Butterflies!

Lots of excitement today as we released the butterflies in the garden.  We have been observing the butterflies since they arrived in our classroom as a set of 6 caterpillars.  The caterpillars grew larger, spun a crystallis and went through metamorphosis and became 6 Painted Lady butterflies.

Petting Zoo

There were goats, lambs and bunnies,

alpacas,

cows (very friendly cows),

and Patagonian maras.

There were even capybaras

and a yak!

The setting was a little unexpected but the animals were great!  We saw several animals that we had learned about in our recent studies of the rainforest and Australia.  The sand cats, sloths and kangaroos (in addition to all the other animals) were amazing to see and touch.

The creative process

The Ladybugs have started work on their
hardcover books.

Today, the Supernovas helped us
with our books.

They provided support and encouragement
as the kids figured out their stories, drew the pictures
and wrote the words.

It's a lot of work when you are 4 or 5.

These books are amazing with original stories.

They could be the new best sellers!

Dumas Bay Sanctuary

It was a beautiful day at the beach.

We found 100's of sand dollars.

There were crab everywhere! 

If you haven't had the opportunity to visit Dumas Bay Sanctuary, it's a great place to visit.  It's quiet and the home to literally thousands of sand dollars.  The Ladybugs and Bumblebees had a great time!

A hat dance and aerodynamics

Just a glimpse of things to come . . . .

a little hat dance practice.  Come see the whole thing at the
talent show on June 4.

Today we re-visited a favorite mentoring activity,

using a straw and 2 paper strips, construct a plane that flies.

There were lots of designs, some worked better
than others.

There was a fair bit of re-engineering,

then an opportunity for all 40 kids to fly their planes!

It was a beautiful day for flying a plane!  The kids experimented with a variety of plane designs, there was talk of aerodynamics, lift, thrust and Newton's laws of motion.  It was fun and educational!

Sudoko puzzles!

Painting with a salad spinner- a perfect way to demonstrate
centrifugal force.

The mentors were back this week as we introduced sudoko
puzzles.

Once the kids got the idea of how they work, there was no
stopping them!

Some of the puzzles were
pictorial and some were numerical.

The consensus?  These are fun!

New members of the class this
week,

six painted lady caterpillars joined us.
We'll be watching them go through the
cycle of metamorphosis.