April

Systems:

The Gray Area mystery continued to unfold this month as we considered the role of erosion in the problem of the dying fish.  Students tested the turbidity (amount of sediment) of the Gray Area waters and found that one in particular had a problem with soil runoff.  Our suspects became the local farm, cattle ranch, logging business, and surprisingly the growing deer population in the area’s wilderness park.  Students followed the chain of events from the hunting of the deer’s natural predators to the population boom, overgrazing, and lack of plant cover to stop the erosion of sediment.  They also researched the effects of dirty water on aquatic life.

Critical and Creative Thinking:

Students enjoyed getting creative as they were called on to design hats for our fictional friends the ATs.  Using this prompt they came up with many clever strategies to help solve their pest problem.

Can you design hats

For four-legged ATS

Who are bothered so much

By troublesome gnats?

They also created original haiku poems to describe their experience in Jones Gap State Park and continued in their novel study of Rachel Carson.

M^3 (Mentoring Mathematical Minds) Digging for Data:

Students continue to work hard on analyzing data in our math unit.  They have evaluated various charts and graphs for information that can and cannot be gained and practiced translating between modes of organizing information.

 

March

Critical and Creative Thinking:   We spent much of our time this month up to our knees in research as we prepared for our upcoming field study to Jones Gap State Park.  Students did a great job composing their expert cards highlighting one of the many living organisms that calls Jones Gap home. We also prepared by doing some vocabulary review.  Students can continue to practice the must-know terms at this link.  We also looked at water quality tests we will conduct at the park, layers of the forest, and life cycles of some of the macro-invertebrates we hope to find.  

Systems: We didn't neglect our Gray Area investigation.  Students looked at both chlorine and acid rain and new suspects in the mystery of the dying fish.  

First they role-played a reenactment of a meeting of the Gray Area Board of Supervisors where our suspect and owner of the water slide was consulted.  He shared results from chlorine tests conducted down the river from his business. Students took a closer look at the results from the chemical tests and performed a bio-assessment of their own on a macro-invertebrate called daphnia to check the more long term effects of chlorine on the area. They also examined some secret documents that provided further clues as to how the varying data could all add up.

Next, students looked at air pollution and acid rain as the possible culprits. They investigated pH testing and built their knowledge of acids and bases so they could apply it to the waters of Gray Area.  Finding the Gray Area rain to be strongly acidic, they then tested the various bodies of water in the region. They found some interesting results in that only one river in the area maintained an acidic pH.  This lead to further investigation into the geology of the area and the effects of acid on aquatic ecosystems. The owners of local factories as well as commuters were questioned and added to our pool of suspects.

Habits of Mind:

We continued to practice our habits of Mind by challenging ourselves with several new brain games in our classroom.  Students tried their hands at three dimensional puzzles, Rush Hour, Kanoodle, Brain Spin, and the Crazy Pig Puzzle. Much fun and frustration was had by all!

Systems Projects

February

Systems:

This month our Systems focus has been on water.  Students read A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry and saw the effects of disrespecting water as a resource. They also saw that there is hope for restoration of polluted waterways and how they can play a part in the solution.  Research was done on watersheds and students got to participate in a simulation of pollution's downstream journey with our guest from Richland Soil and Water Conservation District.

We also looked at different tests that can be conducted to evaluate water quality.  Some of these tests will help us identify our Gray Area culprit. We learned about turbidity tests to check for clarity and sediments, (helpful in the investigation of the erosion caused by the clear-cutting logging company) phosphate and nitrate tests to see if fertilizers may be causing an abundance of algae growth, (helpful in the investigation of the cattle ranch and farm)  bio-assessment tests for macro-invertebrates, and pH tests.

Critical and Creative Thinking:

We had fun this month being creative with a few sketching challenges.  We practiced a growth mindset by using the drafting process to create original characters by incorporating our favorite parts of various designs and revising to a final product.  We also participate in a mash-up drawing challenge where students submitted ideas to a hat and had to combine the items drawn into one picture in a unique way.

Habits of Mind:

Students began our class novel study of Listening to Crickets by Candice Ransom.  This book is a biography about author and environmental activist Rachel Carson. As we read, we are taking to analyze and respond to the text as well as pick out the specific Habits of Mind Rachel used to find success in her field.

January

Systems: We officially embarked on our journey as environmental detectives!  Students began the new year with a review of systems and a teamwork challenge to prepare themselves for their upcoming experiences. Students were introduced to the Gray Area and the mysterious fish kill that has been taking place there over the last five years.  They met some of the key players (suspects?!?!) in the region, looked at maps of the area to identify factors that may be at play, and studied the history of the area as they compiled a timeline of events and developments over the past 100 years.  Throughout this semester they will be acting as scientists, council members, reporters, and detectives as they conduct tests and research to uncover the reason behind the declining fish population.

Critical and Creative Thinking: This month students enjoyed practicing their critical thinking with Sudoku puzzles.  We also had a lesson on idioms to help us use flexible thinking and solve our plexer picture puzzles.

 

Habits of Mind: Our Habit of Mind focus has been on persisting and strategies to overcome “the dip” when faced with a challenge.  Our favorite activity was reading the book, Grandfather Tang’s Story and using the 7 piece Chinese tangrams to recreate pictures.  Students even used the pieces to create their own original designs!

M^3 (Mentoring Mathematical Minds) Digging for Data:  In math students wrapped up their work on mean, median, mode, and range by completing a review Bingo choice activity where many great products were created!  They also showed their stuff on our check-up assessment.  

November & December

Systems: We moved from the crime scene to the forensics lab as students looked at how evidence is processed.  We studied DNA and its role in the justice system.  Students made beaded sequence chains as they learned about genetics and the double helix.  We also looked at DNA as ‘the greatest code on Earth!” with a short look at cryptography. Students had the chance to decipher messages from the CIA and create their own codes with some of the techniques they discovered by looking at the history of secret messages in crime detection.

Our analysts also used ink chromatography and chemical property lab tests to solve the “Case of the Dognapping” and the “Case of the Crummy Cake”.

Our next systems stop was the courtroom and how evidence is presented in trial.  Students loved our morning “You Be the Jury” warm ups!  We spent time researching the elements of the courtroom and the progression of trials.  Students made some excellent presentations to share with the class and we finished with playing the role of opposing attorneys in the Make Your Case game.  Use this link to play at home! http://www.scholastic.com/americanjustice/makeyourcase/

Critical and Creative Thinking: Our brain stretch focus has been on word analogies as we built vocabulary and looked for relationships between ideas.  Students practiced writing bridge sentences to test for a consistent  link between terms.

Try this one for yourself:  tornado : scary :: ALERT: _________

A. boring

B. dull

C. green

D. FUN!

We also carried over into figural analogies where they had to apply relationship thinking to compare images.

Habits of Mind: Our main Habit of Mind focus has been on gathering data.  Students used crime scene observations to consider the distinction between evidence and inference and the role of both when investigating.  We also practiced metacognition as we set goals and reflected on our learning so far this year.

M^3 (Mentoring Mathematical Minds) Digging for Data:  In our Data unit, we are working out the kinks in our understanding of different measures of central tendency.  Our small group sessions have impressed me as students are using great  strategies for organizing their work and are building confidence in distinguishing between terms and processes.  We have made our way through our practice checklists and students have enjoyed using various sources for learning in our blended setting.

Courthouse Field Study

We had a great time watching the judicial process and interacting with professionals in the field.  Our students were the best around and we even had a few stand in as jurors in the trial!  Thanks to our wonderful chaperones for accompanying us!