Mrs. Stoll's Class Blog

Our class has a wonderful outdoor garden.  This fall we planted lettuce and spinach plants.  We still have a huge basil plant from last spring.  So today while we were observing our lettuce and spinach we decided to harvest some basil and make pesto.  We are so lucky that the basil is still growing but not for long.  As soon as we get our first frost or freeze (below 32 degrees) the basil plant will die.  It is an annual plant and will need to be planted again at the beginning of spring.  Here in Texas we could get a freeze around the end of October or beginning of November.  We also have a very large cherry tomato plant still producing tomatoes from the spring.  We hope to make a class salad as soon as our lettuce is big enough.

Do you have a school garden?  What do you have in your garden?  What have you learned about having a school or classroom garden?  What should we plant this spring?  Having a garden is hard work and needs a lot of attention.  What do you like best about having a class garden?

YEA!  The monarch caterpillars are back in Central Texas.  We have 10 monarch caterpillars in the classroom.  They have been very busy eating the milkweed we have brought in.  The milkweed grows wild along the highways in Dripping Springs.  Today our first butterfly emerged from its chrysalis and then about an hour later we found a butterfly on a potted plant by our window.  We had lost a caterpillar about 10 days ago and could not find it.  Well it crawled along the counter, up a pot and found a special place to spin its chrysalis.  Today it emerged to the very excited screams of 22 students.  AMAZING!  Science life cycles at work in our classroom.

Monarch butterfly

Life Cycle at Work in Our Classroom

We also have 22 painted lady butterflies for the EmilyAnne Butterfly Festival.  They also started as caterpillars.  We measured them, fed them, and watched them changed and transform into butterflies.  From our classroom garden, we collected black swallowtail caterpillars off our dill plants.  They are still eating the dill.  Can’t wait to see what they do next.

What have you enjoyed most about having the caterpillars in our classroom?  What have you learned about science, life cycles, details about butterlies, or more?  How have you taken what you have leared in science and used it in your life this school year?

In this investigation we learned about the differint properties of bird beaks. Some of the activitys were straining greens from a tub of water, ripping marshmallows from strings, and catching popcorn. To do this we had to use a differint variety of beak representations. Unfortunately , we only got to do 7 out of the 8 stations available.

Science Adaptations

What was your favorite station? What was your favorite bird?  What did you learn about animal adaptations from this investigation?  You can answer these questions in your response.

For Science this week we have been studying “Product Claims”.

Testing Popcorn’s prodcut claims

Investigating what the product claims to provide or do and then testing these products to see if they really hold up to their claims.  We tested several products – popcorn, mint gum, and airfreshener.  We also collected magazine and newspaper ads with product claims to compare advertising strategies and techniques.  The students also watched TV to compare TV advertisement claims to written advertisement.  Tell us about products you have bought based on their “Claims”.   Did you feel the product upheld their claims?  Did the advertisement or claims help you decide which product to purchase?

This week in Science we’ve been observing Warblettes.  During this investigation the students are learning how to observe in a scientific investivation – using Qualitative and Quantitative observation strategies and how to use Science vocabulary to record their findings – we are all scientists.  We observed our Warblettes over three days – first in the small bead form, next after adding it to a cup of water, then over the next two days while in and out of the water.  What changes did you observe?   Students were asked to add a metaphor to describe their Warblette.

My example was:  My day 1 warblette is like a grain of sand.  The students were very creative in their metaphors.

Please post a comment :  add your metaphor, your reflection or question you might still have from this investigation, or your observations.  What did you learn from this investigation?

Woodland Terrarium 

This week we built 2 class terrariums.

The first one is a carnivorous plants terrarium and the other one has ferns and mosses.  Share with the class what you have learned about a terrarium.

You can build a class or individual terrariums too.  Here is a great website to help you get started.

Terrarium Man