Dear Parents,
We're working on a unit called Living Things, where we're exploring different things that are alive. Students are working on a shoebox diorama of an animal at home, and at school, we're exploring what we know and what we want to know about these things in general.
Today, we reviewed the 7 things that all Living Things do
1. Take in food
2. Get rid of waste
3. Move
4. React
5. Grow
6. Reproduce
7. Breathe
Then I gave students an outline of an animal and asked them to show me how they do those things. Here are the results
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| One elephant has a tube straight through. The other has bones in its legs, a stomach with food in it and somewhere to excrete waste. |
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| On the left, there's a backbone, a heart, a "tummy tube" and some bones in a complicated geometric arrangement. On the right, there's a brain, a heart, a "pee tube", a "butt tube" and a muscle. |
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| On the left, the crow has eyes and a heart. On the left, it has blood flowing around the crow. |
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| "Moves with feet. It grows when it eat good thing. Eat with mouth. Breathe with its gills" |
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| The fish on the left has a heart and eyes and a brain. There are tubes that could indicate gills or circulation or digestion. On the right, there's a brain, eyes and a clear digestive system (the arrow pointing to the stomach is cut off). |
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| There are little fish inside the bigger fish, but I'm not sure whether those are baby fish or things it's eaten. The fish on the right has taken a more descriptive route: "Food makes growth. It moves with its flippers.It gets energy from food. It makes waste by giving bad food." |
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| Both Octopuses have brains and suckers on their tentacles. One has bones and is also giving off waste. |
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| This camel has lungs, a heart, food in its hump, bones in its legs, and a bum...but no real connection between the parts. |
I hope you find their drawings as fascinating as I do. It's always interesting to know how what we know starting out, so we can make connections.
I also had students ask some big questions they want to know the answers to:
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| How does a fish move in water?/How do octopus suckers work?/How do rabbits ears work?/ Do animals breathe at different speeds?/Can an elephant's tusk crack?/Can fish tails bend?/How do trees reproduce?/Why do people have toes? |
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| How do plants know to react?/What do muscles look like?/How do elephants have babies? /Does everything reproduce? /How do bones move?/ Do worms see? /Why do flowers have petals?/Does grass ever stop growing? /Can a bird's beak crack? |
I love these questions and I look forward to answering them with students over the coming weeks.
Sincerely,
Ms. Goegan
