The Browns Point Treasure Hunt: EAGLES!

The Navigators and their friends, the Treasure Seekers, went on a final Treasure Hunt of the Year. We were on the lookout for things that related to the "treasures" we have learned about this year. 

We walked about one mile from our school and saw these geological treasures: the snow-capped Olympic mountains, Vashon Island, and Puget Sound. 

We saw the flora and the fauna of the area

 including several types of maple trees and helicopter seeds.

And then we were instructed to look to the right and to the left 

and up and down. 

And then we saw it! An eagle's nest. 

And just as we saw it, an adult eagle flew in and fed the eaglet!

Here are more spectacular pictures taken by Ms Moon, the Treasure Seekers' teacher:

 

 What a treasure it was, to see the eagles that daily fly over our playground,

especially since we have been watching the Decorah, Iowa eagles since March!

The Decorah eagles:

 

We're so glad the eagles are back and that we get to see them.

They are a treasure indeed!

The Winning Bidder Gets a TEA PARTY!

The child of the winning bidder for our 

Seabury 2018-2019 Run for the Roses Auction 

Teacher Experience 

got to have a tea party with her teacher 

and five of her friends.

She chose her classmates.

So Mrs. T started to make things fancy...

The table was set, 

the place cards were added 

(thanks to the Navigators' Georgia O'Keeffe artwork),

and Mrs. T's special hat collection was set out 

for all to choose from. 

And the guests began to arrive!

Many of us tried real tea for the first time and we liked it. 

(A real sugar cube might have been the deciding factor.)

The conversation was polite and quite interesting. 

We talked about how we were going to miss our friends, our classroom, and our teacher this summer. 

This was an impromptu toast to Mrs. T.

Mrs. T. said, "Thank you, 

and let's not really clink our glasses together." 😄

What a delightful way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Thank you, Navigators, for joining me for 

tea with Mrs. T! 

First Grade Botany 101: Thinking Like Botanists

What does it look like for first graders to take Botany 101?

Asking good questions

Setting up our individual experiments

Checking our experiments for 10 days

Some experiments were done sooner than others.

"Look what happened to my plant in the freezer!"

Taking care of our experimental plants.

We've learned that plants make their own food through the process of photosynthesis. But what would happen if you give a plant more sugar, as in one sugar cube per day?

Sugar cube hypothesis: I think it will create more leaves because sugar is inside the stem.

Results: It is not good to feed it sugar.

Each student did two experiments.

Here we are comparing our results.

Experiment #1 was the control plant and #2 was fertilized by our red wigglers worm fertilizer! 

Thank you, Ms Jenn, for showing us how to keep them alive and wiggling!

Analysis by a first grader!

Final analysis: most students agreed that:

• plant number 8, the plant that was talked to, grew the most because talking produces more carbon dioxide, something plants need to survive.

• plant number 13, the plant that was put in the microwave, grew the least because it survived only 30 seconds. Plants cannot get that hot. 

Proof: young students exposed to real life, hands-on, inquiry based, STEM activities can and do think like botanists. 

Each student gets an A+ in Botany 101

First Grade Botany 101: We Are the Gardeners!

Investigating Seeds

 

Watching seeds grow

Investigating Stems

A close up look at roots

(and plants that are leaning towards the source of light)

Planting seeds inside and outside

Enjoying the garden

Eating kale

Can I really eat this?

Learning about weeds and these wildly spreading seeds

Watering is a favorite job.

It's snowing apple blossoms!

Success! Our seeds are growing!

We've worked hard and have learned 

a lot about plants and gardening. 

Now we're looking forward to experiencing the greatest reward: 

REAL FOOD!