2nd Grade Field Trip to HyVee

We had a guided tour by a dietitian at HyVee. She showed us the produce, cheese, bakery, seafood, sushi, and Italian sections.  She talked about healthy eating habits and introduced the students to new foods. We then made parfaits with Greek yogurt, fruit, and granola.

5th Grade Trip to Staab Studios

We toured Staab Studios where Gary Staab creates sculptures for museums and other purposes.  He showed us several current and past projects.  He has been working with NOVA on a movie about Otzi the Iceman that will air in February.  We also saw his mystery drawer where he saves neat items and we make guesses about them.  We even held a megalodon's tooth! We learned about the process used to make the sculptures and how he became an artist/scientist.

4th Grade Harvesters Field Trip

We bagged apples today at Harvesters. They were huge red delicious apples. The students (and parents) worked really hard to bag the apples. They bagged 6 pallets worth! Then they enjoyed eating at CiCi’s pizza.

3rd Grade Remington Nature Center Trip

The students traveled to Remington Nature Center in St. Joseph, MO.  They completed a scavenger hunt and learned about weather.  Then they made tornadoes using tornado tubes and 2-liter bottles.

2nd Grade Electricity Experiments

We read a story about Ellie Electricity. Then we made a hypothesis about how a bubble will react to a balloon that has been rubbed on a wool sock (or your head).  We concluded that the bubble and balloon had opposite electrical charges because they were attracted to each other.  If they had the same charges, they would repel each other.  We did a bonus activity with a balloon and tissue paper.  We concluded that the tissue paper and balloon also have opposite charges.

5th Grade Pumpkin and Slime

We read an article about how animals use slime to protect themselves and travel up walls or across rough surfaces.  We discussed friction, lubricants, and polymers. Then we made our own slime.  It should be stored in the refrigerator to prevent mold.  

We also cut open a huge pumpkin (Big Mac) to count the seeds and check out the pulp.  It was interesting because the pulp was green in some areas and orange in others.  We counted 308 seeds. I will post pictures to the class blog by the end of the day tomorrow.

4th Grade Discovery Center Trip

Our trip to the Discovery Center was amazing!  The students tried to make fire using two methods that Lewis and Clark used: a lens/the Sun and flint/steel.  I was impressed with the students’ perseverance as this was not easy.  Two groups made fire using the lens method.  many students made sparks with the flint and steel but did not make fire.  They have a new appreciation for the struggles Lewis and Clark faced. We also used compasses to find marked cards.  They first learned how to use the compasses and how to count their paces. Then they followed the directions from card to card and answered questions about people who traveled with Lewis and Clark.  In the afternoon, they learned about the items Lewis and Clark took with them on their journey.  They also practiced journaling by describing the weather conditions and taking notes about two plants.  They also pressed the plants which is how Lewis and Clark preserved plant specimens.