Last Day of "School"

Iggy is waiting for Ms. R to make Rolo cookies...

Well, another school year is done. We had a wonderful time in Room 222 and learning online. I will miss teaching this great group of students. 

I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy summer vacation!

Iron Man Art

Here is the art the children made as part of our book study of The Iron Man by Ted Hughes.

Well done everyone!

Happy Canada Day!

Next Wednesday is July 1st and it is Canada's birthday! Canada became a country on July 1st, 1867.

2020 - 1867 = 153 years ago. Canada Day is a holiday all across Canada and you'll see lots of red and white decorations and lots of red and white Canadian flags!

I found a website with some Canada Day crafts if you are interested:

https://www.todaysparent.com/family/crafts/9-awesome-canada-day-crafts-for-kids/#gallery/9-awesome-canada-day-crafts-for-kids/slide-2

Mail!

 

Iggy seems to be yelling, "MAIL!" (Actually he was yawning...) He was helping me today as I stuffed and addressed envelopes to send to the students. Each envelope has a letter, some puzzles and a certificate for each child. Check your mailboxes because your envelope will be arriving soon!

Coded Messages

Here are the encoded messages that the students created. Have fun decoding them!

 

First Day of Summer - Saturday, June 20, 2020

On Saturday, it is the FIRST day of summer! It's also called the summer or June solstice. The reason for the seasons and change in weather that we see, is due to the tilt of the Earth and the Earth's position in its orbit or trip around the sun. 

Here is a video to help you understand this a bit better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6SSOoEMwAA

Also, on EPIC Books, I've assigned the book and video, The Reasons for Seasons by Gail Gibbons if you want to know more about the seasons.

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!

Carrot Update 2

I decided to plant two of the carrot tops that started to grow leaves. Let's see what happens...

Butterfly Life Cycle Art

Here are the photos of artwork that the children made as part of our butterfly life cycle project.

Great job everyone!

Paper Trick - Möbius Strip

The Möbius Strip paper trick is an activity that turns a paper strip into a BIG circle! First you make a ring with one paper strip and cut it in half...you get two small paper rings. NOW...make another paper circle BUT this time twist one end of the paper strip, by flipping top to bottom, before you join the ends together with tape. When you cut this paper ring in half, you get ONE BIG paper circle. Really!

 

You will need:

* 2 paper strips

* tape

* pencil or pen

* scissors

What to do:

PART 1

* Join the two ends of the paper strip and tape them together.

* Draw a line around the middle of the paper strip, halfway between the two long edges.

* Cut along the line.

* You will get two paper rings.

PART 2

* Join the two ends of another paper strip BUT this time, twist one end of the paper strip, by flipping top to bottom, before you join the ends together with tape.

* Draw a line down the middle of the paper strip.

* Cut along the line.

* You will get ONE BIG paper ring!

When you make the second paper ring, with the half-twist, you are creating a paper ring with only ONE side! This was discovered in 1858 by August Möbius (1790-1868) who was a mathematician and astronomer from Germany.

If you try this, please send me some photos. I really like to see your projects ! 

Carrot update

The carrot tops are starting to grow leaves! I wonder how the carrot knows to do this...do you know?

New experiment...carrots!

GROWING CARROTS AT HOME

I was thinking the other day how I could grow my own vegetables to eat at home. This is a challenge because I live in an apartment building and I do not have a backyard.

I did some research and I found that you can grow a lot of plants using parts of vegetables that are usually thrown into the compost bin!

Here is a site I found that has instructions on how to re-grow plants from 19 different vegetables from avocados to tomatoes. Here is the link:

https://foodrevolution.org/blog/reduce-food-waste-regrow-from-scraps/

I decided to try to re-grow carrot plants from carrots that I had in the fridge. Luckily I had carrots in my fridge with the carrot tops still attached.

So I followed the instructions and cut off the carrot tops and put them in a dish with about 2 cm of water. I put the container on a shelf by the window and ...well...let's see what happens!

If you try to re-grow vegetables at home, let me know what your experiment is and email me a photo. I would like to see your vegetable experiments!

Continuous Line Drawing

CONTINUOUS LINE DRAWING

I thought of this drawing technique when I was writing the assignment on never-ending or circular stories. A fun way to challenge yourself when drawing is to draw a picture using one long, continuous line. To make a continuous line drawing you start to draw and keep your pencil on the paper without lifting your pencil off the paper. It's fun to try! Here is a video that will help you:

Here is an example of a continuous line drawing:

As always, if you try this, take a photo and email it to me. I would love to see your work!

Father's Day

This year Father's Day is on Sunday, June 21st. Remember last month on Sunday, May 10th, it was Mother's Day? It's just another special day to remind people that are special to you that you love them. Father's Day can include grandfathers and uncles or family friends.

Father's Day in Canada is celebrated on the third Sunday in June. Usually, fathers and children spend time together, share a family meal and often cards and gifts are given. 

Now is the time to start making a card or gift for Father's Day so that it will be ready for next Sunday!

If you need some ideas, check out other posts on this blog for some craft ideas.

The Butterflies are Free! 10 V 20

On the weekend, I released all the butterflies! It was a magical. They flew up, up and away!

I have a small microscope at home and I managed to take close up photos of a piece of butterfly wing and an empty chrysalis looking through the microscope with my phone! 

Can you see how the colour pattern on the wings is made? Tiny scales in different colours make the pattern. The Greek name for butterflies and moths is Lepidoptera which means  "scaly wings" in Greek.

Here are the answers to your questions:

* Scientists think that caterpillars turn into butterflies so that they can live in different places and eat different things and that helps them survive.

