We’ve come to the end of another fun and busy week of learning and playfulness.
We’ve started alternating our daily morning meditation with morning yoga. This activity is challenging for some of us but we are finding that stretching and balancing our bodies is becoming easier the more we practice it.
In grammar this week, fourths began a final review of nouns that included identifying nouns in sentences, sorting common and proper nouns, and identifying determiners (a, an, the). Fifths wrapped up their final review of verbs, focusing on linking verbs, regular and irregular verbs, and verb forms that express action happening in the present, past, and future.
The fourth grade geometry lesson was on using inverse area formulas to find a missing value for the base or height when given the area of a rectangle. Fifth graders began a study of the apothem by inscribing each of the polygons with three through ten sides inside a circle. They then located the center of each polygon and identified the base and the apothem. We will continue to work with apothems next week.
In biology we continued our study of plants with a lesson and discussion about alternate sexual reproduction in plants. We took a close look at this process in ferns as an example.
Our fourth grade history lesson focused on finding our closest living relatives. A branching diagram tool called a cladogram was introduced as a way of determining relations between species and their shared common ancestors. We looked at homologies – characteristics that are similar because they have been inherited from a common ancestor. Some homologies we looked at were bones and teeth, the frontal sinus, molecules, soft body parts such as milk producing glands and sitting pads, and chromosomes.
We didn’t let the rainy weather get us down this week; during our indoor recess we enjoyed a mini dance party with most of the Upper El dancing to Cotton Eye Joe.
