WEATHER

Dear Parents,

This week we are studying the weather and how it changes from day to day and from season to season. This is part of our science TEKS.

We will make observations about the weather each morning and make predictions about what the weather will be like the next day. We will discuss rainy weather, hot weather, snowy weather, windy weather, and stormy weather.

The weather makes a difference in how we dress. Do you think you can help Bella find the right clothes to wear when it is raining, snowing. or sunny and hot outside? If you think you can help
her, click on Bella Bear and help her get ready. Click on the set of clothes you think she should wear according to the weather.

If you were good at helping Bella get dressed, try your hand at dressing the bear. He wants to go outside and play too, but is'nt sure what he should wear. Could you help him? I'm sure the bear would be most thankful. Look at the temperature on the thermometer and click on what you think the weather is. Then click on the go outside button and see if you are correct.

Have you every thought about being a weather reporter? Ms. Weatherhead needs some help reporting the weather because a storm has knocked out the computers and she needs you to make the weather report for the six-o'clock news. Can you help her? Click on weather intern if you want to be a weather reporter. Click on the weather symbol and drag it to the map where you want it.

If you feel like hearing a short book read to you, then you will enjoy the four seasons book.

I hope you enjoyed playing some weather games. I look forward to next week. Our class is going to investigate living and nonliving things. See you then!

Mrs. Zion

LIFE CYCLE OF A FROG

Dear Parents,

This week we have moved from observing differnt parts of animals to discovering the life cycle of frogs. Observing and recording changes in the life cycle of organisms is part of our science TEKS.

We will be looking at these five stages of a frog's life.
1. Eggs
2. Jellie Babies
3. Tadpoles
4. Froglets
5. Mature Frogs

Here is a short poem about the life cycle of frogs from this web site: http://www.hummingbirded.com/freebies/5-Little-Tadpoles.pdf. Your children will be writing, reciting, and acting out this poem in class. We will act out the poem in groups of five on Friday at 3:00 p.m. All parents are invited to come and watch your little tadpoles.

Five Little Tadpoles

Five little tadpoles swimming near the shore.

The first one said "Let's swim some more."

The second one said "Let's rest a while."

The third one said "Swimming makes me smile."

The fourth one said "My legs are growing long."

The fifth one said "I'm getting very strong."

Five little tadpoles will soon be frogs.

They'll jump from the water and sit on logs.

Do you know the life cycle of a frog. See if you can pick out the stages of Frederick the frogs life cycle in order. Just click on the pictures at the bottom of the screen; if you guess the correct order, it will put the picture in the correct box; however, if you miss a stage, it will let you know and you can try again.

Play Frederick's Matching Fun and match the frog life cycle pictures to questions. Just match the pictures to the sentence by clicking on the buttons next to the sentences and choosing the letter that goes with the picture.

Oh no, we can't find Frederick. Can you help us? See if you can find him in the pond. Click on the other animals in the pond for clues.

Who doesn't love a funny story? Check out this madlib site and read a funny frog story. Type in whatever type of word they ask for like an adjective, noun, or verb and then click the finish button and read your story. I bet you'll create a hopping good story.

Want to ge in touch with your creative side? I have just the sites for you. Try making a frog cake or try folding a paper origami jumping frog. Bring your origami frogs to school and share them with your classmates.

As a conclusion for this weeks study on the life cycle of a frog, I have ordered some tadpoles that we will be observing in class. When they grow into mature frogs, I will let them go in my garden. Parents, you are welcome to drop by and check out our tadpole habitat anytime.

See you next week!

Mrs. Ziohn

ANIMAL PARTS

Dear Parents,

We are looking at animals this week. We are observing and describing animal parts. This is part of our science TEKS. These are some of the animal parts we are looking at:

• Heads
• Tails
• Legs
• Feet
• Paws
• Arms
• Tongues
• Teeth
• Wings
• Hooves

Here is something that I think you will really enjoy. Watch live animals at the San Diego Zoo through live web cams. You can watch polar bears, apes, elephants, or panda bears. Click on the animal that you want to watch, grab a snack, and enjoy watching animals.

Would you like some kid friendly recipes that are easy to make like: Bonobo Banana Boats, Dandy Duck Dip Served with Quackers, or Gorilla Goulash? Try those recipes or choose another one from this list.

Are you ready for some fun? See what kind of crazy animal you can make by mixing up animal body parts at this site. Challenge your kids to see who can make up the craziest animal. Choose a habitat, the Savannah or the Woodlands, and click on different body parts to build your animals.

See how well you can match up specific animal heads with their bodies. If you match them up incorrectly, you come up with some pretty funny looking animals. Try coming up with new names for the animals that are matched up wrong. For example, if you match up a lion's body with a rhino's head, you could rename it a "Liorino". I bet you can come up with some pretty funny names! To get started just click on Animal Matching Game and choose a head or a body to match up with what the computer shows you.

Just for fun, see if you can correctly label the parts of a horse, a fish, an ant, and a human at this site. Just click on and drag each label to the right spot.

I hope you have fun playing in our science wonderland this week. We will end this week with a field trip to the zoo. I would love to have as many parents join us as possible. More information about the field trip will be coming home in the Tuesday folders.

Mrs. Zion

ARE YOU GOING TO THROW THAT IN THE TRASH?

Dear Parents,

This week our class is learning about conserving

resources and recycling. Learning how to use and

conserve resources and materials is a process that

students should know about according to the TEKS.

We are thinking of ways we can reuse household items. For example, we can make a puppet out of an old sock, reuse plastic containers for storage, give outgrown clothing to someone who needs it, or reuse the Styrofoam cups you buy your soda and coffee in (you’ll get an extra bonus because it will cost you less at the register if you have your own cup).

We are learning how to recycle things that can be treated and reused such as: plastic, glass, paper, and aluminum. We are talking about how we can make our community a better place to live and we are discussing the problems with overfilled landfills.

Here is some interesting trivia! How much household garbage does one person produce in a year? Each person produces about ten times his or her own body weight each year. WOW-that’s a lot of garbage. Do you know what the numbers are inside the recycling symbols on plastic containers? The number tells the recycling plant what type of material the container is made from. Look at the plastics in your home and see if you can find different numbers. Did you know that up to 150 pieces of clothing can be made from 3,700 two-liter bottles?

At the site It’s Not All Garbage, test yourself to see if you know what to do with items that you might normally throw in the garbage. You get to decide about each item. Should you recycle, compost, give to charity, or throw away? Click on your answer choice, then click submit and see how you did.

Take a home recycling survey. See how well you recycle at home. Answer the question by clicking on yes or no. When you finish, click on the submit button and find out how earth-friendly your home is.

Just for fun-try the Rubbish Challenge and see if you know how to recycle certain items. Click on each item and drag it to the appropriate square on the game board. See if you can make it to the end of the board before the time runs out. Be careful, for each wrong guess, you loose time.

For even more fun, sing a long with the Recycler Robot. See if you can rap with the robot.

See Recycler’s Top Tips to see how you can start reducing, reusing, and recycling today.

I hope you enjoy learning about recycling. I’ll see you next week in our wonderful science wonderland.

Mrs. Zion

Welcome

Welcome to Mrs. Zion's first grade science wonderland. This edublog is a communication tool for teachers, parents, and students. Find out what your child is learning about in our science class. I invite you to look around and check out the games and activites that reinforce what we are learning in the classroom. I hope you have a good time and enjoy our science wonderland!


Mrs. Zion