps out. After the beginning of the school year, the first thing we did was get soil and manure, and mixed them up to prepare our garden. Next, we dug holes, and after that, we put different kinds of seeds in, some radish, lettuce, carrots, and many other kinds. We watered them daily, and soon they began to sprout. We had to pull out lots of weeds, We kept on watering then and soon they began getting ready to harvest. We have harvested radishes as red as flowing lava, carrots as red as a glowing fire, and lettuce green as a turtles shell. It is lots of fun, and we are still harvesting more plants every Tuesday.
By Melissa
Another Ecology Explorer, Sully, wrote:
In Ecology Explorers we do gardening and harvesting and pulling out weeds and soon we will let dogfish go into the pond. My favorite is when we harvest all of the vegetables. I am hoping to be soon called the taste boy so I can taste a few of the vegetables every Tuesday and have lots of it for a snack. When I taste the radishes all I think about is water because it is so spicy. When I taste the lettuce I think it is OK but its nothing compared to the store. One time we donated to project help a lot of hygiene products and they had been so nice about it that they donated us hundreds of seeds.I really love ecology explorers and I am hoping to do lots more in Ecology Explorers.
Finally, this is what Nicholas had to say:
Lately in Ecology Explores we have been harvesting.Some things we have been harvesting are, carrots, also radishes that are red, purple and white.Some of the radishes are almost 3 inches long, and one carrot was at least five inches.The carrots are delicious and the radishes are okay. Some leaves we have been harvesting are also Butter Lettuce and Spinach. The Butter Lettuce tastes good in the light parts but not in the dark, and the Spinach is all watery. So that is what we have been doing in Ecology Explorers.
The following is the Earth Day Glogser they created for the contest:
