Authors' Tea

Our second grade Authors' Tea wil be held May 15th.  Please meet in our classroom.  Refreshments will be served in the classroom after everyone shares.  This is a special time for our young authors.  We hope you will be able to make it!

Digging Dinosaurs

     Our class has transformed into paleontologist as we study about dinosaurs and their fossils.  We started by making giant time lines spanning 600 million years.  These showed the development of living things and the era in which they lived.  We are looking at the characteristics of dinosaurs to see how they compare to current day reptiles.  Each student will also choose one dinosaur to research in depth.  In the computer lab they will transform that research into a dinosaur trading card.

     This unit provides an opportunity for us to learn about not only dinosaurs, but a wide variety of related topics including erosion and geology.  Our study will include several experiments and hands on activities.  We will make PB&J sandwich (sections of the Earths crust) that transform into tectonic plates to discover why volcanoes, earthquakes and mountain ranges are a part of our world.  Using water, wind and sand we will simulate erosion and uncover fossils.  In a separate activity we will search for bones in the sand, then piece them back together just like paleontologists.  Our class will also look at the characteristics of rocks and carry out experiments on them to discover under what conditions they were formed.

     We are looking forward to a trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to explore all of the dinosaur exhibits.

                        Second Grade Pioneers

 Our class is going back in time to discover what life was like for the settlers of Littleton.  We started our study with an amazing visit to the Colorado History Museum where the students engaged in hands on activities about Colorado life in the 1800's. 

This week the students loaded their wagons for the journey west.  We will map the route taken by the settlers and learn about the first settlements.  Our explorations will also include the Colorado native americans.

Storm Clouds Over Sandburg?

For the next few weeks our class will be learning all about weather and what makes it change.  Our studies will include air pressure, the water cycle, clouds and extreme weather.  Students will record weather data, write observations, and graph their results.

Through our class blog every student has the opportunity to dialog with Dave and Kathy in Australia.  We will tie our weather unit to Dave and Kathy's world travels by comparing the weather in Australia to our weather here, and learn how weather in the Pacific ocean effects Colorado's weather.

 Mapping the Pacific

Once again the science and technology team has come through for us!  They have helped make our map unit into a meaningful and interactive learning experience.

My brother Dave has been sailing around the South Pacific for the last 2 1/2 years.  We are using his sailing adventures as a platform for learning all about maps and charts.  The class has been using lines of longitude and lattitude to plot Dave's course on charts.  To extend our study we are also looking at selected pictures and text from his emails and blog, to learn about life on the remote islands of the South Pacific.  We will be emailing Dave and exploring with Google Earth.  All of our in class writing will stem from these experiences as well.