Super Science

Well I don't really know where to start, but I figured it's better to just jump back in then continue procrastinating. Man it has been an extremely busy school year! Pregnancy, teaching, tutoring and running an auction has left me little time for blogging, but I promise to devote my last few weeks before my baby arrives to updating you on all the fun we've been having this year.

I've decided to go back a bit and review some of the academic highlights of the year. The next few blog posts are going to focus on the units we've studied this year with a few fun updates thrown in the mix.

So here goes... Today I'm gonna focus on our super science projects.

Our first major project was all about cells.

We kicked off science this year by learning about the amazing world of cells. 

We learned about the differences between plant and animal cells.

Thanks to some great youtube videos, my students were able to soak up all the info like sponges.

 Our favorite video was created by a teacher for her 6th grade students. Its called Cells Cells-Parts of the Cell and the rap is pretty catchy.

I have to warn you, if you click on this link the song may be stuck in your head for a good long while- consider yourself warned ;)

I introduced our cell unit with these awesome posters (TPT freebie), which helped break down the information in simple terms and gave awesome visual examples for each of the cell parts.

After our unit of study, we wrapped things up with a fun take home project and an art activity.

We used the unit: CELLS- Cell Model Project for the Middle Grades created by Tied 2 Teaching to help set the expectations for the cell projects students worked on at home. They were required to complete both a plant and animal cell model and explain 3 major differences between the two models. 

Here are a few examples of what my students came up with:

 Two of my first graders! I was so impressed that they could hold their own and complete and present this (3rd grade level) project. 

A completely edible animal cell! (It was pretty tasty) ;)

 

Each model needed to include labels for each of the required cell parts.

We used the inspiration of the photography exhibit "Life Magnified" which explored the hidden world of cells, to integrate our science unit into an amazing art project.
Can you believe how cool these are? I think my kiddos did a fantastic job! 

Animal Classification & Food Chains 

We spent some time learning how to research and classify different animals.  My kids loved using google to search their favorites!

We also learned about food chains. I absolutely loved this fun little freebie and thought it laid a great foundation to help my students understand the concept of a food chain. 

After we worked on the same project together, I gave my students the option of creating their own food chain.

First they sketched a draft in their journals, and afterwards they recreated it with construction paper.

                             

Pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

To ring in the new year, we decided to celebrate by doing a balloon activity.
I was inspired by a unit created by Jessica Hursh at The Teacher Talk. It had lots of great activities, but the one that made the biggest learning impact was the balloon rocket experiment.

 

I divided the students into groups. The groups were given the following materials: a balloon, yarn, cut straws and tape.
Their mission was to use the materials to create a balloon rocket. They had to make the balloon move from one point in the room to another by using all of the materials provided.
I gave the groups 20 minutes to brainstorm and work together. 

After the experiment, I let each group share how their experience went. I encouraged them to share what went well and what was frustrating.

After the kids shared, we discussed Newton's 2nd Law: Acceleration is produced when a force acts on a mass. The greater the mass (of the object being accelerated) the greater the amount of force needed (to accelerate the object).

We wrapped things up by watching this video and then trying the experiment as a whole group. After we watched the video, it made a lot more sense and it was definitely easier to execute accurately.

Biomes

We had an absolute blast learning all about biomes!
Before assigning this project, I spent time delving into the differences between abiotic (non-living) and biotic (living) factors.
Having that foundation was a great base on which to build. 

I let my students choose a biome to research and work on at home.
I found this unit created by Teaching Touchdowns which provided an awesome rubric and parent letter to send home.
I tweaked the project just a bit so it was an at home project (did not include any group work or work at school).

Here are few examples of the amazing projects they came up with:

 

Tropical Rainforest

Taiga & Arctic Tundra  

= Coral Reef

Savannah &  Grasslands













Here is the unit I created that my students used to write their reports:

Feel free to grab a copy from my TPT store.

Right now in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week everything in my shop is 20% off!!

Snag some awesome deals today and tomorrow!

Five for Friday-Christmastime!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! I am so excited to be joining up with Doodle Bugs Teaching and posting my Five for Friday :)

Elf on the Shelf

We've been enjoying some elf on the shelf shenanegans!

We needed some new supplies. 

The kids got a kick out of this one! 

Elfies

We updated our instagram board and gave it a Christmas twist!

How adorable are these? Am I right?

Elf Craftivity

I picked up the freebie on TPT. It was a wonderful writing activity that my students thoroughly enjoyed. It didn't include a face or arms, and my students were eager to add more expression to their projects, so I allowed them to cut their heads out of colored construction paper and add them to it. I think they turned out pretty cute. This little guy is my favorite- Look a those eyes and the front teeth! Seriously adorable!

Christmas Advent Devotional

This book is so beautifully written. We have been reading it each day during Bible and coloring an ornament to glue on our trees. 

The words and story are incredibly moving. 

I love how it allows us to take a quiet pause and reflect on the joy and reverence of the season. 

Door Decorating Extravaganza

My class and the 4th/5th grade class decided to get into the holiday spirit and make our hall extra festive. I absolutely love how our doors turned out. 

Well that's all for now folks. Stay tuned next week, I'll be sharing all about our Christmas heritage projects and reports.

A VERY BIG UPDATE!!!

Well, I think it's probably best for me to start by apologizing for taking so long to update all of you on my latest news. There is definitely a good reason I haven't been blogging for the past few months.  Right around the time school started, I received some news that has been pretty darn hard to keep a secret for so long!
I'm going to have a BABY!! My husband and I are so excited!  It's been so fun sharing it in all different ways with our very large and loving community. 
We told our families pretty soon after we found out, but decided to wait a little while before sharing with our school and church communities. This gave me plenty of time to go on pinterest and find some cute ways to break the news.
Here is how we decided to share with our co-workers:

I strategically placed this by the entrance of our staff meeting. You know teachers can't resist deep fried sugar at the end of a long day so it was a pretty safe bet everyone was gonna make a stop by the baked goods before getting settled in for our meeting. It was so much fun to sit and watch everyones reactions!
A few weeks later I shared the news with my students. I decided to "dress up" for halloween and chose a costume idea that would be slightly hard for them to recognize.  The idea was totally lost on them! Which was kinda funny. 

Then to break the news, I had them sit on the carpet and told them we were going to play a game of telephone. I put dashes on the board and left them blank. After I gave the class each word, I wrote it on the board and let them try and decipher the code.  It wasn't until the final word (baby) that they started to get really excited!

I was able to film their reactions to the last word and it's pretty cute to see how quickly they figure it out!

*I mention my "unspoken" in the video.  Basically, my class and I have prayer requests that we write on the board and pray for each week. I told my class around the time I found out I was pregnant that I had an unspoken prayer request, which means it's important but to private to share the details. They were really curious what it could be, but I told them we had to wait and keep praying. About a week before I was planning to tell them the news, I mentioned that I would share what my unspoken prayer request was-which actually built the suspense a little bit more. It was a fun segway into making my announcement.

Finally (after a few more weeks) we decided make it public and put it on Facebook. I waited until we had called family and friends so we could tell them personally.
Here is our announcement:

*My first names Abbie and my husband's name is Brian so I thought this was a fun idea.

It's not my original idea (you can guess where I found it!), but I hadn't seen any of our friend use it so it felt original to me.

We decided to do the photoshoot at an old one room school house (where we took our engagement pics) and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out!
Now that I'm heading into my second trimester (next week), I should be feeling a lot more energy and be able to re-join the blogosphere.
Thanks for stopping by!