Week 30 - Expedition Journals and Earth Day
/During the week of April 18-22, we continued our studies of the Corps of Discovery. We learned about the importance of keeping records during the Expedition, read about the beginning portion of their journey, made our own journals with “leather” covers, and practiced sketching and describing plants we “discovered” on our own expedition around campus.
In math, we worked with decimals: learning tenths and hundredths and how they relate to fractions. We continued working on our opinion essays, and learned about adding an interesting hook at the beginning to get the reader interested in our writing.
Earth Day was filled with exciting activities! Maple’s dad joined us as a guest speaker and taught us about a natural dye made from crushed insects called cochineals. It is commonly used in red foods, so we were surprised to learn that we’ve all eaten bugs! This natural dye comes from a renewable resource, making it a more eco-friendly choice than the synthetic dyes that are often used. We also learned that the dye is reactive to different pH levels and changes color depending on the chemical it is mixed in. The Sea Lions got to crush and make their own cochineal dye, mix it with other solutions to create different colors, and dye a cloth to take home. We also spent the day creating art pieces to celebrate nature and our beautiful earth. After school, some students joined in planting our rainbow garden and picnicking with other ELC families.
