A great day to Be a 2nd Grader!

Mrs. M. was with us this morning.  She shared different ways to eat veggies and fruits to make them more appealing.  Ants on a log and ranch with cauliflower were big hits! 
Then they got up and danced!  Splish-Splash!

Finally kids are back on the large grassy area west of the school.  It feels so good to have a huge area to run!

Frogline - Nonpoint Source Pollution Education

Eeew Science!




What happens when you add
Red Bull to different milks?



The Red Bull started to bubble when added to the all the milks. Part of the milk changed from liquid to solid. The solids floated up.  The chocolate milk and strawberry showed the most solids.  Was this because they had more sugar?

Skim and 1% after the Red Bull

Chocolate and Strawberry after the Red Bull

Observing using 5 senses!



My husband, Justin, came for a PIE visit today.  He works for the City of Storm Lake.  He was here to speak to all 2nd grade classes about storm water. 



We started with Jose the fish, he was clean and placed in a clean jar of clean water.  Students participated as different items were added to simulate soapy water from a car wash, dog mess, oil, toxic waste.  As you can see poor Jose's water got dirtier and dirtier!

Students wrote about this and decided that they want to work hard to keep our beautiful lake clean and healthy for them to swim in and the fish too!

Following the clean water demonstration, each student was able to make a rain stick! Mayra and Jennifer from City Hall were here to help students remember to keep that water clean as it makes its' way to the lake!  Thanks ladies for the fun project!

Young Geologists

 

Keeping data is an important part of being a great scientist!



 

Teamwork is essential to getting the job done well.





Vinegar drops.  What happened when they hit the rock?




Water test.  Does it float?  Are there air bubbles?  Why?

 

Floating!!



 

Sunk to the bottom!











 

Sandpaper test.  What did you observe?



Remember...

NO SCHOOL FRIDAY! 

See you Monday and remember to

read a good book this weekend!

Sorting

Students learned about properties of rocks today. 

Smell, streak, luster, texture, hardness, partical size, & weight are a few that we defined.  They used their knowledge of properties to create different sorts and describe them.  I was impressed! 

We have set up a rock museum.  Students worked together and voted on rock names that were created while using their 5 senses.  They were very creative! 

Several students were interested in sharing their own rock finds from outside of school. 

I am encouraging kids to bring them! 

We will use a black permanent marker to write their classroom number on them and when the unit is over they will be able to take them home.  We are only 2 days in to this new collection and we already have quite a variety!

Equality

Dylan had an ah-ha moment this morning!  We were using random numbers with a spinner to build true number sentences.  Students started by showing action on one side.  Dylan kicked it up a notch when he showed action on both sides!  Sweet!

9+13=13+9

Ready to Read

      As a child, I remember my summers were full of fort building, weeding the green beans in the garden, trips to the Storm Lake Pool, and reading.  Many of the books in this picture were some of my favorite summer reads.  Judy Blume, Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary and Laura Ingalls Wilder filled my summer days and nights.  I remember my mom putting me to be at night and reading to me, Little House in the Big Woods.  Listening to her voice made me want to hear more about Laura and her big sister Mary.  I remember understanding how Beezus felt about her little sister Ramona.  I loved laughing at Fudge as he pulled another prank. 
     I know my students are excited that we are in the 4th quarter of school and that Summer is just teasing them!  I hope they will create memories this summer like I did with my mom reading great books.  Think about a trip to the library to get them started on the right foot for the summer.  Kids who read will be ready for 3rd grade!

Challenge!

Who can stack the cups the highest?  This group won with six cups high in their pyramid!

YES!!!!!!

Spring has arrived and Titus couldn't be happier.  What a great release to get outside and breathe the fresh air!  Ahhhhhhh.

5 Senses


 

We used our 5 senses to describe our rocks.  What do you SEE?



Math

Word of the day: RHOMBUS!

The difference between a square and a rhombus is found in the corners.  A rhombus still has 4 sides equal in length, but the corners are not at right angles.

Box of Rocks!

Monday we started a new science unit named, "Earth Materials."  Today we pulled out the cart containing our science supplies, tools and materials.  We looked through it all, making predictions about what we will be studying.  The kids went crazy!  There is such excitment over our bags of dirt and boxes of rocks!