Monday, May 31, 2021

Hands-On, Delicious Moon Phases

Each one of the Navigators were able 
to tell the phases of the moon. 
And now their teacher can, too. :)

We were also in for a treat, as a partial lunar eclipse 
occurred while we were studying moon phases. 

Plus we had a sweet discussion on how to eat an Oreo.







How do YOU eat an Oreo? 

As a full moon? A new moon?
As the first or last quarter?
As a waxing or waning gibbous moon?
As a waxing or waning crescent moon?


Just remember, if the light is on the right,
The moon is getting bright (waxing)
Waxing = growing
Waning = shrinking




Sunday, May 30, 2021

Do the Math: the Scale of Solar System

It's hard to get one's head wrapped 
around how vast the solar system is. 

So we did the math.


We took the huge distances and divided by 10,000,000, 
i.e. we moved the decimal point 
7 places to the left 
and did some rounding.

Now we had numbers we could work with. 

We made some planets, went outside,
got out some cones, 
and started to unwrap a roll of toilet paper. 
Each square of the toilet paper represented 10,000,000 miles!
The first four "inner planets" were relatively close to the sun.


We then estimated how far out Neptune would be. 


We kept on counting.
We were on a roll!


We added the asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter. 
The rocks also helped keep our t.p. from blowing away.

We kept going and going and going...

178, 179, 180...

In actuality, 1,780,000,000 miles, 1,790,000,000 miles, 1,800,000,000 miles!

When we got to Neptune, 
we decided to keep on going to Pluto. 
Thank you, Siri, for helping us out.
She made us really have to "do the math".

We now have our heads more wrapped 
around how vast the solar system is.  
We went inside and drew 
the solar system more true to scale.

And that's a wrap. (Or should we say, unwrap?) 



Saturday, May 29, 2021

How the Telescope Changed the Perspective of the World

"Everything revolves around the earth," 
said Aristotle, Ptolemy, and people for centuries.

"No, the sun is the center of our solar system," 
said Copernicus and Galileo.
These two men were arrested for their opinion.

Who was correct?
What did they base their opinion on?
Is it possible to be wrong?
How do know know for sure?
Do you think there are things that we might be wrong about?

These are the questions we grappled with as we 
looked at the modern model of the solar system.

And we made telescopes, like Galileo,
and learned how his telescope changed 
the perspective of the world!



First we looked at the two models and discussed what we noticed.


We experimented with light 
and saw how it bends, 
how it gets spread out, 
and how it is affected by mirrors, 
including convex and concave mirrors. 




We experimented with lenses. 




And we made telescopes!




One boy was asked at the end of the day 
why he was so tired and his response was, 
"Because the day was so full of discoveries."

The sun is indeed the center of our universe, 
thanks to Galileo's telescope. 

A perfect Seabury day!

Artistic Renditions of Our Solar System

Welcome to our art gallery. 
The art in this collection is done 
with oil pastels on black construction paper.  











Friday, May 28, 2021

Whew! Here Comes the Sun with Its Solar Heat!

What do you do when you're done 
with your distance learning pizza box 
and you're studying astronomy?

Make a solar oven, of course!

Supplies:

Pizza box, box cutter, aluminum foil, black paper, 
plastic wrap, tape, ruler,

and A LOT OF GLUE.

We set them up in the morning, hoping for the sun to come out.
The temperature was about 60° outside.

Whew, the sun came out as forecasted. 

The temperature inside our ovens was above 110°, 
the highest our thermometers read.
(Ms. Wollum is such a princi-PAL!)

We assembled our mini s'mores, closed the lid, and waited...

It worked! The sun heat up our ovens 
enough to make yummy s'mores.

The heat from the sun was enough to make s'mores 
even on a cool day. 

They were finger licking good!

May I please have s'more!? 




Thursday, May 27, 2021

The Navigators' Planets

As an introduction to our study of astronomy, the first and second grade Navigators read the book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. We were inspired to design and write about our own planets, telling a story about ourselves. Listen to the each student's developing writer's voice as you read their delightful stories.


The Little Prince's Asteroid B-612
It has two active volcanoes, an extinct volcano, and a rose. 

~~~~~

 

The Rainbow Planet

My planet is called the Rainbow Planet because I used all the rainbow colors. It has a big, green dinosaur, but the dinosaurs could be any color because there are hundreds maybe even thousands. The dinosaur eats, sleeps, helps, and sleeps. It eats, drinks, eats, drinks, and then cooks. The dinosaurs on my planet help because they are so nice. There are three kinds of dinosaurs and each person gets one type of each type. There are dragons. There are all types of dragons. One of the types is named Toothless. He’s one of my favorite dragons that I have ever seen in movies. Toothless has green eyes, black scales, and he can’t fly because he lost the other side of his tail. There is also a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse thing. You can see the whole solar system from my planet. My planet is before the Kuiper Belt. Also on my planet there is my family. And there are three trees that grow chocolate. And you can see Neptune up very close. There are also some fruits and vegetables. I wouldn’t survive without them. It has all types of parks. There are also lions that are so nice because they roar for an alarm. My planet is so amazing and I love my planet. 

