Last Days of School: So Glad and So Sad!

Beach and Field Day

One Last Treasure Hunt

Maps, Directions, Secret Codes, Treasure Chests

  

It has been a treasure filled year in the Navigators' classroom. 

The Navigators probably portrayed it best in their poems entitled

 "I Am a Gem."

Here are some excerpts put together in a group poem:

I am a Gem

I am a gem.

I am strong. 

I am interested in science. 

I like to do things with my hands. 

I am good at being a son.

I hope I can save the earth.

People like me.

I help the world.

I can help people.

I am good at math.

I like to be at school.

I like to learn new things.

I hope I can be a geologist.

I'm into cool stuff.

I'm precious like aquamarine.

I'm loved by my dad.

I am friendly.

I am so precious.

I am good at everything.

I like to ride my bike.

My mom and dad take care of me.

I like to play at recess.

I can play Roblox.

I hope I can see Bill Gates.

I love my mom.

I will make Youtube videos.

I like riding my bike.

I feel happy!

I hope I can run more.

I like dogs.

I like my mom.

I can swim.

I am good at swimming.

I am interested in singing.

I am beautiful.

I am cool.

I am nice.

I am a gem. 

Seabury students are often sad on the last day of school. As one Navigator put it, "I wish I could just live at Seabury." 

The good news is that we'll all see each other next year!

Have a great summer, Navigators!!

And remember, "once a Navigator, always a Navigator,

near and dear to my heart!"

xoxox Mrs. Towne

STEM MISSION: BUILD AN EARTHQUAKE PROOF BUILDING

Having learned that we live in an earthquake zone, we set to work designing an earthquake proof building. Working in groups of two to three, we came up with ideas and designs, made plans with a limited $30 budget, went shopping, constructed our buildings, tested, made modifications and retested. 

The planning and design stage:

Shopping for supplies:

 $8 Cardboard  $3 Tape  $3 Paper Plate  $5 Index Cards  $4 Aluminum foil  $2 Construction paper  $2 Pipe cleaner  $4 Water Bottle  $2 Paper Clips  $3 Toilet paper tube  $6 Paper towel tube  $6 Craft sticks  $3 Straws  $3 Paper Cup  $2 Glue  $5 Cotton Balls  $1 Pencil  $3 Yarn  $3 Toothpicks

The construction stage:

The presentation and testing stage:

We went back to the drawing board, adjusted our buildings and 

then re-tested using a real shake machine.

We learned many things about making an earthquake proof building:

• A broad foundation is helpful.
• Others have good ideas.
• You can spend $30 really fast.
• If you buy something and it doesn't work, sometimes you can't return it. 
• Don't spend all your money right way. 
• The half-off sale was a great surprise!
• Pencil erasers work well for support and for cushioning.
• The $8 cardboard was worth the investment.
• Tape is our friend. 
• Not much can withstand "the big one" (We can make very "big ones," ones that are off the Richter Scale!)
  

And in the process we also learned

• Engineering
• Collaboration
• Planning
• Budgeting
• Good business practices
• Counting money
• Receiving change
• Division
• Determination
• Problem solving
• Learning from mistakes
• The science of seismology
• And more!

STEM checklist:

• SCIENCE: geology, seismology
• TECHNOLOGY: We discovered the technology of earthquake proofing at this website: http://imaginationstationtoledo.org/educator/activities/can-you-build-an-earthquake-proof-building
• ENGINEERING: the planning and construction of the building, testing
• MATH: staying within the $30 budget, counting money, adding, multiplying, division

STEM MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

Rock and Roll...

...as in rocks and tectonic plates!

Even though we're six and seven years old, we can study subjects that are often not focused on until middle or high school.

Obviously, these first graders love geology, especially when there's lots to touch, lots to eat and lots to explode!

Rocks rock!

Describing rocks

Sedimentator tubes help us to understand sedimentation

and sedimentary rocks

Shaking it up and letting it settle.

Working like a scientist--keen observation skills

An igneous rock formed by great heat (as in Microwave)

Mining our earth's precious treasures - its natural resources

Making Epsom salt crystals

The crystals grow as long needles.

 

Using our microscopes, we look for and compare crystals in other substances.

Tectonic plates "floating" on magma

Tectonic plates colliding

Tectonic plates sliding

Subduction zone!

The subduction zone is a hotbed for volcanoes. 

The magma oozes up through cracks.

Continental collision zone = fold mountains

Lava is magma that reaches the surface of the earth through a volcano vent. 

And it is yummy! Who knew?

  

The Ring of Fire

The sloped playground is perfect to show the lahar zones of our volcanoes!

We've had so much fun rocking and rolling.

We even sing a song about it!

Rocks Song by Peter Weatherall

Be sure to check out the Gemstones blog, Thinking About Continental Drift, to learn more about tectonic plates!

Treasures Within: Cracking Open Our Geodes

There's nothing like getting out our hammers 

and opening up geodes. 

The squeals of wonder were delightful!

The same is true for this teacher, as I have seen (not by hammering but by gentle prodding!) the inside gems of my multi-faceted first-grade Navigators. Absolutely delightful!