MU Campus Connection Volume 4- Oreo Moon Phases

Another month has "orbited" by here in Room 27!!  Class-2H has been having an absolute blast during our Astronomy Unit.  We've been learning all about our solar system, planets, the sun, the moon, and constellations.  This week, we've been focusing on the moon.  Not only have we been immersed in both fiction and non-fiction texts about the moon, we've been stretching our scientific thinking to learn specifically about the phases of the moon. 

What shape does the moon take in the night sky?  Full moon, half moon, crescent...  different shapes you say? Well, all of these varying shapes are called phases of the moon.  No, the moon doesn't actually change shape.  It just reflects different amounts of sunlight based on the positions of the sun, the earth, and the moon.    

And why is this important for us here on Earth?  Well, us humans organize time based on the natural motions of the earth and the moon.  It takes about a MOONth (month) for the moon to complete one, single revolution around Earth.  During this monthly cycle, the moon goes through phases that repeat each month.  Check out a wall calendar to see if it marks the phases of the moon to show the repeating monthly pattern!

In order to demonstrate this abstract concept of the moon's phases, Class-2H used Oreos to represent the cyclical pattern of the phases of the moon!  What an awesome hands-on discovery activity, if you don't eat your moons!!  Here we are, super engaged, as we sculpt our Oreos to create the phases of the moon!  Room 27 is full of amazing astronomers :)


First, we had to prepare our phases on a plate.  We used a plate to highlight the cyclical nature of the moon's phases and because the moon is round!!  Be careful, don't let your hands get too close to the burning hot sun!!

Our astronomers have partially completely their Oreo moon phases at this point!  Even though Houston had a few problems with scraping off the correct amounts of icing, we all landed safely back on Earth in the end!  Can you find the full moon, new moon, and half moons on Sophia's model??  Is that also a crescent moon in her hand??!!

After completing our lunar mission, our excited astronauts showed off their hard work from space!  We even learned all about the waxing and waning phases of the moon!  I wonder if NASA has any job applications for Class-2H?!  We are ready for lift-off!!!

Sweet models!!!  They look good enough to eat ;)  We can't wait to use our moon models tomorrow to continue to examine the moon's patterns and learn more about the phases of the moon.  Astronomy rocks in Room 27!  I love my "team" of astronauts so much that I'd go to the moon and back for them!!

Class-2H wishes you and your families a happy holiday and a healthy new year!!!  See you back on our class blog in 2015!!

Monsters U- Campus Connection Volume 3

Class 2-H got a first-hand glimpse of life in a rural community yesterday at Green Meadows Farm!  From the amazing animals to the questionable smells, we immersed ourselves in farm life.  Checking out the inner workings of a farm was our first lesson in our new social studies unit on communities.  And what a hands-on experience it was!  Take a virtual field trip with us, as we reflect on our fun farming activities from yesterday!  

First stop, choosing our pumpkins!  Though some of us wanted to take home the largest pumpkins we could possibly find, the baby pumpkins wound up being the cutest (and easiest to carry)!  Sorry Ryan, you must find a more suitable pumpkin :)

Next stop on our tour...pony rides!!  Ride 'em cowboys and cowgirls!  Another mode of transportation used in rural communities.  We are all smiles!

After we got up close and personal with the ponies, it was time to moo-ve on to the cows!  The highlight of the trip was getting to milk a real, live cow!  Although a few of us opted out of this rural experience, most of us did an utterly good job of milking it!  Where do you think your milk comes from boys and girls?!

Then it was time to visit the smartest farm animal, and ironically also the cleanest farm animal...the pigs!  Oink, oink!!  Check out the mother sow!  She weighs in at over 400 pounds!  Look at all of the baby pigs in the litter though!  Only one of the small, pink babies was awake during our visit, but the "pig pen" was still a cool sight to see!

While most of the pigs rested, Class 2-H headed over to the hayride!  Tractors are very important on farms, and farm life would be devastatingly hard without them!

Finally, our last stop on the tour brought us to the sheep!  Here, we got to feed the furry animals!  The sheep were so gentle and cute!

Before we come to the end of our November Campus Connection, please enjoy some more happy faces below!!  We are loving life on a farm!

Thank you for taking a virtual tour with us, as we reflected back on yesterday's farm life experience.  Class 2-H definitely had a blast peeking at life in a rural community.  We hope you enjoyed watching our field trip unfold on your screen as much as we did in real life!  Time for us to explore other community types and to compare/contrast life in each setting. 

 Stay tuned for Monsters University Campus Connection 4!

Pumpkin Math 2.0!

Pumpkin Math returned to Room 27 in full force again this year!  Yesterday, Class 2-H spent the entire afternoon exploring a variety of math concepts.  It was ALL math, ALL afternoon!  Time flew by as we predicted, calculated, discussed, and engaged in problem solving activities.  From weight to circumference, Class 2-H was totally engrossed and up to our elbows (literally) in pumpkins!!  

First, we began by ordering our tables' pumpkins by size from LARGEST to smallest.  The Donald table had the largest pumpkin, and Mickey had the smallest.  See how we worked together as a team to arrange our pumpkins by size?!

Second, we predicted then counted the number of lines on the outside of each of our pumpkins.  Most of our predictions were very close to the actual number of lines!  

Next, we weighed our pumpkins to determine if the size and weight had any correlation.  Our findings suggested that the larger the pumpkin, the more it weighed!  Even though our predictions were not too accurate, we learned that predictions are just guesses!  As good mathematicians and scientists, we must check our work with actual measurements anyway!

After weighing each pumpkin and recording our data, we generated ideas about how to find the circumference of each pumpkin.  Our problem was that our rulers cannot bend!  How could we possibly measure them around the middle?!  Well, after a group brainstorm, we decided to use string to measure the circumference.  We worked cooperatively to cut the string to the exact size, then measured the length of the string using both non-standard measurement (unifix cubes) and standard measurement (inches).  Additionally, we had to figure out how to measure the length of our strings in inches if the string was longer than a 12 inch ruler.  Some of us solved this problem by using a yard stick, other tables lined up a few rulers in a straight line, and yet other tables used fingers to mark the ending points of each ruler.  Check us out working diligently!!

Once we had the circumference recorded on our activity sheets, we moved on to the messiest part of the lesson!  It might have been a messy time, but it was a good time indeed!!  We carefully took turns using special pumpkin knives to cut the tops off our pumpkins.  

Then, each group devised their own plans on how to best count the number of seeds in their pumpkin!  Again, our predictions were definitely lower than the actual seed count, but we were able to discover this information by performing inquiry-based science!  So much FUN!!  Most groups decided that the most efficient way to count all those seeds was to count by groups of ten.  That led to an introductory discussion about multiplication!  See how math is all interconnected?! We even got to write on the tables to keep track of our counting!

At the end of the lesson, we found that the smallest pumpkin had the second highest amount of seeds (510)!  The largest pumpkin had less with only 483 seeds.  We realized that the size of the pumpkin DOES NOT determine the number of seeds!  Finally, the book How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? told us that the more lines a pumpkin has on the outside, the more seeds it contains on the inside!  AND, the longer the pumpkin grows on the vine, the more lines/seeds it will have and the darker it will be in color!  Who knew?!  We just had to record this finding on our activity sheets!!  WOW!!

Class 2-H hopes you enjoyed our Pumpkin Math lesson as much as we did!  We are signing off for now, as we have so much more to discover and explore!  Stay tuned for our November blog :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!