Elementary Science

January 21

  1. Read the handout about Songbirds of the Pacific Northwest.  The last page is a chart for you to fill in about the three songbirds — junco, chickadee, and goldfinch.  Just write words — no sentences.
  2. Color the American Goldfinch and the Black-capped Chickadee.

January 14

Owl pellets are the remains of small mammals eaten by Barn Owls.  Often an own will swallow its prey whole.  Because they can’t digest fur and bones, they cough those parts up!  Scientists collect owl pellets for research: by studying the skeletons of little mammals, they can understand how many of them live in an area!

  1. Read the handout called “Barn Owls”.
  2. Answer the questions at the end of the handout. Make sure you use your own paper and write in complete sentences!
  3. Color the Barn Owl picture.

January 7

Did you know that we live in a region called the Pacific Northwest?  Did you know that the PNW (that’s an abbreviation!) is home to many, many special animals?  We’re going to study several PNW animals in the next four months!

  1. Today we labeled some maps.
    1. On your USA map, color each state you have visited with a different color. Make a “key” on your map with the color and the name of those states.
    2. On your PNW map, finish coloring it nicely.Color the mountain ranges brown, and the rest of the land green.  Ask your parents to point to approximately where your house is (Port Orchard?  Gig Harbor?)  Draw a teeny-tiny red star there.
    3. Begin to learn where special PNW places are on the map! In a week or two I will ask you to show me where these are—
      • Puget Sound
      • Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, Mt. Adams, Mt. St Helens
      • Olympic Mountains
      • Cascade Mountains
      • Pacific Ocean
      • Canada
      • Oregon
  1. Read the handout The Geography of the Pacific Northwest. Answer the questions on notebook paper.  Put them inside of your Nature Journal.  If you were absent today, here is the handout — Geography of PNW reading assignment

November 19

We investigated another member of Kingdom Fungi today:  yeast.  Who knew yeast were such special living organisms, right?

Please read pages 200-203.  Write the definitions of these vocabulary words:

  • Mycology
  • Yeasts
  • Unicellular
  • Parasite

Put your yeast experiment handout into your Nature Journal.

Next week we’ll review everything we’ve learned about botany this year by playing a team game!  You can prepare to be a good team player by looking back at your Nature Journal pages and remembering what you’ve learned.

And, last of all, your November Nature Journal pages are due.  This time I’ve created a checklist so that you’ll know exactly what to turn in.  I gave that to you today, and we put it in the “November” section of your journal.  Staple all your November pages, in order, to the Checklist.

November 12

Fungus!  Aren’t they cool…and weird?  We found several interesting specimens today; good huntin!

This week, please read pages 200-201, and then skip pages to 207-214,  I’m sure you will recognize several of your specimens in the descriptions on those pages.

Vocabulary words:  mycelium, gill mushrooms, spores.

Then, do Activity 14.4 on page 215.  You don’t have to identify any mushrooms, but see what kinds you can find in your own backyard, and draw sketches of them for your Nature Journal.

November 5

Wasn’t it interesting to try and classify fruit?  Some of those categories are difficult to understand, especially if you’re unfamiliar with certain fruits!

This week, please read from page 80 – 90.

For your notebook, write simple definitions for the six different types of seed dispersal:

  1. Human
  2. Animal
  3. Water
  4. Wind
  5. Mechanical

October 29

Today we investigated the fruits of a pumpkin plant!  We weighed them, measured their height and their circumference, and we counted their seeds.

Make sure you have answered all of the questions about your pumpkin in your Pumpkin Activities handout.  Put it in your Nature Journal for October.

Next week I will collect all of your October pages!

Last of all, please read pages 77-80 in your book.  For vocabulary this week, explain the difference between a fruit and a vegetable.

 

October 22

Watch your seeds grow!  Ask your mom if you can tape them to a sunny window, and then check on them every day.  Use a ruler to measure how fast they grow and record their growth on the charts I gave you.

Also, complete the handout about the Oak Tree.  Put it in your journal.

Bring your seeds to class next week!

