All about Rocks

For the past week, the class has been learning about how soils help to purify water and connecting this to the larger concept of the water cycle.  First, students brought in a rock and became very familiar with it.  They recorded observations, created detailed diagrams and more in their science lab book.  The rocks were then put into our rock tumbler.  Tomorrow we get to see how the past 9 days of "weathering" has impacted the rocks.  This moved the class into learning about soils, since they are what is created through weathering.  Students learned the basics behind diatomaceous earth and how its unique properties enable it to stick to tongues.  Incorporating this idea, students planned out a water filter using soils, rocks and organic matter and executed their plan.  Two filters in class it was determined that they had more impermeable soils, as theirs took over the weekend to actually allow the water to permeate through.  Yesterday, the concepts were all connected as students diagramed a high-level water cycle.

Alfie the Rabbit

This week Alfie, a rabbit, will be a guest in our classroom.  To build off of the excitement of having another mammel in the room, our informational text in reading this week will focus on rabbits, hares, and bunnies.  At the end of each day we will journal "as the rabbit" in first person point of view about what was learned in our class that day.  Later this week our science will connect rabbits to our learning on ecosystems, where students will apply what they learned about ecosystems to design the ideal ecosystem for a rabbit.

Next week, we will be once again connecting our reading to what we are learning about in other subjects.  For reading the week of December 10-14th, we will connect our science of weathering our reading.  As we bring in rocks to put into a rock tumbler we will first use our skills are understanding in depth the instructions for using the new tumbler.  Our science book will become the informational text on the topic that we will read for a few other days during the week.  The goal is to build upon our reading skills while applying it to what we are learning about in other subjects. As for the science, students will carefully observe and record observations about their rock they place into the tumbler on a weekly basis until the natural rock becomes a polished stone.