Posted on No Comments on Aquarium Field Trip

Aquarium Field Trip

On Wednesday we had an amazing field trip to the Vancouver Aquarium!  We have been learning about aquatic animals and this was a great opportunity to see them in real life.

We participated in the “Staying Alive” workshop, where students learned how different animals adapt to their environment.  We examined a “creature” and made hypotheses about his environment.  Then each group went around the aquarium with a knowledgeable guide.  We got to touch a perch, a sea star, an urchin, and a sea otter pelt!

Some of my favourite animals were the jellies and the belugas.  Watching the jellies move is mesmerizing, and the variety of species is quite impressive.  Check them out on the aquarium’s webcam.  My group also spent at least 20 minutes watching the belugas from underwater.  It is amazing to me that such huge animals can move so gracefully.  We saw one jump out of the water and dive down with a big splash!

During the day we also had time to research our big questions, sketch the animals, and write some poetry.  We are going to use this work as inspiration for our art show project.  Stay tuned for more details coming soon!  Thanks to student and parent photographers for these images.

Posted on 2 Comments on Grade Two Math Games

Grade Two Math Games

The Grade Twos in Division 7 and 8 are learning about numbers to 100.  If you are looking for some educational games to help reinforce what we are learning at school, here are my top picks.

We have been practicing counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s.  This connect the dot game lets you choose what number you would like to count by, while this one is just by ones up to 100.

We’ve also been looking at patterns on the hundreds chart.  This game lets you fill in missing numbers (choose the 1-100 chart).  If you feel like more of a challenge, in this game you have to find fireworks hidden in the chart, but the numbers aren’t shown.  Count down the tens column then on by ones to find what you are looking for.

Soon we will be talking about the value of numbers, and how to show them as groups of tens and ones.  This game lets you build numbers using base ten blocks just like the ones we have at school.  We will also be comparing numbers, although we only use the equal sign and unequal sign, not the greater than (>) and less than (<) signs.  If you’d like to play this racing game, think about the two signs as greedy birds, they always open their beaks to the bigger number.  Choose level one for numbers to 100.

One last site, Figure This! had math challenges for families.  They cover a wide range of topics, and are designed to be talked about and solved together.  Hope this inspires you to have some math fun!

Posted on No Comments on Aquatic Animal Inquiry

Aquatic Animal Inquiry

This week we started our inquiry unit on aquatic animals, which will be our big focus this fall.  On Tuesday we made mind maps to organize what we already knew about aquatic animals.  Today we spent some time reading books from the library, and recording things we learned and things that we wondered.  The students came up with some very interesting information, and good questions to investigate further.

Things we learned…

  • I learned sea stars can have over 100 legs.  -AA
  • I learned that dolphins can live up to 50 years old.  -AJL
  • I learned stingrays and guppies don’t lay eggs.  – LE
  • I learned a seahorse is not a horse, it’s a type of fish.  -DJ
  • Did you know tiger shark jaws are stronger than a great white shark?  -GG
  • I learned that dolphins have smooth skin.  -TS
  • I learned coral reefs are the busiest places in the ocean.  -MC
  • I learned that sea turtles in the wild can live to 100 years.  -JNS
  • The blue whale’s heart is the size of a small car.  -ZG

…and wondered…

  • I wonder how fish can talk to each other.  -OR
  • How does seaweed eat?  -LM
  • I wonder how sharks can go 45 days without eating.  -DG
  • Why are some seashells different?  -MS
  • I wonder why sunlight can’t reach the ocean floor?  -ET
  • I wonder why jellyfish are sometimes called jellies.  -SS

…and learning which led to wondering!

  • There are nine species of hammerhead sharks.  I wonder what they are called.  -VW
  • I learned that jelly fish eggs just float away from the mother.  I wonder how many eggs a jelly fish lays.  -ES
  • I learned elephant seals can weigh 3 tons.  I wonder how big a 3 ton seal is.  -SV
  • I didn’t know what a sea dragon was.  I wonder why the sea dragon looks the way it does.  -AW
  • I learned that the biggest blue whale is longer than a basketball court.  I wonder if they are bigger than my house!  -BL