Mrs. Hamman
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Posts by Mrs. Hamman
Journey North Mystery Class
Apr 11th
Since January, our class has been participating in a global scavenger hunt called Journey North Mystery Class. Starting on January 28, every week we have been calculating the photoperiod (that’s the length of time between sunrise and sunset) in ten mystery locations around the world. This has given us a chance to practice calculating elapsed time. Here’s a video showing how we calculate elapsed time using a number line.
We started to see some patterns as the weeks progressed. Some locations’ photoperiods got longer from one week to the next, while others got shorter. We realized that if the photoperiods were getting longer the location must be in the Northern Hemisphere (like us), and if the photoperiods were getting shorter the location was in the Southern Hemisphere.
Three weeks ago we started getting interdisciplinary clues about the culture, geography and history of the Mystery Classes. We started doing some research to see if we could figure out where they are. Some of them were pretty challenging, but we think we are getting close to figuring them out!
We think the most challenging clues are the ones for Mystery Class 8. First we thought it was in Madagascar, then Australia, then we thought it might be in Indonesia. We still aren’t sure, but we are learning a lot as we do our research!
Is your class participating in Mystery Class?
Have you figured out the clues?
Grand Canyon Numbers
Mar 26th
By Katelynn
Photo Credit: Al_HikesAZ via Compfight
Our class recently visited a new math blog. It’s called Our World, Our Numbers. Kids from classes all over the world are writing posts about how they use math and numbers in their everyday lives.
We were especially interested in the posts about landmarks and longitude and latitude, since we are learning lots of new things about geography right now. We were inspired by this post by Mr. Avery’s class to do some research about the Grand Canyon, one of the natural landmarks in our state. We realized that there are many numbers connected with the Grand Canyon! Can you estimate the answers to some of our questions?
Here is one more number: 4 out of the 24 students in our class have visited the Grand Canyon. That fraction in simplest form is 1/6.
What are some landmarks where you live?
Have you ever visited one?
Urban Hummingbird Program
Mar 1st
Today we had a special visitor. Ms. Guevara from the Rio Salado Audubon Center came to our school to talk to us about the Urban Hummingbird Program.
Attribution: Seng, Nita. hbirdfirebush.jpg. April 30, 2012. Pics4Learning. 2 Mar 2013 <http://pics.tech4learning.com>
We often see hummingbirds around our school. Ms. Guevara taught us all about hummingbirds and brought us lots of interesting things to examine! Did you know these ten hummingbird facts?
1. Hummingbirds are only found in the Western Hemisphere.
2. Some hummingbirds migrate through Arizona, on their way from their winter homes in Mexico to their northern homes in Alaska. Other hummingbird species live in our state year-round.
3. Male hummingbirds have a patch of shiny, colorful feathers called a gorget on their necks. This helps them attract a mate.
These are gorget feathers. You can see how small they are compared to the pencil eraser!
4. Female hummingbird have dull colors so they will blend in with their surroundings. This camouflage helps them protect their nests and their babies.
These are hummingbird nests. We were very surprised at how soft they felt.
5. Hummingbirds can move their wings 78 times per second.
6. Hummingbirds move their wings in a unique pattern. If you click on the link below can see us practicing the motion of their wings.
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7. Because they are so active, hummingbirds need to eat a lot! They can eat as much as three times their body weight in one day.
8. If a hummingbird is in danger or can’t find food, it can go into a state called torpor, which is like a very deep sleep.
9. One of the hummingbird’s adaptations is its long beak, which helps it reach the nectar deep inside flowers.
This is a hummingbird skull, which shows its long beak.
10. You can attract hummingbirds to your garden by providing a feeder and planting the flowers that hummingbirds like.
Ms. Guevara left us with a feeder and a wheel to help us identify the hummingbird species we see around our school. We are going to observe and collect data on the birds we see this spring, and we will let you know what we find!
What species of birds do you see around your school?
Save Our Rhinos! Part 2
Feb 27th
Makulu is here! We have enjoyed showing our rhino around Arizona. Here are a few of things he has done while he’s been with us.
Do you see him reading with our class mascot, Ivan?
Our third grade classes have added our page to the Save Our Rhinos wiki. A wiki is a special website that allows users to add their own information so that others can learn. On our page, we posted two videos that we made.
The first video shares all the information that we researched about rhino poaching.
The second video is about the Travelling Rhino Project. We wanted others to see how much fun this project is, so we made a “commercial” for it!
What can kids do to help endangered animals?
Iditarod 2013
Feb 18th
The Iditarod is starting in less than two weeks! Every year, kids from our school participate in the eIditarod, an online project that helps us learn more about this fascinating race. You can read about last year’s project here.
This year, we started learning about the race back in December, when we Skyped with a ranger at Denali National Park to learn more about sled dogs.
We made a map to track the Iditarod route. First, we traced a map of Alaska and wrote the names of all the checkpoints on the route. Then we colored it white using oil pastels.
Next, we did research to choose the musher our class would follow this year. We divided up the list of this year’s mushers and each one of our project groups researched 10-12 mushers.
Each group decided on one nominee to present to the rest of the class. All of our nominees were great mushers with lots of experience, and the groups did an excellent job of presenting their choices. However, we could only choose one, and the winner of our class vote was: Lance Mackey!
Now, all we have to do is try to be patient as we wait for the race to start on March 2! We’ll be tracking Lance’s progress on the trail every day.
This video was made by Dallas Seavey, last year’s Iditarod champion.
Does your class follow the Iditarod?
