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Ladybug Web quest

Task:

By the end of this web quest, you will be able to explain the life cycle of the ladybug, describe where they live, describe what they eat, name their body parts and a few other interesting facts.  You will even discover there are many different kinds of ladybugs all around the world.

 Duties/Process:

During your ladybug investigation you will:

Examine the life cycle of the ladybug.

Describe where ladybugs live.

Describe what ladybugs like to eat.

Name the body parts of the ladybug.

Visit 2 websites to research additional information on ladybugs.

Write a report describing all that you have learned about ladybugs and illustrate.

Your Job:

1.  Visit Enchanted Learning and see if you can figure out the four stages of development of a ladybug. Create a tree map of the four stages. Be sure to add important information under each stage. Turn tree map in to Ms. Daniels when you are done. 

2. Visit Have You Ever Wondered?  to see if you can find information about what you need to feed a ladybug.  Write at least 4 things that feed ladybugs and submit to Ms. Daniels.

3.  Write a report describing everything you have learned about ladybugs.  Be sure to include a picture.  Submit it to Ms. Daniels!

Good Luck!

Rubric/Evaluation:

	Beginning1	Developing2	Good Job3	Outstanding4
4 stages of development	You named 1 stage.	You named 2 stages.	You named 3 stages.	You named 4 stages.
Feeding a Ladybug	You named 1 thing that feeds a ladybug.	You named 2 things that feeds a ladybug.	You named 3 things that feeds a ladybug.	You named 4 things that feeds a ladybug.
Label the Ladybug	You miss labeled 4 or more parts.	You miss labeled 3 parts.	You miss labeled 2 parts.	You correctly labeled the ladybug.
Report	Your report includes some facts about the ladybug.	Your report makes sense and includes most required facts about the ladybug.	Your report makes sense, is neat and includes all required facts about the ladybug.	Your report makes sense, is neat and includes many extra facts about insect. You have exceeded the standard.

Conclusion:

Congratulations!  Now you are a fabulous ladybug expert. You can share what you've learned tonight at home!

Candy Life Cycles

Today we did the last activity with our butterfly unit. Every kid likes candy, right? And every teacher likes kids that like learning, right? Put those two together and you get happy kids and happy teachers! We made an edible flow map of a butterfly's life cycle.

First I started off by letting the kids draw their own flow maps. I like doing this because the kids show their creative sides. Then we filled in the stages of the butterfly life cycle by using a Butterfly Life Cycle Pretzi. (I love using pretzis on my Smartboard! It's so fun and cool to see it spin and flip :-) )

After the kids filled in the stages, I told them that they were going to get four different pieces of candy and they had to figure out what piece of candy represented what life cycle stage.  They absolutely loved this activity.  And, of course, they devoured the candy afterwards.

All you need for this activity is blank paper, crayons, bite sized crunch candy, sour gummy worms, tootsie rolls, and pretzels. I'm sure your kids will love this!

Until next time!

Yummy Landforms

Today we had so much fun ending our geography unit.  We've been learning about landforms, bodies of water, maps and globes.  To close the unit, we made an edible map of North Carolina.  They've learned about the different regions of our state, Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plains.  We took that information and made a yummy map.  Here's what you need: smooth peanut butter, powdered milk, powdered sugar, white corn syrup, and mini and big chocolate chips.

Mix all the the ingredients together making sure to add the peanut butter last.  The dough will be pretty thick and you may need to add water to it. 

I gave each student a map and a piece of wax paper.  Place the wax paper on top of the map for easy spreading.

Each student got a big spoonful of dough.  They spread the dough around the map to make the shape of the state.

After they spread the dough around, they got mini and big chocolate chips.  The minis represent the Mountain region and the big represent the Piedmont region.  The Coastal Plain is just the dough.  The maps turned about pretty stinkin' cute if I may say so...plus they were really tasty :-) 

This was a fun way for the kids to learn about their state and have a yummy snack! 

Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Over the last few days we have done some activities about the life cycle of a butterfly.  The kids are so excited to have our own caterpillars to watch and observe.  Four out of five caterpillars are in a chrysalis. So we're keeping our fingers crossed that the 5th one will climb on up and join the others.

The kids had lots of fun making the life cycle out of noodles and marshmallows.

 They also made a book about the life cycle of the butterfly.  I randomly grouped the kids into 3 groups and they worked together to create a book.  They had to incorporate each life cycle stage and facts that they had learned.

Afterwards, they were able to design the front cover.  Some of my kids even made a table of contents and an index!!! (That made me so excited because I've been drilling text features ALL YEAR!)

 

I can't wait to do more fun activities in the next few days. Stay tuned for a "tasty sweet treat"!
Until next time,

New Page!

I'm so excited to introduce my new blog! This is a combination of my class website and a little blogging about my journey in teaching! As I transition to the world of blogging, I hope to share some of the cool things we are doing in class! I hope you enjoy!