We celebrated our entire TBS community’s artistic endeavors, from the ECC to the Middle School, this week with the Art Show. Julianne, Emily, and Benicia have been working hard to guide and lead each individual through the process of creating and seeing where it would lead. In conjunction with our study of the local native people from long ago and natural resources in the area, the Temescalians presented shelters that they created only out of natural items found in Strawberry Creek Park. We first sketched to plan how our structures would look like, but as we started working with the materials, we realized that our initial plans needed to adjust as we became more familiar with the items that we had collected.
Our new Core Arts intensive is Information Literacy with Rebecca and she walked us through the Dewey Decimal system and explained that the call number system is kind of like a home address. All books are given a call number, according to the Dewey Decimal system, and you can find any one, according to its call number! Rebecca also talked about using the internet to find reliable sources.
We were able to arrange a field trip to the West Branch of the Berkeley Public Library and Nora, the librarian there, walked us through the books that the library had to offer and we borrowed books on our topic of study. As we launch into our research project, we will be doing most of the note-taking and writing in class. The books that the Temescalians have borrowed will stay in their cubbies until the end of their research project. Books need to be renewed by or before 4/14/16. Note that this is during our Spring Break!
We did Partner reading during one of our reading workshops. The Temescalians continued to practice giving compliments, asking questions, and making connections with their peers. We also practiced taking notes and summarizing from reading a piece about wetlands. Come in and take a look at these summaries near the back door!
Our last session with Mariah from the Ohlone Herbal Center was this week. She hopes to come back when the calendula are in bloom to help us make chapsticks out of the flowers. We went around and shared things that we learned with Mariah and Temescalians shared: “I learned you can eat chickweed.” “We learned how to make teas to help you feel better.” She showed us how to make cordage with raffia. It was a beautiful day and we took this experience outside to imagine what it could have been like for the Ohlone long ago. Just like we would chat and joke while working, so did the Ohlone.
In science, we finished up our density observation and noticed that different liquids have different weights. That is why one sinks below another.
Continuing with our study of water, we dove into the world of surface tension. After watching a video of a water strider, we posed the question to the Temescalians: How does the water strider move on water? While they thought about it, we had the kids do two activities (1) How many drops of water fit on a penny? (2) What happens to a floating paper clip when you dip dish soap into it? They thought that you could fit 12 drops of water on a penny, but some fit 30+ drops! The water formed a dome on top of the penny. We tied this experience back to our study of Snowflake Bentley and how snowflakes are formed. The shape of the water molecule makes for the shape of the dome, and the elastic nature of water.
Finally, we did demonstrations for the kids. I used an open jar filled with water, held a paper over the mouth, and flipped it over. When I removed my hand, the paper and water stayed, but when I removed the paper, all of the water came out. The second time, I put a screen over the mouth of the jar and screwed it shut. When I flipped the jar over, the paper and water stayed, but when I removed the paper this time, most of the water stayed in the jar. Why? The water formed a sort of wall of water because of surface tension, and kept the water in the upside down jar.
Julia used a saucer of milk and added drops of food coloring in one spot in the middle of the plate. She then touched a cotton swab dipped in dish soap to the fluid and something happened! Ask your Temescalian what happened!
We celebrated a Temescalian birthday!
Walking mindfully with Kate Klaire in Strawberry Creek Park.
Katherine introducing the 9 Lines method of studying multiplication facts for the 6s. We also started our unit on Money.
