Welcome Back!
/The first week back following our winter break, we spent a lot of time reflecting on our 2018 year and talked about setting goals for 2019. We worked in small groups and discussed what goals were and each student worked to create personal goals for what they would like to accomplish in the next year. We also shared what we did over our holiday break and wrote a special winter break news report to share with the class.
We also started to explore why different seasons have different lengths of day and how the tilt of the Earth as it orbits the sun effects this. We began collecting data on weather and length of day before we left for break and when we compared how long our days are now to the days leading up to break, we realized they are longer now!
Another exciting thing that took place this week was the discovery of a mysterious find in the Cedar Classroom! Students observed multiple animal scat-like droppings on multiple surfaces outside, which we had never seen before and were very intrigued as to what they were and where they came from. Students collected data by counting the number of them they could find, while also documenting where they found them. They drew scientific illustrations and took pictures with digital cameras to help them document. We then looked at various animal scat reference pictures and hypothesized what we thought they were. Some students suggested that they may be raccoon or bat scat, while others thought they may be soggy wet blackberries that had been dropped by birds. By the end of the week, students voted on what they believed them to be based on our investigation and the majority of students believed them to be squirrel scat!