~~~~~


Pikachu Land


My planet is called Pikachu Land. Why it’s called that is because it has millions of Pikachus. And because it has all the evolved forms of Pikachus, even the not evolved forms. It has the Pokémon Center for Pokémons. It’s for healing Pokémons. The grass is edible and all the vegetables and the grass taste like all the candy you have tasted in your life and it’s like wow. There is a little area where you can sleep. Don’t worry - there is no one and no Pokémon that snores. It also has a hidden Water Pokémon that squirts the most powerful weapons. There is also the rarest Pokémon called Mieu. It has candy canes and a chocolate river, just in case you are thirsty.  At the very back of Pikachu Land is a giant heart and a giant Pikachu. And if you catch it, without the master ball, it would be really rare. The planet has other people so I’m never lonely. There is also a hidden area that you can never find unless you get lost. If you do find it and find the food that it grows, it will instantly turn the Pokémon you find into its final evolved form. Plus, there is also a myth, that if you find a stone, it will turn any type of Pokémon into my Pokémon. It’s only in the rarest areas that are not on my planet. It’s the glitch type. If you catch it, you will be legendary. I have caught it before and it glitched out and gave me a crystal that looks like a watch. You have to do a special move to unleash its power. I wish one day I could find my Pokémon again and have a master ball. 


~~~~~


My Dream Solar System

This is my solar system. It is unique. The sun is green, not yellow. There is also a planet that is cubed shaped. It’s covered in craters like the moon. It’s name is Craterico. The next planet is not a planet at all. It’s a sun. This sun is orbiting the main sun! The second sun is called Green Fireball. After Green Fireball is a rainbow-striped planet. It is precisely the same size as the main sun. The planet is called Selloffera. Next, there is a hollow planet. It’s name is Hillowhollow. It has three giant redwoods. The pink planet has no orbit. It wonders around the universe. It has no name either because it goes through different solar systems so different creatures name it different names. The next planet is called Fonddowie. It is flat, it is blue. It is very flat. It is still a little blue. After Fonddowie is a giant peach colored planet. It is about two times the size of the main sun. It has brothers and sisters that use the same orbit. They are called the Giant Family. The purple planet controls the food for the solar system. It makes food drop from the sky. It’s name is Menu. The sun orders from Menu and decides what everyone has every day. There are asteroid belts, too. There are three asteroid belts. The planets have to fight their way through to keep in their orbit. One kind of asteroid is very rare. It is attracted to one of the Giant Family members. My solar system is a crazy fun solar system. 

~~~~~ 



Ateata

Welcome to Ateata, a place of magic and wonders. It is a planet in a far off galaxy called Vestroya. It a wondrous place. There is a gateway portal that connects it to all the other planets in the galaxy. The portal is rainbow colored. In the center you see where you want to travel and you put your information in and twist it. You have to find a secret thing which is found inside the Pikachu Castle. The Pikachu Castle is where all the Pikachus play, watch TV, sleep, and most of all, watch over the planet. When you find the secret thing, you put it in a hole in the back of the portal. Press the button and it works. There is also a chocolate ocean. It is shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head. It is for them to drink or else there wouldn’t be anything to drink except for the juice inside the apples on the apple tree. The apple tree is not an ordinary apple tree. When you eat the apples, you can see the future or you will stay young forever. There is a grand living area. It’s like a castle and it is the only thing on the planet with a heart crystal on it. The heart crystal represents life and love for the planet. The Pokémon home is where all the other Pokémons live and play and watch TV and go crazy especially when they go by ghost and dark type Pokémons. There is also a candy bush. It has always been there since the beginning of time. And all the Pokémons love the candy that it makes. On the opposite side of the planet there is a humongous sofa. It has stuff on it that all ages can play with. Aeata is the best planet in Vestroya. 

~~~~~


Fun World

Fun World is a planet that is amazingly fun. You may see three of our top people from shows that you might love. First up, MARIO! Mario is a super fun game. My favorite part about Mario is that there are different kinds like the Silver Mario. Here’s another show. He comes out of a Pokémon ball and he’s with Ash Ketchum. He’s PICACHU slash Lightning Bolt. Pikachu is the world star champion Pokémon! And the third one is in a shell, he’s in the water, he’s SQUIRTLE. Squirtle is a water type Pokémon but also Pikachu is a lightning type and he can weaken Squirtle. This planet has also has a BURGER TREE. The burger tree and the planet are heated up by the STARS. In case you need a snack, step right up to the rainbow fruit bush. In case you’re hungry and you want to go climbing, check out the CANDY CANE TREES. And in case you want to nap and smell something nice, check out the SWEET FLOWERS. But just in case you brought your daughter or son or your little brother who’s a baby, don’t let them eat the sweet flowers. Then, if you want to go swimming at all, check out the NEARBY RIVER that goes around the planet in a wiggly line. It is a very fun planet. I even wish I could go there. 

~~~~~


I’s Planet
My planet has rings made of ice like Saturn. My planet is the size of Pluto. My planet has aliens who live on it, but the aliens who live on it are only girl aliens. My planet’s name is Alieno. My planet has four houses on it that the aliens live in. 

