Honeybee Song(s)

While doing online research about bees, Ms Kate and I found a site by Haagen Dazs ice cream. Students had so much fun "doing the honeybee" one wrote his own song. Once he shared his work, we discussed ways to improve the song. After talking, the class decided that pollination is something most people forget about. Everyone knows bees make honey. Less people are aware that one-third of our food is a direct result of bee pollination.

Here is what we've written thus far. It would be the chorus of a longer song. We started by chanting the phases of the insect life cycle. Enjoy!

Helping the Honeybees

2nd Grade students are currently learning about insects. While we were waiting for our mealworms to arrive, we decided to learn more about bees. Bees scare some of us, but they serve a very important purpose. Bees also get a bad rap since they are often mistaken for wasps (who are much more likely to sting.)

Here are some "fun facts" we learned about bees:

Fact: Bees pollinate about 1/3 of the foods we eat. Without bees, foods like blueberries, strawberries and cherries would become harder to find.

Fact: The queen bee is the only female in a hive to lay eggs. The queen can lay up to 3,000 eggs in one day!

Fact: The honeybee can only sting once. Then it dies.
A wasp is able to sting many times.

Fact: Honeybees "dance" to communicate the location of food
sources to other members of the colony.
Next post: Our song!!!!

Charity Begins At Home

Hello Scientists,





I hope everyone has been enjoying the weather this weekend.
I know it is going to change soon (again.)

Being outside, enjoying a book by the river made me realize once again how fortunate I am. It also made me wonder if I am doing enough to help others. It caused me to think about my students who may or may not have the same level of ability to give whether it be time or money, etc...

I'm posting some links that you can use to donate by playing games on your computer. Try them and let me know what you think.


I know many of you have tried Freerice.com. I wanted to remind you that there are options to try such as math, map skills and famous paintings. Improve your own skills and help hungry people around the world.

I found another site which is challenging in a different way. Charitii.com is played like a multiple choice crossword puzzle. Another interesting feature is that currently there are four charities available. You can choose to donate ounces of clean drinking water, grains of wheat to feed malnourished families, or minutes of education time in a classroom. You can also choose to protect square inches of rainforest land.

I've noticed that both games adjust yo your ability level. Please try them and help to make a difference.

I'm also posting a link to the video our students made earlier this year in response to the earthquake in Haiti. Their message is heartfelt and truly reflective of our students being "the best that they can be!"

http://vimeo.com/9164496

Let me know how much you donate!

Travel Through The Solar System

Hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather. Clear skies make it easier to observe the stars at night. Sometimes you can even see some of the larger planets without a telescope!
Here are links about constellations and the Solar System for you to check out.
Enjoy!

www.kidsastronomy.com/astroskymap/
This site helps you to learn about the stars in the night sky.

http://kids.nineplanets.org/
Lots of fun facts about each planet.

More Science of the Olympics links!!!

Ms. Kane pointed out that I should post all of the videos mentioned in the pole to the left.

Here goes...

Bobsled



Figure Skating


Curling


Thanks for the heads up Ms Kane. It really does take a village...

Winter Olympics

Hello,
Sorry it has been so long sine I've posted. Things have been super hectic.

Lots of people are watching the Winter Olympics. Have you ever considered the science of the Olympics?
The National Science Foundation has produced a series of short videos about the science behind a variety of olympic sports.

Check them out.

Skiing




Snowboarding


Have fun learning about the science of the olympics!