Thursday 27 September 2012

Learning to be Naturalists


In Grade 3 students have been working on taking notes based on careful observations and measurements.   During the month of September the students are practicing making accurate measurements of length using the metric units of centimeters and meters.  That includes measuring the height of each child in the class and measuring other interesting objects and animals around the science room. 

 But, careful observations are also central to scientific understanding.  As part of our science lessons we have been making weather and nature observations in the courtyard area adjacent to the Grade 3 classrooms.  After making the first set of observations we read a book about the observations that one child might make in visiting one location in the neighborhood over the course of several months.  





My Nature Notebook
My Nature Notebook shows how a small spot on the forest floor, where things grow, die, and decompose, changes over several months, and what a child's notebook recording those changes looks like. This book demonstrates the importance of careful and repeated observations, and of measurements, drawings, and detailed notes, in making good inferences about the nature and cause of changes. My Nature Notebook models careful observation and note taking, and also provides students with experience reading tables, and making inferences.




Through out the year, Grade 3 students will be heading outside to make observations through the changing seasons.   Recording observations is the foundation for learning about the natural world and all the students have chosen a small spot in the Lower School courtyard area to observe.  After just two visits they are already noticing many changes and noticing things that they had never realized were just outside their door before.






Monday 24 September 2012

More on Molluscs


In Grade 4 science the students have started the year observing some common animals and thinking about what it means to talk about relatedness.  So, they have spent some time looking closely at two kinds of land snails we have in the science room.  We have both the large African snails and some common English garden snails. 







During one of our recent classes the fire alarm sounded and we were out of the classroom for 15 minutes or so.   When we got back we found that the snails had ventured out to explore around the notebooks and down the table legs.  So, some of the students had to be very inventive to be able to finish writing their observations while the snails chewed away at the paper in the notebooks.   



Here are some recent observations from Gr 4 student notebooks -

Tuesday 4 September 2012

Starting school - at a snail's pace


It is the beginning of a new school year - that second moment during the calendar year for new beginnings and fresh horizons. 

But, this year I am trying to constantly remind myself to go slow - to take our time in developing our routines and patterns so that they are clear and easy for everyone to follow.  

It is so tempting to rush into getting started with all the great new lessons, curriculum and notebooks.  But, the extra time at the beginning of the year spent making sure that everyone knows each other and knows the class routines makes everything else go so much better in the following months.

Last week as I was setting up the room one of the African Snails pushed off the lid to their container and went for a wander.  The first time it was out roaming around over night and it left this trail….




So, it was easy to find in the morning.   The second time it got out was during the day and I turned around and saw this……




Which I thought was a great "Getting ready for school" picture to share with the students.    But, watching the snail make its leisurely pace around the table and over the pencils reminded me of a wonderful book.    


Here is the blurb about the book

"While an illness keeps her bedridden, Elisabeth Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence in a terrarium alongside her bed. She enters the rhythm of life of this mysterious creature, and comes to a greater understanding of her own confined place in the world. In a work that beautifully demonstrates the rewards of closely observing nature, she shares the inspiring and intimate story of her close encounter with Neohelix albolabris a common woodland snail. Intrigued by the snail's world from its strange anatomy to its mysterious courtship activities she becomes a fascinated and amused observer of the snail's curious life. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating is an affirmation of the healing power of nature, revealing how much of the world we miss in our busy daily lives, and how truly magical it is. A remarkable journey of survival and resilience, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating shows how a small part of the natural world can illuminate our own human existence and deepen our appreciation of what it means to be fully alive.

Elisabeth Tova Bailey's essays and short stories have been published in the Missouri Review, Northwest Review, and the Sycamore Review. Her work has received several Pushcart Prize nominations, and the essay on which this book is based received a notable essay listing in Best American Essays. She lives in Maine in the United States."

If you go to her website 

you will find a video - watch it when you need to take a break, pause for a moment and remember to breath.  Or if you just want to hear what it sounds like when a wild snail is eating.