My planet is rainbow colored. The aliens who live on my planet are all girls. Girl aliens marry other girl aliens, and the babies are always girls. 

Every time a season changes, the planet expands twenty feet in every direction. The seasons are the same as on Earth, but winter isn’t called “winter.” It is called “winto” because on the planet, all of the words that start with “W” have an “O” at the end. There are whales in the ocean, but they are called “whale-os” because “whale” starts with a “w.”

All of the aliens on my planet love having girl alien friends.

 

~~~~~ 



Pica-World 


Pica-World is a planet in the very middle of the asteroid belt. It has just a big enough atmosphere to make the whole planet exactly room temperature. It has black and yellow trees. It has delicious fruit on these trees. The fruit is rainbow and it’s a mix of almost every fruit like banana, apple, orange, and mango. The planet has talking Pokémon but they mostly just say Pikachu. But sometimes they actually talk. Pika-pi is referring to some person. Pika means that the Pokémon is distressed. And that’s all I have learned from my Pokémon on my planet. 


The planet also has two little puddles of red, delicious, sugary water. It will last forever. If you get it in a bucket, it will reappear. If you dump it out from the bucket, it will disappear. There are also two black little sticks near the top of the planet. They are stuck in the dirt and they are impossible to dig out. At the very bottom, there are two u’s and one line on the top. It’s all made of sticks. I am also on the planet. My job is to challenge bad guys to Pokémon battles and to project the Pokémon. There are a lot of meteors in space and I protect them by using my steel umbrella. It can block any meteor no matter how big. The meteor will just bounce off. And here is a picture of Pica-world. Does it look familiar? 


~~~~~


The Mario Planet 

My planet is called the Mario Planet and I’ll tell you more. Well, at first, there is a Mario home and it has Mario words going from both directions like M A R I O and O I R A M.  There is a big Bowser Castle which I’ll talk more about. Bowser is a really bad villain in the Mario series. He really doesn’t like Mario and he tries to stop him every time. I don’t really know why. Mario, the hero character, is a good guy that stops Bowser every time. The planet is circled like our planet and it has a Nile River of poison that Bowser created. The blue and red stuff on it are continents because Mario is mostly blue and red. So the Bowser Castle is sucking up fire so it can fire fireball cannons to destroy the planet. The Bowser Castle is cool looking and I first made the top triangle green and then I added red so now it looks brownish reddish kinda blackish and it looks like a picnic blanket. Mario is next to the fire trying to get to the door but the door is mostly guarded by fire so Mario can’t get in. It is a horrible place to live but it’s humongous with spikes all around it. Spikes and spikes and spikes. Mario is a really cool character and he saves the planet from Bowser. 

 

~~~~~ 



The Cotton Candy Planet

My planet is cool. It is very small. It has only one house and it is very small also. It does not have a north and south pole or any snow. It has a very big volcano that is really hot. I think the best part of it is the cotton candy whale. It is made out of cotton candy and has cotton candy sticks on its flippers. There is one very big ocean. It has a cotton candy castle. It is also made out of cotton candy. It even has cotton candy gates. The land is mostly green. It has an airport. The airport is very, very small. The airport is robotic. There are only two planes. They are passenger jets. But the best part of all are the money trees which you can pick money off of them. They only have five dollar bills, two dollar bills, and one dollar bills. You can also climb the money trees. There are not very many money trees. In fact there are only six. You have to take very good care of them. You have to water them and add more soil to them sometimes. People use the money for buying cotton candy from the whale and the whale uses the money to go to the cotton candy castle. My planet is fun. 

~~~~~ 



The Mega Planet

The Mega Planet is bigger than an asteroid or a black hole. It is located in the middle of the starry way. It has portals on it that are actually craters. If you step in one, you teleport somewhere. It has an atmosphere that has air that creates sound and color. There is a Crusty Crab on it that is a restaurant. It has crabby paddies. Sponge Bob is a worker for Mr. Crabs, the crab that owns the restaurant. And there’s Plankton, a green man who has one eyeball and has antennas on him, who owns the Chum Bucket. It has Cole’s Castle that has bricks that are specially made. It has the American flag on it and Plankton’s machine is near it. His machine teleports him straight to the Crusty Crab into the secret formula place. The secret formula place is also where Mr. Crabs keeps his allowance. The planet has a big red letter M on it (it stands for Mega) to help you if you get lost. If you want to go to the planet called Pokémon Land, just go to the Pokéball and it teleports you there.

Oops! You just got teleported to Pokémon Land. This planet has all types of Pokémon on it. It has a mushroom teleporter money tree. It grows $100 dollar bills on and if you go on one of the portals it teleports to the middle of nowhere. So make sure you don’t go in there. It rotates super dooper fast and at night it rotates super dooper slow. It is bigger than 100 galaxies. The way you teleport back is going back through his beard. Did I tell you that the planet has a beard? It has eyes and a mouth, too. It doesn’t have a nose. And it doesn’t have an atmosphere. It would be a good place to live. 




First Grade-isms

A first grader recites 200+ digits of pi!