The 3 R's

Did you know that 3 is a magic number?

Check out this link to a YouTube video of our new favorite song - "3 Rs" by Jack Johnson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKdZYYmTT9A

The Lorax Project

As a part of our current IB Unit Of Inquiry ("Sharing The Planet"), we watched the movie version of Dr. Seuss’ book, The Lorax.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5jnJdnQPr8)

In the story, the Lorax speaks for the trees – the truffula trees.  This natural resource provides homes for animals, clean air to breathe, and beautiful surroundings.  Unfortunately, these trees are cut down and built over by the Once-ler and his business.  The students painted their hands to make handprint truffula trees.  The tree trunks are made from paper towel rolls.

The students brainstormed a long list of natural resources.  Then, each student created his/her own creature (similar to the Lorax) to “speak for” a different natural resource.  Their creativity on this project is absolutely amazing!  

 

Our Field Trip To The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (African Elephant Crossing) & Rainforest

On Tuesday, we kicked off our fifth IB Unit Of Inquiry, "Sharing The Planet."  As the provocation for this unit, we took a surprise field trip to the African Elephant Exhibit and The Rainforest at The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.  Thank you to Diyun Currie, Amy McConnor, Marcie Mennes, and Todd Wilson for chaperoning our field trip!

We started our day at the African Elephant Crossing.  We came at a great time because the zookeepers were feeding and training the elephants.  While we were there, we learned a little bit more about elephants.

We also learned about "Leo" the snake.  Some of the students and adults were risk-takers and touched him!

We spent the rest of the day exploring The Rainforest.  We were able to make great connections to our IB Unit Of Inquiry, "Sharing The Planet", as we talked about endangered animals and depleting rainforests around the world.

We had a great time on our field trip!  It really wore some of us out...

More photos coming soon!