We are all made of star stuff. (Animal Projects revisited)
Dear Parents,
Some people found my division of the project confusing. My original intention was to chunk the writing, so that it could happen after March Break, but given the demands of different family timelines, I'll be sending home the written outline as soon as possible and letting it all happen at home. Many students hadn't started the project yet when we talked as a class on Monday--but with the March Break in the middle this timeline is likely to sneak up on you. Projects are due in their entirety on March 27th.
I would recommend getting the research and construction done pre-March Break if possible.
I've also sent out a call for extra shoeboxes, but I haven't received any. (I may have a couple stowed in my own basement.) Please let me know via a note or email as soon as possible if you really need one.
As we continue to investigate Living Things we've had a couple of really interesting Conversations and learned some interesting new words. For example, micturition, urine, and scat are all important parts of the life cycle. We talked about how farmers use manure to help plants grow and what happens to plants and animals after they die and return to the soil. It's amazing to think that the elements that make up our bodies are not new and have been around since the earth began. We are made of star stuff, indeed.
Here's Carl Sagan saying that better:
Continuing on our science theme, today I brought out all my biology models and let students explore. Students were impressed when they could pull apart these 3D puzzles and see the layers that make up the human body. Here are some of the photos I took this morning:
Model of human torso
This book has a 3D layered model in the middle and each page focuses on a different human system
The placemat was being used as a reference for a couple different models including the skeleton and the muscle man
This is a single celled organism they're putting together.
The human heart
This student was looking at pictures of wolves, because that's the topic of her animal project
Another version of the heart
Here's the complete torso
Wolf facts
A head with sensory organs and brains to put together
Impressed with their work on the heart
I somehow missed getting pictures of either of the eyeball models or our transparent horse with all his visible systems, but you can ask your child about these as well. Many students cycled between several different models instead of silent reading this morning and had lots to say during our morning circle as a result.
