Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day is such a wonderful celebration because it is the one holiday that EVERYONE can celebrate because we all live on this Earth together! To celebrate, Miss Coffey's class worked on our writing with no lights on and nothing plugged in! Then we went outside to do some teambuilding: watch the video to see how well we worked after being together all year:

The crayfish have arrived!

Bean plants!

Wow, our hydroponic bean plants really shot up over break! Check them out!

Field Trip!!!

Field Trip permission slips were sent home today for our trip to the Tompkins County Solid Waste & Recycle Center and Cayuga Compost! We will be going on Wednesday, May 20th. Students should bring a packed lunch and a water bottle. If your child would have bought lunch that day, a sack lunch will be provided by the cafeteria.

Ithaca Schools have begun composting in the lunchroom through Cayuga Compost and recycling through the Recycle Center. Through a grant, grades 3-5 (each class at a time) will now have the opportunity to see the just where their recycling and composting all goes!

Itinerary:
-9:00am leave Caroline
Elementary
-9:30 - 10:30 Recycle Center
-10:40 leave Recycle Center
for Cass Park to run around
the Ithaca Children's Garden
and have lunch
-11:40 leave Cass Park for
Cayuga Compost
-12:00-1:00 Cayuga Compost
-1:00pm return to Caroline
Elementary
-1:30pm arrive at Caroline
Elementary

Finally, parents are encouraged to attend! Please let me know if you would like to chaperone!

Hydroponics Movie

watch this clip:
Hydroponics Movie

Hydroponics

Before we left for break, we planted our bean seedlings in a tub of water with added nutrients to grow them hydroponically (without soil). I wonder what they'll look like when we get back from break!

Class Projects

We have a couple different projects currently going on in our class. First is that we have adopted (donate money to) a little girl in Zambia named Memory Mumba. Memory is 10 years old and has 7 brothers and sisters and both of her parents are unemployed. They earn a total of $20 a month, and to adopt her is $25 a month so we'll be more than doubling their monthly allotment of money. Memory recently began attending school, but is still not able to write. Many children in Zambia are starving, but with every dollar we send to her, Memory's family can afford to buy some more food or clothing that they need to live. I'm touched to find that we've had several people in the class donate some of their own money, saying "I don't need it as much as Memory does." It really puts things into perspective. No one has to donate, but if you feel able, feel free to throw something into our collection.


Secondly, my partner Mr. DeVoe has started his hike on the Appalachian Trail. He started Sunday, and has so far hiked over 50 miles (last time I spoke to him). He had visited the class a couple weeks ago, and they wondered if they could mail him some food, so we've been collecting! He could use anything light in weight, but high in calories and fat!

Samite

Samite, an African man from Uganda who now lives in Ithaca, came to our school for an assembly since the 3rd grade is studying Africa. It was a fun assembly! Check out this dance party!

Also check out this great video made about Mrs. Nelson's grant with Samite!

Look at our sprouts!!!

They are all in different stages! Some are swollen, some have burst out of their seed coat, some are rooting, and some even have stem and leaves! Notice how the bean seed has 2 cotyledons (parts to the seed) so it's called a "dicot." Click on the picture below to see it up close!

Special Activities

Today we had two special activities. First, Evan's family friend (also a teacher at DeWitt Middle School) Mr. Saulsbury came in to read some stories to us during snack.



Second, Ruth's mom made us some yummy "Matzah Crunch" to celebrate Passover.

Sprouting Seeds

Yesterday we examined seeds in fruit, and today we asked the question, "Can seeds grow without soil?" The class gathered around as we placed bean, corn, pea, and sunflower seeds into a sprouter. Over the next week and a half we will observe what happens, take notes on the seeds' properties (color, texture, size, smell, and shape), and see if they will sprout and grow without soil!

APRIL FOOLS!!!