Week, of September 26-30

• You may have heard that this week we had our Second Great Lesson: The Coming of Life.  Please see the papers that went home today for an overview of the lesson as well as a list of vocabulary from the lesson!
• We also had a lesson on the planets.  Many students are busy learning the planets, some are learning their symbols, and others still are doing research in varying depths on each of the planets.  You can help your child at home by talking about Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and the "planet" recently deemed not a planet, Pluto.  Students have been working with a material that demonstrates stellarnucelosynthesis, the process by which stars are formed.  They are exploring the elements as well.
• Last week we concluded our focus on air by conducting an experiment that demonstrated the effect of temperature on land and water in order to understand air movements.  The students measured the temperature of a container of soil and a container of water and predicted which would heat up faster when set under a heat lamp.  Younger students drew and labeled pictures of their predictions, materials, and results; while older students recorded the research question, listed materials, outlined the procedure, wrote a hypothesis, and recorded their results.
• This week our focus was on water.  Water is essential to all life and is present in a biome in many forms. The amount of moisture directly affects the flora and fauna and determines many of their adaptations.  The amount of water in the soil affects the evolution of the soil and its ability to sustain plant life.  Water vapor is contained in the air.  Fresh water resources are renewed in a continuous process called the water cycle.  Life began in the water and liquid water make our planet special.
• Children had the opportunity to work with our beautiful new material the Water Cycle Mat.
• We demonstrated the relative amount of fresh water to salt water to make an impression about how precious fresh water is to our world and to give a practical demonstration of percentage.
• We demonstrated that water flows downhill and through channels.
• We conducted an experiment to illustrate the water cycle.  We ventured up to the big kitchen and predicted what would happen if we put ice on the hot griddle.  We watched the ice jump on the hot surface and saw how the molecules were moving quickly when heated.  We watched a solid turn to a liquid and then trapped the gas in a clear lid and watched it condense and return to the surface again creating our own water cycle.  You can do this at home while you are cooking!  On Thursday we enjoyed popcorn for a snack and the children made the discovery that popcorn pops because there is water trapped in the kernels.  That water heats up and changes to steam which pops the kernel releasing steam which was trapped in our popcorn popper.  Amazing!!

Week of Sept. 19-23

• This week students learned about air.
• Air is held to the earth by gravity.  We call this blanket of air our atmosphere.  You cannot see it, but you can feel it when it moves as wind.  It is made of mostly nitrogen with a lesser amount of oxygen.  The remaining 1% is a mixture of gasses including carbon dioxide.  Our atmosphere protects us from harmful rays of the sun, traps heat, and forms clouds to bring rain.  It keeps earth at the right temperature for plants to thrive and produce oxygen that we need.  
• The children demonstrated the exchange of gases between plants and animals in a lesson called the "Air Cycle Ballet." 
• They explored the different layers of the atmosphere (troposphere, stratosphere, ozone layer, mesosphere, and finally the thermosphere) and the characteristics of each layer.   
• In art class the children made collages of the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere.
• We finished planting our garden.  We are growing butter lettuce, kale, chard, broccoli and cabbage.  This led to a discussion of seasonal produce and the availability of a wide variety of produce at our grocery stores.  It would be interesting to explore the produce aisle and discover how many different types of lettuces are available.

Week of September 12-16

• We had our first great lesson.  A handout went home explaining further details.  
• We had lessons on the sun and earth, investigating the movement of the earth in relation to the sun, discovering the causes of day and night.  We learned the earth rotates on its axis, causing day and night.  The earth takes 365 day to orbit the sun.
• We investigated the length of the rays of the sun, discovering that the rays of the sun reach the earth across various distances and through various depths of atmosphere depending on one's position on the earth relative to the equator.
• We discussed the climate zones (Tropical Zone, Temperate Zones and Polar Zones) and observed how the effect of the sun's rays creates climate zones on the earth.  
• We demonstrated how the seasons are caused by the tilt of the earth on its axis.
• We spent time working in our garden, preparing the soil for planting fall vegetables.   
• We have been enjoying community snack and many children enjoyed trying new things.  Look for more information to come home next week about how your family will be asked to participate.
• Piano lessons started!
• International Day of Peace is Wednesday, September 21.  Look for information to come home next week explaining how we will be celebrating!
• Check out the following link.  http://internationaldayofpeace.org/news_and_updates/

The First Week of School

We had a wonderful first week of school!  We have had many lessons on classroom management and things are running smoothly.

• We had a group lesson "What is a biome?" as an introduction to our new study of biomes.
• We had our first music lesson in which the students were introduced to rhythm by reading notes with clapping cards.  
• Many of the students are working on their first book reports.  Others are researching in areas of science.  
• Lessons in spelling, grammar, and math are underway!
• We worked in the garden to prepare for fall planting and found many signs of life.

Look for Study Journals to come home next week.