What Is A Scientist?

We have been learning about "Non-Fiction Text Features".  Non-Fiction text features help us understand what we are reading.  Captions are sentences that tell about pictures.  Please read the captions that the kids came up with for their work in science. :)

We are sorting items and comparing them.  Some are rocks and some aren't.  It is cool to see all sorts of different rocks. Some rocks are very smooth.  It looked like some rocks were stuck inside other rocks (one of the rocks had gold in it). Rocks are different shapes and colors.

We are sorting rocks and non-rocks.  We had questions about rocks.  How are rocks, rocks? Can you smash or crush rocks? Are rocks locatred in every part of the world? How do animals use rocks for homes and protection? We learned that they came from nature.  Rocks are made of minerals.  Melted rock is called magma. It was fun working together and deciding which group to put each thing in.  One rock was gold, but we are not sure if it is really a rock or fool's gold.  Some rocks can be fossils.

We are sorting rocks.  Not everything was a rock.  We learned that crstals can be in rocks. Some rocks are soft and can break easily and some rocks are hard. Rocks are different sizes, colors and shapes.  It was fun to look at all of the different kinds of rocks and sort them.  

These scientist are learning from their senses.  Jayna said that her rock smelled like shampoo.  Xander reported that he was feeling the texture of rocks.  Some were smooth, others were rough, bumpy, heavy  and light.  Anika and Ella wanted to draw the texture and colors to make it look realistic.  

We are carefully oberserving details of rocks.  Reese, Lauren, Andrea and Peter were looking for bumps and cracks with hand lens to magnify their rocks.

Megan is observing a rock with a magnifying lens.  She is looking for small colors in her rock.  Adi is making a scientific drawing.  She wants to show what the rock's color and texture look like.

These scientist are writing about what happens and what they see.  

Choosing A Leader - Class Mascot

In social studies we are talking about how leaders are chosen. We are working together to create a campaign to have others join us in selecting a Mexican Spotted Owl as our class mascot. We used the iPads to look up facts and a picture of the Mexican Spotted Owl. We learned that Megan is a good artist. Owls are smart, wise and see very well.

We have been writing about tigers because we think they would be a good class mascot. They are an up stander. They remind us of a panther. They are smart, quick and quiet.

We are planning and thinking about dolphins because we think they would be a great class mascot.  Dolphins are flexible and talented. They are smart, intelligent and not afraid to try new things. 

We think a butterfly would be a good mascot for our class. We are thinking of reasons why a butterfly should be our mascot. Some of our ideas are that butterflies are creative, colorful and smart.