Many more pictures and movies to be posted. Students really enjoyed the university campus and learned a lot of useful information. The Bush Library was outstanding as always and had many displays on DNA and genetics this year.
Smith fifth graders visit Aggies for the day!
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Smith has the best beaks!
Today we had a fine feathered time exploring with different bird beaks to get a better understanding about animal adaptations. Above is the ripping action of a hawk beak tearing apart its prey!
Animation made simple with science characters
Today we made unique animals in our class. The newly created animals had to show how they found food, protected themslves, and moved around. I wanted to show my team how fast it would be to make a short animation movie with these creatures, showing off the animal characters and adaptations. Our principal just delivered a new iPad to each of his teachers and I really want the team to see how easy they are to use. This is a dinky movie made only to show the possibilities. We took 3 minutes to take the pictures, 2 minutes to make the slides on Movie Maker Live and 1 minute to pick a fast tune. So don’t get too excited, but use this as a launching pad as to what could be…
Smith Skeeter Geobug is ready for Opening Day with the Round Rock Express
Human Report:
Picked this up from my first cache near work!! I will be leaving it soon in a cache in Round Rock near the Dell diamond home of the Round Rock Express (Triple-A Minor league Baseball) player development team for the Texas Rangers!!
Interesting facts awaiting my class. The Round Rock Express has three owners including Nolan Ryan, and they are a Triple A baseball team associated with the Texas Rangers. Also the town was originally named Brushy named after Brushy Creek. The post office actually asked Brushy to pick another name because there was already a Brushy in Texas. The Chisholm trail passes nearby. The Chisholm trail was famous for getting cattle from the Southwest to the Midwest.
What materials would keep my house just the right temperature?
Earlier in the year we experimented with different types of materials including fur, diapers, sod, newspaper and cardboard and we proved with data and graphs the best materials for building a house. We related how animals survived in the wild with extreme cold and hot temperatures. This was another fantastic activity. Tried to use Vimeo with no luck today so I just played with some of Splice’s features that I never have time for during the school week.
I wish I could dissect owl pellets every day
I heard this the entire class period inbetween, gross, this is just not right. Then we ramped up the comments when we viewed a movie watching the owls bring up their pellets from their stomachs mouths. We even saw a clip of someone who collects these pellets for a living.
This post and movie were all done on my iPad for the first time. I am using Splice but haven’t found another free alternative yet that works with my older iPad.
Smith fifth students generate original probability date and make predictions
This activity was loved by our students because they really enjoyed walking around the room to collect data. Still using Animoto after again exploring other sites today. Most want to charge you to download or share on YouTube, so I think that I will stick with Animoto. Tomorrow I might try some iPad apps instead. I always am happy with MovieMaker Live at school. It is a great product and allows a bit more creativity.
Math Rules at Smith fifth grade
Post math rules renamed in student’s name this year and watch your students sit up a bit more prouder when you use them during math.
Smith students’ collaborative habitats
It was fantastic to hear the discussions while students created habitats for their selected animals this year. Lots of discussions using outstanding vocabulary (climate, freshwater, salt water, predators, shelter, etc.) Students were to focus and discuss living and non-living examples in their presentations.
New Smith purple martin scientific team
The word is out in Brazil. Smith Elementary is again a safe haven for purple martins. After losing one birdhouse in 2013, birds have returned to us in huge numbers covering our gourds and remaining house. Third grade teacher Marco Vazquez reports that the courtyard is filled with action and witnessed the acrobatics of two male martins wiz by his cheek.
Above is our 5th year new student team of purple martin bird experts. They will count the martins and eggs and prepare records for the Purple Martin Conservation Society’s scientist studying threats to the martin popluation. They spent the first two weeks learning about the differences of martin and sparrow nest construction.
