The Uses of a Tree

Rylan's recycled/scrap paper tree,

on the leaves are...

all the uses of a tree- from paper to food to clean air

Cohen's recycled tree

And an art lesson on how to draw a tree

Rylan's tree

On Acid Rain

Today's topic: Acid rain


After reading and discussing what acid rain actually is and what it does we started our experiments


Collect rain water and tap water samples in tubes

Place ph testing chemicals into water and read results

We tested twice, using separate chemicals (one for a fishtanks and one for swimming pools).

Conclusions: In both cases our tap water was right on track at neutral and the rain water was basic. We are going to try again using fresh rain water, since the rain water we used was a couple days old and Mother Nature didn't cooperate and rain when my lesson plans wanted it to.

We also started our second experiment which will last a few days. Effects of acid rain on plants.

We have 3 water types: tap, little acid and a lot of acid. I used vinegar for the acid. Then we planted a couple bean seeds in each cup and watered with the appropriate water. Then they hypothesized about which plants will sprout and why.

If I had planned ahead more, I would have pre-sprouted the seeds and had them water the actual plants to see how the acid effects a growing thing.

Our Clean Water Experiment

How clean is your water?


Gather your water samples...we used rain water, water from the hose, tap water and our filtered refrigerator water.

Take small sample of each water and place it on a slide with cover slip. Observe.


Using coffee filters, pour each sample through to see what visible 'pollution' was in the water.

Then go get the really dirty water sitting in the old chicken waterer in the yard and see what it holds...

Conclusions:

1. Our filtered refrigerator water had more debris in it than tap water
2. None of the samples were completely clean
3. Mosquito larvae look really cool under a microscope
4. So are all the microscopic organisms that live in algae filled water

Global Issues + Writing

I rethought our Language Arts program a few weeks ago, and in attempt to fit what I want in I decided to rotate weeks. So during our 4 week blocks we will do one week of grammar, one week of writing, one week of literature and one week of phonics. This week was writing week. The week in which I force them outside of their comfort zone and require full sentences and more than just one of them. We had plenty to write about since we are also studying global issue this week...


We wrote letters asking companies to use more earth-friendly products....
We drew landfills and wrote about the pictures....

We created posters showing the hole in the ozone

We imagined what it would be like if the Earth got to hot....

Next week is Lit week- meaning we will focus mostly on comprehension, plot, setting, characters etc...But we still have a few more weeks on the environment, and since we won't be spending so much time writing...or throwing fits about writing....we should have a little bit more time for projects and experiments.

For the next 4 weeks....

We will be studying various Global Issues

Starting today with recycling