Young Scientists

Which soil will grow grass the best?

Mary, Maggie and Patrick getting some sandy soil



Caroline,  Delaney, Kaya and Brendan getting loam soil.

Clive, Oscar, Delaney, Katie, Trent and Lance gathering clay soil.

Third Grade is conducting a scientific investigation to determine which type of soil: clay soil, loam soil or sandy soil, will produce the best grass.

But what does "best" mean?  It could mean the tallest, the most, the greenest, the healthiest, the fastest... Which would the students observe?  Well, that is what we learned in this science lesson.  Each student defined their operational definition, to base their hypothesis and observations around.  Some students defined "best" as the which grew the most, another group defined "best" as the tallest and the third group defined "best" as the fastest.  Once we defined our operational definition.  We went through the steps of a Scientific Investigation.  Here Delaney and Jane explain this to you...

We listed out materials and steps - the scientific design.  Here are Maggie and Mary explaining the soils.

Then we went through the steps of the experiment.  Maddie and Oscar explain one of the first steps.

Here Trent, Caroline, Clive and Kaya explain the last few steps.

Then finally the students wrote their hypothesis, based on their operational definition. 
Here Brendan, Katie and Patrick share their hypotheses.

Angelina also shares her hypothesis.

Finally, Valerie and Lance share their hypotheses and explain what the next steps are.

In the next couple weeks we will observe the different cups of soil and seeds and determine whether our hypothesis were correct or incorrect.  Look for the blog post with that update to come in a couple weeks!

Our Trip to the Nature Museum

Mrs. Salmon's Third Grade Class Trip to the Nature Museum

To wrap up our vertebrates, invertebrates and ecosystems unit the third glass took a trip to the Peggy Notebart Nature Museum. 

Our first at the museum was a special workshop where we investigated red worms.  The museum staff was blown away by all the wonderful facts and information our class had to share in the workshop.  Here are some pictures of our investigations.

Here is a clip from all the investigations, followed by several pictures of the whole trip.

Showing the workshop leader how much we know!

One of the red worms we examined

Oscar, Clive and Trent checking out their worms

Brendan, Caroline, Angelina and Mary using magnifying glasses to closely examine their worms

Jane. Kaya and Katie examining their worms

Patrick, Lance and Maggie examining their worms

Check them out - some were slow some were escape artists!

If you look closely you can tell which is their head and where their 4 hearts are!

Then we returned them safely to their soil to help make compost

The worms were happy to go home I'm sure

After our worm investigation we enjoyed a nice lunch and then walked through the museum.  We even got to meet a female corn snake that just had babies!  Here are some museum employees teaching us about her.

We know a lot about reptiles, just ask!

Checking out the corn snake

Then we got to touch her skin, it was so silky, we were shocked

Finally we hit up the Butterfly Habitat.  We discussed the life cycle of a butterfly and had a class challenge as to who could find and name the most butterflies!  As you can see some of us must use flowery/fruity shampoo because the butterflies liked us!

Jotting down the names of butterflies as they observed them

This butterfly stuck with Lance the whole time! 

Another hitch hiker on Oscar

Valerie must use a nice smelling shampoo!

Examining different butterflies and moths

Who knew there were so many butterflies and moths to see?

Mammals, Ecosystems and Adaptations!

The students all did a wonderful job putting together their Mammal and Ecosystem project.  Each student chose an environment from: forest; wetland; desert; tundra and grassland.  They then picked out a mammal that lives in that environment.  They researched both and created a poster and presentation on what they learned.

Their focus given their research on both the mammal and its environment was on the adaptations the mammal has developed to survive and prosper in their ecosystem.

Kudos to every student on a job well done!

Angelina taught us about river otters from the wetland
Did you know that they have clear eyelids so they can see under water but not hurt their eyes

Brendan taught us about the wolf from the forest
Did you know that wolves' stomachs can hold 20 pounds of food?

Clive taught us about the camel from the desert
Did you know camels have thick hairy lips to protect them if they eat or drink from a cactus?

Delaney taught us about the white-tailed prairie dog from the grassland
Did you know that if a young prairie dog gets lost another family will adopt it - but will turn away a lost adult?

Jane taught us about the black-tailed prairie dog from the grassland
Did you know that black-tailed prairie dogs don't really need to drink water
because they get enough from the foods they eat?

Katie taught us about the tree kangaroo from the forest
Did you know that they are endangered
and they get their name because they have pouches to carry their young?

Kaya taught us about the harp seal from the tundra
Did you know that they get their name because they have a harp design on their backs
and they can stay under water for 30 minutes!

Lance taught us about the raccoon from the wetlands
Did you know that they go into a threat posture to scare or intimidate predators?

Maddie taught us about the American pika from the tundra
Did you know the male sings during the mating season and baby pikas are born hairless?

Maggie taught us about the cheetah from the grassland
Did you know that cheetahs are endangered
and that rulers in Egypt and India use to tame cheetahs?

Mary taught us about muskrats from the wetland
Did you know that they got their name from the musky odor they give off
and that they have scent glands in their tails?

Oscar taught us about the arctic fox from the tundra
Did you know that they have the warmest fur of any mammal?

