"The Ankle Bone's Connected to the Leg Bone..."

     This week, my students started learning about the human body. This section of the science unit involved learning about bones and skeletons through investigating owl pellets. The bones found in the owl pellets are from small mouse-like animals. Owls swallow these animals whole and excrete the fur, bones, claws, and beak which they cannot digest. After observing the physical characteristics of the owl pellets, they were soaked in water so they could be easier to pull apart the next day. 

     The students worked in pairs to pull the owl pellets apart (after soaking). There were many "Oohs!" and "Eews!" as students picked up the owl pellets out of the water and began picking bones out. Their focus for the lesson was to separate all of the bones from the fur and any other remnants left from what the owl did not digest. 

"Looking for Bones"

"Dem Bones"

     After separating the majority of fur from the bones, students worked in groups to recreate a skeleton based off of what the owl had eaten. While students found the bones within the pellets, they were making great observations and comparisons. One student noted finding a bone with a hole in it. This made it easier to pick up with their toothpick--used by students who may have wanted to keep our distance from the owl pellet. Several students also picked up the vertebrae piece with a toothpick and examined their size compared to other bones of the vole. 

"Restructuring Skeletons"

 This was a fantastic hands-on lesson for my students! The students loved participating and seeing actual bones after they had learned how bones are composed. I recall doing this activity in 5th grade, but my third grade students were able to grasp the same concept just as well as I did two grades younger than myself. Hands-on investigatory material is one of the reasons students love science during elementary school. 

     Here is a link for more information on Owl Pellets: http://www.carolina.com/teacher-resources/Interactive/basic-information-on-owl-pellets/tr11103.tr 
    

Another favorite part of this lesson was being able to wear gloves!

War Eagle!

Ms. Childs

Get to Know You!

My lab placement teacher suggested I share a little about myself to the students I will be working with this year. She introduced herself through some pictures about her life and interests at the start of school. This sparked an idea for me!

Our class has been studying traditions this week and I wanted to incorporated both "getting to know me" interests and my 3rd grade life. Last night, I got to work and had my mom send me pictures from home. While she was reminiscing about when I was 4 feet tall, I was finding a way to connect to my students and reach them on their own level.

Today, I shared with my students and cooperating teacher who am I. They learned about my wonderfully supportive family, my pets, my love for Auburn (War Eagle!) and what life was like for me in third grade.

When I was in third grade...

...I learned to write in cursive--and still    

use it today!

...My class took a field trip to the state capital.

...N*sync was my favorite band. 

...My favorite subject was social studies. 

I tied in traditions by using the picture my mom took of me for the first day of school each year. This particular picture (seen above), was from my third grade year. (Thanks for saving this memory, mom.) I took a quick hand-raise poll to see that the majority of my students had also taken a picture on their first day of third grade last month. What a great connection--and fancy new book bag I was sporting! 

Confession: My students did not know who the band, N*sync, was. (I did shed a tear on the inside. The 2013 VMA 30-second reunion of N*sync was a dream come true for me.) I had to explain that Justin Timberlake used to be a part of this band when he was much younger.

To end on a positive and hopefully inspirational note, one of my favorite professors recently gave me some great advice: "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." Gandhi  

Sincerely,

Ms. Childs

School Project

This semester, my self-directed learning project is learning how to incorporate virtual field trips into my classroom. I am excited to learn about this technology because I believe it will be engaging for my students and provide them with a wealth of knowledge. However, I am concerned that it will be difficult to try this tactic at my school placement because AMSTI is so prevalent. I also like the AMSTI hands-on approach, but virtual field trips can also be educational. 

The reason I became interested in this topic was from the television show, Castle. In an episode, students "visited" a scientist friend in Antarctica who shared with the kids what the weather was like, the animals we can seen, and showed the general environment.

Bahai.us. (November 14, 2010). Ed Jones in Antarctica. [Photograph] Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/n4m56j9.

 This is such a fun break for students to seemingly leave the classroom and hear from another person besides their teacher.

War Eagle!
Ms. Childs