Tryon Creek and Tryon Creek Farm

We had a lovely time on our field trip to Tryon Creek.  The weather was beautiful and we hiked for almost 3 hours.  We had a chance to pretend to be explorers when we lost our way on unmarked trails trying to get from the park to the farm.  It was quite an experience!

At the farm, we learned about community building and how to sustain completely on a farm.  We met chickens and goats, visited a greenhouse, and did an amazing scavenger hunt.

Queen for a Day!

Today we had a visitor named, Queen Isabella, from Spain.  We mostly called her, "Your Majesty." 
She visited and looked over our proposals for money so we could build our ships and explore uncharted territory. 

Once our proposal was accepted, we purchased materials and started building right away.  The results were quite fantastic. 

Student pictures by Paige L.

Science Fair

Fifth graders worked very hard during the month of January on their Science Fair projects.  I am very proud of all of their diligent work! 

Please see the picture below of our 5th graders who placed for their Science Fair projects. 

Photo by Julianne  (Not pictured: Josiah)

Tom Sawyer Boats

As you may know, Tom Sawyer ran away to a nearby island on a stolen boat.  In class, we fashioned our own boats using a specific group of potential materials: milk cartons, balloons, straws, labels, cotton balls, popsicle sticks, yarn and aluminum foil. 

Students were very creative engineers.  Their engineering goals were to create a boat that was buoyant and that could withstand any type of weather condition, which ended up being a fierce wind! 

Photos by Allison

Play Dough Cells

I think we have managed to use most of our classroom materials to make one kind of cell or another.  Here are some pictures of us making plant and animal cells out of play dough. 

Jello Cells!

Today in class we made Jello cells!  Most of them traveled home today, but some will be coming home on Monday. 

Ask your student what the following items symbolized in a real cell: 

Ziploc bag (cell membrane)
Jello  (cytoplasm)
Pinto Bean (mitochondria)
Lemonhead (nucleus)
Pasta noodle (vacuoles) 

We also created cell analogies.  Students had to choose something from the real world and compare it's parts to that of a cell.  The picture below is how a house is like a cell. 

Pictures by Makana Stores

Tom Sawyer

Today in class we began sharing our handkerchiefs with items that were deemed fit for survival and those of significant value.  One observation we made from the students thus far is most of them would not be developing chapped lips! 

There were some very thoughtful and creative items shared and I could tell that a lot of thought and effort was put into them.