Stock Out!

We released our brook trout into the Sawmill River in Montague today!

In the classroom, we had about a 50% overall mortality rate and some trouble keeping the water clean, despite frequent water changes, additions of healthy bacteria, frequent replacement of recharged ammonia chips and ammo lock, and weekly water quality testing.

Today was a fun day in the river for both the trout and human fry!

Pre-stock out... not much to read for the fish, even though they are in a school.

Hauling the cooler full of brook trout to the bus on a hand truck

Zach and Will keeping the water oxygenated en route

Collecting the fry in cups

One at a time

Letting the fish acclimate to their new homes

Celebrating the release of the trout!

Fifth Graders acclimating to the river habitat

Exploring the riffled stream bed from the shore

A rapidly cold seat

Swimming with the fish!

It seemed like the Fifth Graders might be ready for a day on canoes after this trip in knee deep water.  Next up: Tully Lake and an epic paddle!

Inca/Aztec/Maya

Wow!

Our Ancient Cultures Fair was a huge success!  Everyone from Kindergarten on up visited our fair, and the feedback we got was universally positive.  The Fifth Graders were able to tailor the exhibits so they were appropriately interactive for children of different ages (and adults as well).  The food was delicious (Molly has threatened to stop cooking and let the Fifth Graders take over the kitchen!).  The interactive arts and crafts were a big hit, and the game was hugely popular.  Each historical civilization  presented in its own way: the Inca were welcoming prospective citizens to their empire; the Mayans created a school where students could eat and then learn to write, build, and play a new game;  the Aztecs created a market reminiscent of Tenochtitlan, with money made of cacao beans, art for sale, bracelet making, face painting, food to sample, and a bit of gambling for those with a little extra time on their hands.

Bravo!

Here is a link to the brochures the students created for each culture and photos of the fair: http://leverettschool.edublogs.org/2014/04/29/ancient-cultures-fair-grade-5/

Noah and Ocea's photography experiment

Ocea reflects

Mount Holyoke College Art and Skinner Museums

As part of the final push for our Inca/Aztec/Maya presentations next Tuesday, April 29 from 9:45-11:45 AM, we went to the MHC Art Museum and the Skinner Closet of Curiosities. Thanks to GP's dad for contributing pix!

 Examining artifacts: what were the objects and how were they used?

 A singing water whistle...

 Kendra reveals the artifacts

 A Skinner mystery... diving bell? Compass? Early space suit?

 Up close with the artifacts...

 Examining the chicha drinking vessel from Peru

 Two jugs, one link, many tones...

 A treasure from the Skinner museum

Arrowheads from the Skinner...

Scar Lip and friends

Thousand-Year Old Mayan Teeth!

Guest speaker (and Ruby's Dad) Professor Alan Goodman visited our classroom yesterday with a mystery:
Imagine you are vacationing in Belize and visit an ancient Mayan ruin. You see a rock slab and decide to raise it up to see what's underneath and you find over 300 teeth!

Whose teeth were they?

How old are the teeth?

How old were the people whose teeth were removed?

How was the health of those people?

Were they men or women, boys or girls? Did they have many cavities?

Were they taken out (shudder) while the people were alive, or (shudder) long after they had died?

Were they a sacrifice to the toothless rain god Itzamna?

We studied the teeth to find the answers to some of these questions and to ask some questions of our own!

Thanks, Alan! What a great experience you shared with us!

Alan greeted us in Mayan!

Studying the teeth

Observations and questions

Checking for signs of forcible removal

A small incisor, with root

Checking for tooth decay

Signs of malnutrition in the teeth?

Classifying teeth: deciduous or permanent?

Sketching the teeth

Wrapping things up: student observations and questions

Books and Secret Friends

This week we did a secret friend activity where each student was paired with another (in secret) and did nice things for their friend all week. It worked really well except that there was some confusion with the two Emily's and one got lots of attention and the other got very little (sorry, Emily O!).  We will try again in a couple of weeks. I was very impressed by the way the class stepped up to give thoughtful gifts, compliments and clues, and how everyone treated each other.  Hooray!

After our Read-a-thon on Friday (in honor of the late, great Theodor Geisel's Birthday), we came up with a list of books that the Leverett Fifth Graders recommend to one another and other upper elementary aged students:

The list, in no particular order is....

Emma Jean Lazarus (two books by Lauren Tarshis, who visited our school last month)

Star Girl, Crash, and other Jerry Spinelli books

The Missing (two recommendations)

Lost Hero series

The Ranger's Apprentice books

The Hunger Games (x3 books and x3 recommendations)

Scat and other Carl Hiaasen books

Prince of Mist

Out of My Mind (several recommendations for this MCBA book)

Wonder (3 recommendations)

The Unwanteds, the Island of Silence

The Penderwicks (trilogy) (3 recommendations)

Holes

The Warriors

Wings of Fire series

Harry Potter series

The Whisperer/The Roar

Artemis Fowl series

Redwall series

Peanut

Kane Chronicles

Heroes of Olympus

Lions of Little Rock

False Prince

Paint the Wind

Tale of Despereaux (or any book by Kate DiCamillo)

Percy Jackson series

Heads or Tails

Mistmantle

Planet Tad

Bud Not Buddy or any book by Christopher Paul Curtis

Diary of Anne Frank

My Side of the Mountain

Summer of the Gypsy Moths (MCBA)

Jake and Lily (MCBA)

Three Times Lucky

Happy reading everyone!

Cycles

We are studying the Carbon/Oxygen cycle, the Nitrogen cycle, and the water cycle in science. We have been testing the water quality of our Brook Trouts for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, and pH too.  So far the fish are doing well. They have visible fins and are very actively eating.

 In the experiment, we added drops of Bromothymol blue solution to water, added CO2 with our breath, and watched the solution turn pale yellow as the Carbon Dioxide entered the water!

All that was missing was elodea, a water plant that is no longer sold in stores (for it is an invasive species). The original idea was to let the plants' photosynthesis turn the water blue again. It hasn't worked too well in the past, and it is about as exciting as watching paint dry, so we just stayed with the immediate reaction of  adding CO2 to the water and watching it change color.

Endangered Species Reports

Our newly published reports are now available to read on-line! Thanks to Karin Gravina for exporting the reports.  There was also a great article on the Fifth Grade TED Talks in this week's Montague Reporter.
Enjoy the link!
http://leverettschool.edublogs.org/2014/01/31/grade-5-endangered-species-ted-talks/

Photo from our Website Publication Celebration 

(Will and Emily C. not pictured)