Welcome to the Zoo

We have finished our plant unit in science and have moved on to animals.  We start out our animal unit by talking about the ways scientists classify animals.  As an introduction to this, the students created zoo models. The objective was for the students to show different ways animals can be classified. Students put animals together based on where they live, how they move, and physical traits. The kids also added attractions to their zoos that would make them more interesting. These included roller coasters, dirt bike rentals, and even a Super Bowl stadium!  The fun part of this assignment was showing off the zoos by walking action figures down the paths and giving the class a grand tour.

History Fair

 The fifth graders have been working hard researching different Native America tribes. They each wrote a report with a fancy cover and a map of where the tribe lived. Then they worked hard on a project that taught people more about their tribe. We had a History Fair today so the kids could show parents, teachers and other students what they learned.

Angiosperms

I may be a bit crazy to hand out knives to a room full of 5th graders, but nobody was injured today as we discovered angiosperms.  Angiosperms are the other type of seed plant (remember, gymnosperms?)  They are plants that have flowers and store their seeds in a fruit. Today each student got a different kind of fruit and had the opportunity to explore it in detail. Then they cut it into pieces so we could each taste it.  We sampled the following fruits:  grapefruit, pineapple, kiwi, quince, mango, orange, tomato, papaya, cantaloupe, cucumber, pepper, apricot, starfruit, pomegranate, ugli fruit, and peas.