Bears...Oh My!

The Burlington Science Center has a very interesting interactive bear exhibit in our hallway this week.  We did a fun scavenger hunt today to learn all about bears.  Check out the photos of our class and some of the neat things we learned.

We used posters, books, and bears to answer the questions on our scavenger hunt.

David, Brian, Taylor, Alex, and Devin learned Kodiak bears live in Alaska and weigh up to 1,500 lbs!

Many of us really liked the Polar Bear.  Check out the size of its feet!

We made connections to bears in movies, tv shows, commercials, sports, books, etc. Can you figure out who these bears are?

Of course we all touched the model of the bear scat!

Tyson and Atharve examined the different parts of the baby bear and figured out why it is in a tree.

Wow!  A bear's paw print is HUGE!

We even learned ways we can protect bears and ourselves.

Stefani makes an observation about the Kodiak bear's claws, while Maitri and Elizabeth look on.

We all worked really hard and learned a lot about bears.

Stefani now understands why the Polar Bear is the largest bear in the world.  It is GIGANTIC!

Thank you to the Burlington Science Center for bringing this awesome exhibit to our school.

Heirlooms, Ethnicity, and Traditions

This week we explored where our ancestors came from with our senior citizen friends.  We determined a lot of our families are from European countries.  It was so fun sharing family heirlooms and traditions.  Check out the pictures below of some of the interesting things that were brought in!

If you look closely, this plate has a calendar around the rim from the early 1900's.

Our radios look very different today!

This rooster is from Portugal.  There is a really interesting story about why the rooster is considered lucky.

Russian candle holders.

A bracelet from Germany, an Italian Santa candle, an Irish teapot, and a piece of a house built in the 1800's in Ireland.

Taylor and Carlie put stickers on the map to show where their ancestors are from.

The Super Crayons

The Games Group

Animal Kingdom

Active Group

What's the Matter?

Mr. Musselman came in with a very peculiar type of matter today.  We were challenged with trying to identify if is a solid, a liquid, or a gas.  We made some scientific observation using our senses.  Check us out below as we tried to figure out what this bizarre matter was!

Jack and Justin use popsicle sticks to pull the matter.

Jack B. noticed that the matter can hold air in the form of bubbles.

Mr. Musselman helped demonstrated whether or not the matter kept its shape.

Taylor and Atharve tested whether the matter was a solid, a liquid, or a gas.

Maitri and David wondered if it was glue.

BRIDGES!

Room 213ELA is now participating in an amazing program called Bridges: Growing Older, Growing Together.  We have 8 volunteers from the community who are coming into our classroom once a week and doing activities with us.  Last week was a meet and greet when we got to get to know each other and create a group name.  This week our students took their volunteers for a tour of Pine Glen.  We also compared our school experiences today with their experiences in the past.  We learned so many things, like how the number of students in classes were much larger (40 students!) than today and how they sat in rows.  One volunteer even explained that there was a boys entrance and a girls entrance into the school!  The program has been a huge hit thus far and we are so excited to have new friends in 213.

Check out the pictures of our groups below!

The Active Group

Super 6 Crayons Group

Games Group

Animal Kingdom Group on their tour of Pine Glen

Active Group checking out the artwork in the PG hallways

Stay tuned because there were some people taking photographs and interviewing us for The Burlington Union! :o)