October 15

Aren’t Tree Cookies cool?  We can learn a lot about a tree by observing its rings — more than just the age of the tree!  We can learn about the growing conditions during the tree’s life, about any forest fires the tree survived, even if the tree grew on a slope!

You observed and measured a tree cookie in class.  Both pages belong in your Nature Journal.

I also gave you a page called “Tree Anatomy.”  Please make a “color key” for the cookie and color it nicely.

Below is a link to another tree cookie activity.  It is called “My Life in a Tree Cookie.”  Do this and put it in your Nature Journal.

Life in a Tree Cookie

Lastly, read pages 166-168.  Write definitions for “gymnosperm” and “conifer”.

October 8

Zowie!  You were terrific junior scientists today!  In our pinecone lab you observed what a dry pinecone looked like, and you saw how it changed in hot water and in cold water.  Please make sure you put your lab paper inside your Nature Journal, in the October section.

We are starting Lesson 10, Trees.  Please read pages 152-157.  Write definitions for these vocabulary words:

  1. Seedling
  2. Sapling
  3. Masting

October 1

Today we learned about leaf anatomy!  Please read pages 103 – 107 to see how botanists use leaf venation, margins, and shape to classify leaves.

Then, just like we did in class today, you will go outside and find at least THREE leaves.  Use them to do Activity 6.8 on page 108.  Draw each leaf (you can trace, or you can draw) including the leaf veins.  Then, label each one with venation (page 104), shape (page 105-106), and margins (page 107).  Of course, you are welcome to color your leaves, too!  The activity directions tell you to use Mod Podge and hang them to dry…but NO.  We’ll do something like that in class in a couple of weeks.

Your vocabulary words this week are below.  Please write their definitions and put them in your Nature Journal under the “October” tab.

  1. Anatomy
  2. Apex
  3. Midrib
  4. Margin

 

September 24

We’re skipping up to Chapter 6, Leaves, in our book for now.  This chapter tells us how plants make their own food through photosynthesis.  It also teaches us about “leaf anatomy”.

This week, please do these activities –

  1. Read pages 94-98.
  2. Write definitions for stoma, consumer, producer, photosynthesis.

(Parents – your student is welcome to keep a “vocabulary words” page and add to it each week, rather than using a separate piece of notebook paper.)

  1. Use the Activity 6.1 handout I gave you to answer questions about our lab today.
  2. Color the photosynthesis drawing and put it in your Nature Journal.

Next week I am collecting ALL of your homework so far for the month of September!  So, you’ll give me all of your vocabulary definitions, all of the coloring pages from today, and both lab reports (Walking Water and Burning a Candle in a Jar).

September 17

Thank you for doing a terrific job on your Nature Journal pages. Drawing is an important part of botany.  You don’t have to be an artist to draw what you see!  In the future, please color your drawings also. Thanks.

  • This week, please read pages 23-28.
  • Write definitions for “vascular” and “nonvascular” and add them to your Nature Journal.
  • Answer the questions on the handout I gave you called “Walking Water Without a Vascular System”. Put the handout in your Nature Journal.  Be sure to color the water in the cups!

September 10

Hello Elementary Scientists!  I am so happy you are in class with me.

Today we talked about “botany”, and we went on a field trip into our forest!  Do you remember what plants we found?  Can you tell your family about our scavenger hunt?

For homework, please do these —

  1. Read pages 14- 22.  You may read them by yourself, or a parent can read them to you.
  2. Define these vocabulary words on a piece of notebook paper.  Keep it in your journal.
    1.  bio
    2. logy
    3. botanist
  3. Complete Activity 1.3 on page 21.  Use the handout I gave you in class today.
  4. Design a notebook cover for your Nature Journal.  Follow these directions:
    1. Title must be “My Nature Journal”
    2. Write your first and last name below the title.
    3. Write “Elementary Science” below your name, and “2024-25”Then, draw and color a nature scene, or find one to use, or print my template from here.  Make sure it shows plants of our home, not of the Arctic or South America, for example!

My Nature Journal

Thank you!  Keep all your homework pages inside your Nature Journal.  Bring your journal to class every week.