Greening the Shore...

K students kicked off their study of the shore by uncovering shells and other objects found, well, ... at the shore.  We hope that at by the end of their study,  K students will work with their 3rd grade buddies to help green Plumb Beach.

Johanna led Kori's students in this work time activity.

   

Needle-ectomy

As part of their study of Africa--BNS students are exploring  plant adaptations in three different biomes:  desert, rain forest, and grassland.

Andrew's students wondered why cacti would have an adaptation like needles to defend against animals. After all, most plants don't have needles.  They wondered if the answer had to do with cacti growing in the desert where water is scarce. They thought that maybe they could find out by opening up a cactus and seeing what is inside. So that's what they did...

Be careful....that might hurt.

On to dissecting other kinds of plants...

Thanks for sharing these pictures, Andrew.

More Sustainable Shots from Studio 106

Thanks to Helen for the shots of her first grade students and parent volunteers making marble mazes using:
o objects from the studio's collection of  "junque"
o and the laws of physics.

A marble maze is designed to make a marble take the slowest trip from start to finish.

Students repurpose clementine boxes, paper towel rolls, marker tops and so on to form their obstacles.

Students use gluedots to temporarily fasten pieces and adults use hot glue to  make the mazes permanent.

One engineer making sure the angle is not too steep otherwise the marble will go too  quickly.

These engineers are designing and testing and refining. 

Fourth Graders Spending the Day at Purple Lake

or, as it is also known,  the Gowanus Canal...considering the differences between it and the Gowanus Creek wetlands of 400 years ago.

All three classes visited on a cold February day, but Elissa's class got lucky.
That oil tanker that is being led out of the canal was making a painful amount of noise in the morning.
And...

her class got to see the bridge roadway lift to let it pass.

Look for fourth grade designs, ideas, and plans for "artificial" wetlands....in the next few months.

Sustainability in Studio 106A

Every Friday, Matt Sheehan and a group of volunteers are teaching carpentry to K students..a sustainable skill!

A K student in Mary Ann's class paints structure:  a house

and Nancye Good was teaching stone and woodworking skills to fifth graders getting ready for their Mayan Market Museum.

They Speak for the Trees

 Well...They Listen to the Trees.  Carrie took Jennifer Fleming's students on a search for signs of spring.  Using stethoscopes they could hear the sap flowing.  By the way, the bulbs they planted are peeking up as well.

"It sounds like water." 

                                             

Serendipity.  Regina Formasano saw Nancye Good's afterschool students doing this activity and was amazed by it.  So she told Barbara about it who was equally amazed.  Who in turn told Carrie.  Carrie got the lowdown from Nancye and Carrie  made it happen for our students.  Serendipity.

Resparkle Club Gives Some Pizzazz to Pails

Johanna's fifth grade club added recycle signs to paper recycling pails on third floor.  The signs will hopefully help students and teachers think before they place items in the pail.  Clearly the pail has seen more than paper in the past. We will keep you posted on how things are going.

 Photo by Cameron Clarke.