Sea Life: Coral Reefs...

Even though school is out for us, the learning never stops! We ended the school year learning about all sorts of Sea Life. We learned a little about Coral Reefs. This book by Gail Gibbons teaches us a bit more about fascinating coral reefs:

(Be sure to click on the "eyeballs" for a larger version of the book)

An Octopus in Kindergarten...

Today we had a chance to see, touch and hold a real octopus. In fact there were three of them. Mrs. Blakely surprised us by bringing them to school today. You can see how excited we were:

Thanks Mrs. Moeller for your help with the photos.

An Octopus is Amazing....

We learned some very interesting things about the octopus. Here are a few things that we know about these amazing animals:

• An Octopus can squirt black ink because they are afraid and they want to escape their enemies


• They have 8 legs


• They have 240 suction cups on their legs


• Their legs are called tentacles


• They have big heads


• They can change color for protection


• They are really smart, they can take the top off a jar to get at food


• They like to eat crabs


• Their bodies are squishy because they don't have any bones


• They can live in small spaces


• They use their siphons to go fast to get away from enemies


• They use their siphons to clean out their dens

We watched some really cool videos about how smart an octopus can be. Check them out:

• The Octopus vs. Mr. Potato Head (he also opens a jar in this video)
• Octopus glides through a plastic tube
• Octopus escapes through a small hole
• Octopus vs. Shark

Visit Enchanted Learning to find out more about the octopus.

Check back soon to see what other wonders we are learning about.

(flickr photo courtesy of: Sabinche)

Field Trip Video...

We had so much fun on our trip to the Shedd Aquarium. Mrs. Blakely took lots and lots of pictures. Some of the photos are in this video...it's a tad long, but there were so many wonderful underwater wonders to see there. ;-)
If you have never been to the Shedd, it's a "Must See" if you are ever in Chicago, IL.

Sea Life: Sharks...

We are learning about all kinds of sea animals. This week we are learning about Sharks. Sharks are fascinating creatures Here is some of what we have been learning:

Our teacher made this video, but you can try making one of your own at Discovery Channel's: Shark Week Video Mixer. Give it a try, it's fun. You will need a grown up to help you. If you make a video that you want to share, be sure to send us the link.

Here are a few more interesting sites: Sharks, Shark Facts, Shark Information. If you find a site you think we might enjoy in Kindergarten, we hope you will share it with us.

What is a fish?....

We have been learning about fish. We know the things that make a fish a fish! These are the things we know:

• All fish have gills.


• Fish are cold-blooded.


• They have a back bone or skeleton.
  
• Most fish have fins.
  
• Most fish have scales, but some don't
  
• Fish live in water. Some fish live in salt water, other fish live in fresh water. Salmon and eels can live in both types of water. Salmon have their babies in fresh water, but live in salt water. Eels have their babies in the salt water, but they live in fresh water.

Here are some fish we like:

Visit our Sea Life Page

Sea Life...

We are so excited! We began our Sea Life unit on Monday. We brainstormed things we think we know about the animals that live in the sea or ocean, the things you can see there, and the things you can do there. We used Kidspiration to keep track of our thoughts.

AM thoughts:

PM thoughts:

Check back with us often to see what we have learned about Sea Life!

We Know Birds...

We have learned a lot of interesting facts about birds. Watch our voicethread and you can find out some of what we know about birds...

Bird Watching...

Over the past few days we have been learning all about the birds we might see in our neighborhood. We made binoculars out of paper tubes and went for a nice long bird watching walk. We spotted a lot of birds we know and a few we didn't know. We worked with a partner. We had a pair of binoculars, a sheet for tallies, and a clipboard. We went all around the school yard looking for robins, sparrows, blue-jays, cardinals, hummingbirds, other (mystery) birds and nests. We found a lot of robins, sparrows and "mystery" birds. We didn't see any cardinals, blue-jays or hummingbirds. It was a very windy day, but we had fun!

Spring is Here at Last....

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring! We couldn't be more ready for it too! This has been a long, cold, ...very cold, Winter. In our area of Illinois, one of the first signs of Spring is the return of the robins. They have been away all Winter long and are coming back to build nests and start new families. We are all on the lookout for robins and other signs that Spring is here at last! If you haven't seen a robin in a while, here's a quick reminder of how they look. Their eggs are a beautiful shade of blue. The male robins have the beautiful orange chest, the females are more dull in color. What are some of the "Signs of Spring" where you live?

Squirrel Facts...

A few weeks ago we spent time learning about Squirrels! We learned what they like to eat, where they live, and other interesting facts. We drew pictures of squirrels and shared one fact that we remembered. (Please note that due to technical difficulties, we are not able to post all our students sharing facts at this time. Please check back later, we continue to try to work it out.)

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