Hello! In science, we are learning about insects and we are learning what insects do and have and the insects' names. What kind of insects do you know?
We are learning about the solar system in science and in the solar system we are learning about the inner planets. There are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and the outer planets start at Jupiter. What else do you know about the outer planets? -- written by Iris Cheng
Our planet Earth has one moon and the moon doesn't always look the same. Sometimes it looks like a giant has taken a bite off the moon and sometimes it looks like the moon grows back. Well, we learned that the moon actually does not change its shape. It is just that we see different parts of the moon because of where the Sun's light shines on the moon. To demonstrate how the moon changes its shape, we made Oreo cookie moons. The cream in the cookies wasn't soft and smooth so we had some challenges separating the cream nicely. But it was fun nonetheless! We used many interesting words to describe the shapes of the moon. What do "waning," "waxing," "crescent," "gibbous," and "quarter" mean? If you could visit the moon, what would you like to do?
In our second science unit, we learned about how simple machines help make work easier and how people put simple machines together to invent compound machines that do various jobs. As a final project for this unit, we used simple machines to make our own inventions. Who knows? Maybe you will see our inventions in markets in the near future!
We also presented our inventions to our classmates and had some interesting Q & A sessions.
If you were to make your invention again, how would you improve it? What would you change to make it better?
As a summative assessment of our science unit on animal adaptations and habitats, we each chose one habitat and created an imaginary species that might live in that habitat. It was fun thinking about what kind of adaptations our species might have, and it was also fun thinking about how our species might fit into the real food web. Take a look at all of these animals and see how creative our second graders are!
We experienced a food web in action by playing a game called "The Survival." We became animals who had to find food and water and stay away from predators. In the bottom of the triangle (in the picture) are the small herbivores with green tags. They had to stay away from omnivores and carnivores. Above the green are the blue tagged big herbivores who had to stay away from carnivores. Yellow tagged omnivores had to catch the green small herbivores and stay away from carnivores. Red tagged carnivores had to find catch food to survive but did not have to worry about getting eaten by other animals. To make this game more realistic and fun, we had Miss Donna represent fire, Ms. M represent human beings, and Mrs. Kim represent disease. You can ask us how fire, human, and disease affected our survival.
If you were to play this game again, would you have a different strategy? How can you survive with more life cards next time?
"To learn more about how living things are dependent on each other, we read information about animals and put picture cards together like a web. We read about what animals eat and put the arrows on the cards. We learned that some animals eat other animals. We call these animals 'carnivores.' Some animals eat only plants, and we call them 'herbivores.' Some animals eat both meat and plants, and we call them 'omnivores.' Look at all these interesting webs we created!" -- written by Grade 2 students, edited by Mrs. Kim
Do you think there are more carnivores than herbivores in the world? Or more herbivores than carnivores? What about omnivores? Why do you think so?
In our science unit, we are learning about how living things are dependent on each other and the environment. As an introduction to the unit, we thought about what we all need in our lives. You can see how we came up with the same and different things we need in our drawings.
What is the difference between our needs and wants?