First Grade Weather Forecasting

First graders created their own anemometers as final project to wrap up their unit on weather. These adorable scientific devices measure wind speed. This class made their anemometers out of dixie cups, plaster of Paris, straws, cardboard, tape, and more dixie cups. This video shows one student testing her anemometer to measure the speed of the "wind" coming out of a fan, please note that the video has no sound.

Totally Awesome Tie-Dyed Tea Towels, brought to you by the letter "T"

Last week the letter of the kindergartners' week was "T" and that could only mean they were tie-dying with tea, English Breakfast Tea to be precise. They took fabric remnants that had been pre-soaked in an alum-baking soda solution, tied them up with rubber bands, and dunked them in a lukewarm and fragrant tea bath. The result- some pretty groovy designs made by even groovier scientists/artists.

Spring Valley is Invaded by Creeping Crawling 2nd Grade Creations!!!

To compliment their unit on insects, the second graders were invited up to the science lab to participate in an Insect Scavenger Hunt! They were given a paper with written descriptions of certain insects, arachnids, and arthropods; and had to use these these descriptions as clues to find the correct species from the lab's extensive collection of specimens. After completing their scavenger hunts students were allowed to display their knowledge of insect anatomy and unleash their creativity by assembling their very own awesome insects from egg cartons, pipe cleaners, and black beans.

Shadow and Sound, brought to you by the letter S

The letter of the week was "S" for the Spring Valley kindergartners, and that meant that their science activity had to begin with S, and it did. They began by cutting out shapes from black construction paper, taped them to sheets of waxed paper, and fixed them behind the screen of a shadow puppet theatre, made from a recycled FOSS kit box. With the help of two 6V batteries they had an instant Shadow Puppet Theatre! But that's not all, alongside the theatre was an assortment of percussion instruments that students could choose to add sound to their dramatizations.