Is that a caterpillar?

Yesterday we began a unit on life cycles. This unit kicked off with a classroom "pet" so we could see everything first hand. I am not really the kind of teacher who likes class pets of any sort, so this was a step for me. I actually didn't have that big of a problem with it because I knew the kids were going to LOVE it!!! And I was right...

Our class pet actually turned out to be class pets...meal worms. I know they aren't really a pet, but they're worse! I don't like creepy, crawly things. These things were just gross. Luckily, I had an intern for my portable-mate sort them for the other fourth grade teachers so that I didn't touch them. THANK GOODNESS!

The kids got sooooooo excited about the meal worms. They were unable to contain their excitement or disgust for the meal worms. And the thought of them growing into beetles only increased their excitement. I had a few kids who wanted to stare into the plastic box the entire class period. I had others who cringed when I brought the meal worms near. As the ones cringed in their seats, I reminded myself that I was being brave holding the meal worm box because of the kids who were so engaged. They could probably get me to do just about anything because I love them so much! I guess meal worms are just the beginning...luckily there are only 9 weeks of school left...

I didn't know that!

It's Science Fair time! Science projects were due today so that students could present them in class and then at the Science Fair tomorrow if they chose to enter. I saw/heard many types of experiments and even some demonstrations (which are not allowed).

Some experiments remind me of information I learned when I was in school. Some experiments confuse me because they were done incorrectly. Some experiments are not really experiments. And some experiments teach me something new.

My personal favorite are the experiments that teach me something. Especially the ones that teach me one product is better than another. For example, I had a student compare the strengths of paper towels. I found out the store brand paper towel was not as strong as the one with the lumberjack on the package, or any others. I also found out that the store brand multipurpose kitchen cleaner worked much better killing bacteria than the other brands. The only product that worked better than the cleaners was Clorox diluted with water. In this same experiment category, I learned that cheese left out of the refrigerator in a dark place gets very moldy! I mean disgusting with mold. EWWWW! If skydiving is in your future, you should use the largest parachute possible. The bigger the parachute, the slower it falls.

And don't get me started on plant growing-type experiments. Don't we all know (in 4th grade) that a plant needs air, water, and nutrients (soil) to grow? Do I need multiple experiments about this every year? NO! Am I allowed to outlaw this experiment next year?

The other category is demonstrations. In our guidelines for our science projects, demonstrations are not allowed in 4th grade. I made this very clear to my students. I made this clear to my students MANY times. In the science project process, they had to turn in a proposal and sketch weeks before their project was due at school. I had to approve their proposals before they could begin. I made comments about their projects and suggestions on how to change them into true experiments...this would make one think that I would not received any demonstrations. WRONG! I now know how to make electricity with a lemon, measure my lung capacity, measure my heart rate after activity, and how to produce static electricity. I really wish these could count...but like I've repeated a thousand times...you may not turn in a demonstration!

Can I haunt you?

It was a bit crazy having Halloween on a Friday. The kids were so excited about their trick-or-treating that would take place later that night. They came in a bit crazy and didn't want to think about their morning work. I finally had them settled and we began our usual routine...but not after a bit of questioning from Victor: "Can I haunt you? Can I haunt you on your bicycle? Can I haunt you now?"

Today was the perfect day to do a learning lesson with Oreos as well...not! Actually it wasn't so bad, but they were so energetic from the thought of the evening's activities, that our Oreo lesson only added to that excitement. After some initial excitement, we got through our phases of the moon Oreo demonstration with very little rule breaking...only a few plastic forks were thrown in the process. Because of health rules for food at school, I was not allowed to let the kids eat their Oreos in my classroom, so I made it perfectly clear:
Me: "You are NOT allowed to eat your Oreos IN THIS CLASSROOM. I am not allowed to let you eat these Oreos IN THIS CLASSROOM. I will not answer anymore questions about where and when you can eat your cookies, but you may not eat them IN THIS CLASSROOM. And, if you are going to break the rules and eat them, you MUST eat your lunch first. They are dessert, not your lunch."
Class: "So Ms. L, can we eat them in the cafeteria?"
Me: "I'm not answering that."
Other Kids: "She isn't going to tell you that you can eat them, but if you bring them to lunch you will be okay."
Me: "You might want to listen to your friends."
Kids: "See, I told you!"

The rest of the day went off seemingly uneventful, which was very nice and unexpected.

Above is the scariest Halloween costume ever seen!