Plants – We Eat Every Part

We just started a new chapter in science! We are learning about plants. In between learning about things like photosynthesis and pollination, we are also learning about the different parts of plants. What better way to learn about them than to eat them!

Monday we ate some seeds. Would you like to know what kind? They were yellow, but after we applied some heat, they became white and fluffy! That’s right, we had some delicious popcorn. We were able to very clearly see the seed coats after we finished, because they fell to the bottom of the bowl.

Tuesday we had stems and leaves to drink. Sugar cane stems and tea leaves, that is. The students were super excited to be trying yet another part of plants.

Tomorrow we will be having roots for an afternoon snack. What do you suppose they will be? Ask your student if you’d like to find out!

Learning about the Senses

Last week we spent time learning about the 5 senses. On the day we talked about touch, we had lots of fun exploring a box full of different items and trying to decide what we had been touching. We realized how much we really rely on our other senses to help us!

Insect Collections

Third graders are always excited to do their first school project. This year, we began with an insect collection. (Early in the year, one of the boys was almost in tears when I said I didn’t know if we would be doing one this year.)

The students did a fabulous job. Here are some of their projects.

 

The kids had lots of fun hunting for bugs.

They came to school full of stories of how they had found their insects.

 

Even the girls enjoyed putting together their projects.

Along the way, we learned a lot about different types of insects and their classifications.

 

 

The students showed lots of creativity!

What an exciting way to learn about insects. As we have been studying them this chapter in science class, the students were quite eager to discover more about the insects they collected.

Science Experiment

     Today we conducted an experiment during science class. We have been talking about how God created animals with the tools that they need to meet their basic needs. Specifically, we talked about how the hummingbird’s beak is specifically designed to sip nectar from flowers.

     So today, each student formed a hypothesis about which of three tools would be most similar to the hummingbird’s beak. The tools we used were needle-nosed pliers, tweezers, and a dropper. Most of the students decided that the pliers were the most similar in appearance to the hummingbird’s beak.

     Then, we tested their hypothesis by seeing which tool could move the most water in 30 seconds. They found that the dropper worked best for moving liquid. The students really enjoyed putting science into action!