Is it a worm or a caterpillar?

Guess what we found on the playground? Well we didn't know for sure at first either.  The students all had an opinion and so we did some research. This was a group activity.  Below is the Venn Diagram we did to decide if it was a caterpillar or a worm.  

After we did that, we did some research to find out.  We discovered it is actually an inch worm which is a type of caterpillar. The students each wrote about what they learned and we made the display below.  

How Many People Can your boat hold?

So there is this really fun and exciting experiment where students build aluminum foil boats.  Before they do, we talk about what a boat is and what shapes might be. After they have all built one, with no tape or glue, we put it in a tub of water and see how many people it can hold before it sinks.  The students love this activity.  I didn't get any pictures of the boats with the students this year.  If I think about it, I can post some from last year later.  The activity takes a long time but it is worth it in many ways.  We have to count each of the people which can be a struggle for some of the students (this year we did it at the beginning).  

After the students finished, we wrote in our science journals.  The students were able to record what they did and what they learned.  

We also had this chart with their estimate and the actual number their boat held.  When we finished, we discussed the best way to fold the boat so that it can hold the most people. 

October Science Projects

First graders have very curious minds.  This year I have been trying to let them have more exploration.  The science journals have helped.  They also allow an outlet for the students to record their explorations.  I hope to use them more effectively as time goes on.  This October, my class was showing great interest in researching different things.  Before I explain their projects and how we did  them, let me note that this was a lot of work for me as the teacher.  I have learned things and ways to make it easier in the future.  Even though it was difficullt, it was worth it.  I started out by limiting what they could study otherwise it would have been too much  for me.  Since Halloween was close, bats and owls were popular.  Some however, did not want to study this so I gave them the option of birds.  I began by having them write down what they wanted to study on an index card.  I also had them write down what kind of project they wanted to do.  Below are some of the cards.  I took the information and paired the students up according to topic and project.  Some of the projects changed over time, but this gave a starting point.

I know I am slow at updating. I started about six posts but never finished them. I'm going to try to do that now. 

Below are some of the projects they came up with, mostly on their own.  

On the picture below, I wanted to point out the two bats on the left.  The boys had no trouble writing their books, but the real learning came when they tried to make a model of the bats.  This is about their fifth attempt to get it close to proportional.  They learned a lot about the body of the bat. 

We learned that some bats eat about 2000 insects a night.  Two of my girls were like, "how many is 2000?" They wanted to see how many it was so they could understand. We came up with the idea to put one bead for each insect.  The girls counted groups of 10 and then put 10 groups of 10 into a little cup to make 100.  This helped them keep track of how many they had. It was a really big help since this took them several days to complete.

There were three students who wanted to study owls.  The picture below was made by one of the students.  The torn paper represents the owl's feathers.  Below that is a book that the whole group made.  Each student made one page in the book.  

Two of my boys were interested in where bats lived.  At first, they wanted to mark where EVERY bat lived.  We decided that was WAY too much.  Using a map and trying to make a simple legend was difficult for them.  It was their first experience trying to do anything like this.  

The picture below is the beginning stages of two of the models above.  They are the beginnings of a bird and a bat.  In this group, the two compared/contrasted the two.  The clay they used was better than I expected.  Also, it was not too expensive.  Two more students made models but I can't find the pictures of this stage.  They are, however, the two birds in the first project picture. Those that choose a model also had to write a little book about what they learned.  

Sorry some of the pictures aren't too great but you can get the idea.  I have tons more but they have my students' faces in them and I can't post those online. 

Pumpkin carving

Yesterday, we carved pumpkins. I have lots of pics of this fun activity but since the kids are in them, I will only post what they looked like at the end. I am so grateful to the parents that came in to help with this activity! Just as a note, the parents were the only ones allowed to touch the knives. I know some of you were worried about that so I thought I would put an end to your fears :) The students pulled out the seeds and pulp. They also worked together in pairs to decide how they wanted their pumpkin carved. Some needed adult help to know what could be carved and what was not possible. The students then separated the seeds from the pulp while the parent carved the face. In case you are wondering, both this year and last year, the boys were grossed out by putting their hand in the pumpkin. I even had one throw up this year! The girls had no problems! 

Here they are outside my door. 

We kept each pumpkins' seeds separate. I took them home and cleaned them all. I kept out three of the pumpkins' seeds for us to count today. The rest I cooked. I made one set with salt, one with garlic salt, and one with cinnamon and sugar. The students then got to taste them today. 

Counting the seeds is a BIG project. The students need help figuring out a way to count them in a reasonable way. We learn about place value with this project. The students make sets of 10 and combine 10 of those to make 100. Here is what they looked like when they were done: 

We then held up the pumpkins and had the other students guess how many seeds there were in each pumpkin. The students guessed outrageously. They also thought that the smaller the pumpkin, the less the seeds. This is not always the case. It has to do with how old the pumpkin is when it is picked. In this case it worked out that the smaller one had the least, however it only had 15 less then the medium sized one which was quite a bit larger. Here are the pumpkins with the papers. 

This last picture is of all three of them together so you can get a better idea. (Ignore the mess on my table in the background) 

This was a fun activity but it does take awhile and really teaches what tens and hundreds means. Several of my students wanted to guess what ten was and put that many in a group without counting but then their numbers were off and they would have to go fix them. I did this whole group last year and it was easier. However, I did prefer doing smaller groups because the students were more involved and therefor got more out of the experience. 

After having the students count, it is fun to read this book (below). It is about a class that counts pumpkin seeds. It also explains why sometimes smaller pumpkins have more seeds then bigger pumpkins. My students really enjoy the book. 

Pumpkin fun!

So I have done quite a bit this year with my first graders and pumpkins. We have read lots of books and learned quite a bit. Last Friday, we read and looked at several books that detailed the life cycle of a pumpkin. After that, I have my students a blank sheet of paper and has them draw a flow map with the pumpkin life cycle. I told them they needed at least three steps in their flow map. They had to draw a picture and then label each one. Before, I have always given them pictures or other support to help with this type of activity. This year, mostly because of the group of students and other activities we have done, I felt like they could handle the assignment in this way. The kids really enjoyed creating their own flow map and for the most part did really well. I was surprised by much they remembered and how they represented it. It just goes to show that if we reasonably raise expectations, the students are capable of meeting them. Here is how I hung it in the hallway. 

Notice the number spiders around it. The students thought that it was funny that the spiders were "climbing" on their pumpkins. Here is a close up of the spiders.