* The eggs are a blue-green colour so that they are camouflaged on the green leaf and they are hard to see.

* The little spikes on the chrysalis are where the legs and prolegs of the caterpillar used to be.

* The chrysalis "skin" is made of proteins and a type of sugar called "chitin".

* Butterflies know how to fly because it's in their DNA.

* Caterpillars eat but don't drink and butterflies drink but don't eat.

* It looks like the butterflies have only 4 legs to walk but the other two legs are so small it's hard to see them.

* The whole life cycle for a Painted Lady butterfly is about 3-4 weeks, but they can live much longer.

How to make homemade salt dough 10 V 20

Here is an easy way to make salt dough or play clay at home. You will need an adult to help you "cook" it but it is very easy to use and dries overnight. You can store unused dough for about a week, in a ziplock bag in the fridge. 

What you need:

1 cup salt

1/3 cup water

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup water

What to do:

* Mix together the salt and 1/3 cup of water in a small pot and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. DO NOT let the mixture boil.

* Take the pot off the heat.

* In a small bowl, slowly add the cornstarch to 1/4 cup of cold water, mixing well after each addition.

* Put the pot back on the heat and slowly stir in the cornstarch mixture to cook.

* After about a minute, the new mixture will thicken and quickly turn into a "ball" of dough. (It happens quite fast.)

* Put the ball of dough on a plate to cool for 10-15 minutes. 

* When the dough has cooled down a bit, knead the dough on the counter until it is smooth (about 2-3 minutes).

* NOW you can start making things! I made some hearts, my thumbprint, a cursive letter and a flower.

* Let the shapes dry overnight. I painted mine with nail polish.

* You can keep the things you made or give them as gifts to the special people in your life!

Pep Talk Posters

The class did a great job taking on the bonus challenge of creating "pep talk posters". They look great!

Eight Butterflies!

EIGHT BUTTERFLIES!

Now there are 6 more butterflies! When we add that to the 2 butterflies that came out earlier, that makes 8 butterflies altogether with more to come...

In the photos above, you can see that just before the butterfly comes out, the chrysalis gets darker. The butterfly crawls out of the chrysalis through a split in the chrysalis. The empty chrysalis is very thin and fragile. The wings of the butterfly are all folded up and the butterfly pumps blood into the wings to make them spread out. When the wings are big and flat the butterfly gets rid of that blood and that is why we see blood in the butterfly cage. The butterflies like to drink orange juice from fresh oranges and orange Gatorade!

Here are the answers to some of your questions. Remember to email me your questions and I will answer them here.

* Butterflies only drink. They do not eat.

* They drink with a long, hollow tongue called a proboscis. It works like a straw and the butterfly curls it into a spiral when it is not drinking.

* Butterflies smell with their antennae.

* Butterflies taste with their feet.

Carrot Cookies

CARROT COOKIES

I was talking to my mother recently and I asked her what was one of my favourite cookies to bake when I was a child and right away she said, "carrot cookies"!

I can't remember when I last made these cookies. It was fun to re-discover them. The cookies are not very sweet, but the little bit of orange icing adds a nice flavour.

You will need:

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter

1 egg

1 cup cooked mashed carrots or 1 can (398 mL) sliced carrots (mashed with a fork)

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup icing sugar

1-2 tablespoons orange juice

What to do:

* Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Celsius.

* Cream together the butter and sugar until well blended.

* Mix in the egg and the mashed carrots.

* Add the flour, baking powder and salt.

* Drop generous teaspoonfuls on a lined baking sheet.

* Bake for 10 -15 minutes and leave to cool.

* When the cookies are cool, mix the icing sugar and orange juice to make a thin icing.

* Drizzle the icing over the cookies and enjoy!

* Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Butterflies and Butterfly Art! 3 V 20

Dear Room 222,

Today is Day 82 of our stay-at-home time. Keep reading to see the FIRST two butterflies that came out of the chrysalids, some cool facts and an activity to make butterfly art.

TWO BUTTERFLIES ARE HERE!

The first two butterflies have come out of their chrysalids! I had a difficult time photographing them, but I hope you can see them!

Take a good look at the photos and send me your questions about the butterflies. I will answer them on the blog soon.

Here are the answers to some of your other questions:

* Caterpillars can only see light and dark so it is very hard for them to see if a bird is coming to eat them.

* In the chrysalis, the caterpillars turn into "caterpillar soup" a liquid that then reforms into the butterfly.

* Caterpillars eat and eat and eat until their skin or exoskeleton splits and it molts.

* Painted Lady caterpillars live for about 8 to 10 days before they turn into a chrysalis. The adult Painted Lady butterflies can live for one year.

* Adult Painted Lady butterflies lay about 100 to 300 eggs.

* The butterfly lays eggs on its favourite food so that the baby caterpillars have food to eat when they hatch or come out of the egg.

* Butterflies are able to walk upside down because their feet are "sticky" and have tiny hooks on them.

* Most caterpillars are herbivores (eat plants) but some are carnivores (eat other animals). Scientists think that it has to do with what kind of food is available to the caterpillars,

BUTTERFLY ART!

The Canadian artist Raku Inoue makes butterflies and other insects using leaves, twigs and petals from flowers. Above you can see nine of his butterfly creations. They are SO beautiful!

If you want to make art like Raku Inoue, gather some leaves and twigs and start creating!

I live in a building, so I went on my balcony and picked some leaves and flowers. I know a butterfly has a body in the middle and it is symmetrical (same on both sides). Here is what I did:

 This art was a lot of fun! If you try it, please email me some photos. I would love to see them!