Patrick taught us about the leopard from the forest
Did you know that a leopard sounds like an elephant when it is crying but can be extremely quiet to stalk their prey?

Trent taught us about the meerkat from the desert
Did you know that its tail can be as long as its body and they use this to stand or look bigger?

Valerie taught us about the black gibbon monkey from the forest
Did you know that they can be heard from a mile away?

What if there was a SIXTH Golden Ticket???

After reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Third Graders came up with a sixth character that won Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket (if there was a 6th ticket to win).  This character had to be yet another "bad nut," like the other 4 characters (of course not Charlie Bucket).

The kids worked independently or with a partner to brainstorm their character - what he/she was like, what his/her "vice" (bad habit) was and what would happen to that person if he/she entered Wonka's factory.  They then created their character and wrote a chapter about their character's experience in the factory.

The results were AMAZING!  Below please check out all the "6th Golden Ticket Winners" that were cut from Roald Dahl's book -- but in our opinion, shouldn't have been.  And if you have the chance, the stories and character creations are hanging up right outside the Third Grade classroom.

Katie and Patrick Present "Jessica Dert"

Vice:  Never Showers; Very, Very Dirty!

Chapter X:  Jessica and the Shower

Maggie Presents "Rondi Sucker"

Vice:  Never learned to keep things out of her mouth, sucks on everything!

Chapter X:  Rondi's New Form

Kaya, Maddie and Valerie Present "Harriett Heirstone"

Vice:  Never cuts her hair

Chapter X:  Harriett and the Chocolate Hair Room

Angelina Presents "Melissa

Vice:  Obsessed with gold and nothing else

Chapter X:  Missing Melissa

Caroline and Delaney Present "Missy Puder"

Vice:  Obsessed with computers and nothing else

Chapter X:  Missy and the CT Room

Jane Presents "Amber Golld"

Vice:  Obsessed with gold and nothing else

Chapter X:  Amber's Adventures

Lance and Trent Present "Mitey Thinn"

Vice:  Never gains any weight

Chapter X:  Mitey Thinn is Gone!

Brendan and Clive Present "John Hit"

Vice:  Obsessed with popcorn so much that he is a big bully about it

Chapter X:  John Hit and the Candy Popcorn Center

Mary Presents "Rebecca Blue"

Vice:  Obsessed with anything and everything blue

Chapter X:  The Blues

Mystery Hour in Third Grade!

We had a special mystery-themed Readers' Theater performance today.

In the past week the students have worked on this performance.  They rehearsed their parts, put together costumes, scenery and props and concluded by putting on a wonderful show for the two 1st grade classrooms this morning.

I am continously amazed at the awesome expression and ingenuity the students display in our Readers' Theater.  I let them take charge of the performance and plan it out.  They really do a wonderful job of staying on task and working as a group to put on a great show.

I have attached their performances for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy, we certainly did!

Sherry Holmes and the Case of the Missing Necklace

Performed by: 

Delaney, Jane, Clive, Trent, Valerie,

Brendan, Lance and Maggie



The Mother Goose Detective Agency
Performed by:
Katie, Maddie, Angelina, Mary, Trent,
Patrick, Brendan, Valerie and Oscar



The Case of the Three Bears' Breakfast
Performed by:
Patrick, Maggie, Oscar, Kaya,
Mary, Lance and Caroline

A Trip Through Time and Imagination - PHASE ONE - Visit The Thorne Rooms!

A Trip Through Time and Imagination - PHASE ONE - Visit The Thorne Rooms!

Have you ever visited the Art Institute of Chicago?  It has amazing art exhibits but I have to say one of my personal favorites is downstairs, called The Thorne Rooms.  If you have never been, make sure to plan a trip.

You can explore European homes dated back from the 13th century to the 1930s and American homes from the 17th century to the 1930s.  Each room is so detailed it is as if you could really live inside.  Which is exactly why we visited!

Third Grade is embarking on a adventure-filled expedition through our imaginations.

It began with our trip to The Thorne Rooms.  We spent some time browsing each room and noticing the details.  Then each student picked out their favorite room (we stuck with the American rooms).  For the remainder of our visit the students jotted down their observations of the room and sketched out what they saw.

Then using their imagination they entered their room and are currently creating a story based on the world that could exist in and around their room.

Here are some photos of the start of our journey.  Ask you children about this experience!

The kids shared their ideas with a partner and the
partners helped them brainstorm and choose what was sounding the best!

The kids are sketching, imagining and brainstorming their story ideas
using their favorite American Thorne Room as the setting.

Hard at work sketching, imagining and brainstorming!

Try to imagine living during that time...

What type of characters would live in this house?

 

Angelina and Valerie sharing their ideas.

Jane and Maddie exploring a room together and imagining life inside that world and time.

Lance and Delaney bouncing ideas back and forth to try to spark more creativity.

Maggie and Oscar examining the details within the room!

 

With Mrs. Salmon's magic the kids entered the rooms together to explore that world!
Here are Maggie and Oscar taking walking through that room in their mind's eye.

Oscar deep in thought about who lives in this house and what they are up to!

Mary and Katie pair-sharing and helping each other through the brainstorm process.

 

The kids are so engaged and working so dutifully!

Kaya sketching out her story and characters.

 

Clive is pondering his story ideas.