Day 163 - Owl Investigation - Mrs. Boucher - Francis Wyman Grade 3

This post first appeared on Mrs. Boucher's Blog 

We recently dissected owl pellets to help us answer the question; 'What did the owl eat?" An owl pellet is a compact ball of indigestible animal material (teeth, skull, feathers, fur.) The owl regurgitates the pellet and the rest is history. Ask your child about what we found inside!

Day 65 - Magnetism - Mrs. Boucher - Francis Wyman Grade 3

This post first appeared on Mrs. Boucher's Blog 

Last week we focused our attention on the science of Magnets!  Students rotated around the third-grade classrooms to experiment with magnetism.

Monday:  Our class visited Mrs. Goguen's class to make a compass.  Students were able to test out and learn about the magnetic pull in a compass.  Did you know the earth was a giant magnet?  Ask your child about it at home.

Tuesday: Our students went to Mrs. O'Neill's class to answer the question, What is magnetic?  Students were able to test objects to see if they contained iron, nickel, or cobalt (the three magnetic metals.)

Wednesday:  Our class visited Mrs. Brown to do an experiment with iron filings.  Students were able to see the magnetic field and test out which points on a magnet are the strongest (the poles.)

Thursday:  Our class went to Mrs, Zani's class to learn about the poles of a magnet as well as the forces attract and repel.  Your child should bring home their "floating magnets" that they made in her class by facing like poles toward each other.  Ask your child to show and explain how it is working!

Friday:  We stayed in Mrs. Boucher's class on Friday to test out how powerful some magnets can be.  We got to use Neodymium magnets which are one of the strongest magnets on earth.  Students tested out different materials around the classroom to see what the magnets could work through  They discussed predictions and recorded results of their testing.  We also took a magnet quiz and the students did awesome!

Thank you to the Burlington Science Center for all the materials and support to make learning science an interesting, meaningful, and lasting experience!

Below are some examples of our science Notability notebooks:

Day 15 - Learning about Burlington: Then, & Now - Mrs. Boucher - Francis Wyman Grade 3

This post first appeared on Mrs. Boucher's Blog 

This week, students have been reading and talking about the town we live in, Burlington. While reading Burlington: Then and Now, we have had some great discussions and shared some great knowledge about what Burlington is like now and what it was like in the 1800s. During the reading, students have been learning how to highlight important information, TTQA answers (Turn the Question Around,) and how to take and organize notes.  Our essential question is "How has Burlington changed since 1799?"

The excitement to learn Burlington history is brewing in 216!

Writing facts and questions

Sharing ideas

Interesting facts

Questions we still have

Highlighting important information

We can even learn about Burlington now

Lots of facts from Burlington history

What we already knew about Burlington

Day 146 - Insect Observation Journals - Mrs. Boucher - Francis Wyman Grade 2

This post first appeared on Mrs. Boucher's Blog 

Today we got some new visitors from the science center to help us with our insects study.  We have some caterpillars and a Luna moth cocoon.  We will be observing the life cycles of these creatures LIVE.

 As we were setting up our observation journals, the moth actually hatched!  I noticed a liquid on the table and Ayaan saw the moth on a chair nearby.  It was a great experience for us all.  He will stay with us for a couple days so we can get more observations, then we will set him free. 

We will continue to observe the changes that happen with our caterpillars.

Working on the cover page

Using Book Creator for our observation journals

Our moth hatching

Observing the new moth

Day 117 - Chinese New Year - Mrs. Boucher - Francis Wyman Second Grade

This post originally appeared on Mrs. Boucher's Blog

Ms. Chang, Angelina's mom, came Tuesday (March 11) to help us learn more about Chinese culture and traditions.  She shared some books and stories with us, taught us some Chinese words, showed us traditional clothing, and helped us to make lion dancers.  We would like to thank her again for coming! It was a great day!  Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Day 107 - Amazing Amphibian and Reptile Projects - Mrs. Boucher - Francis Wyman Second Grade

This post originally appeared on Mrs. Boucher's Blog 

I was thrilled to see the projects come in this week! It looks like everyone not only worked hard, but also enjoyed learning about and making their animal.  Students got a chance today to view all the class projects.  Two students got to share their oral presentation as well.  We will continue with the oral presentations this week.  On Monday, we will get to walk through all the second grade classes to view more projects.  Thank you for your support and for helping your children succeed with this project.  

Here are the students with their projects!