1L Happenings-BreakoutEDU and Animal Adaptations!

Breakout Math and Science Review!

Students in 1L have joined the "escape room" craze! We participated in a "Breakout" Math and Science review activity this week. Students had to use QRI codes, teamwork and knowledge from our math and science units to unlock secret boxes filled with an awesome prize! 

"Escape rooms have been popping up all over the country. That’s where a group of people are willingly locked in and given an hour to “break out.” They follow clues posted or hidden in the room, sidestep the red herrings, and work together to beat the clock.

The startup Breakout EDU has developed a way to use this playful, exciting model in the classroom environment with kits. These items can be used to create puzzles and treasure hunts for your students to discover content.

Breakout EDU founder James Sanders designed the student experiences after visiting those popular escape or puzzle rooms. As an educator, he realized that these activities “teach teamwork, problem solving, critical thinking, and troubleshooting by presenting students with challenges that ignite their natural drive to problem solve,” he says on BreakoutEDU.com."

Check out more from Phil Goerner's 2016 Article in SLJ here 

or 

go BreakoutEDU for more information! 

Animal parts, survival, habitats and inheritance! 

Students have been learning about animal adaptations and how animal parts help them to survive! Check us out as we describe animal characteristics, experiment with different bird beaks, and create super animals with our favorite animal adaptations.

To enhance our learning about animals and their habitats, as well as the important themes of Earth Day, our class has decided to "adopt" a Panda! See the letter below for information!

Animal Adoption

Dear First Grade Families,

       As we prepare for Earth day in the coming week, the students have been discussing ways to help, protect, and care for the Earth and it’s many living things. A special way we feel we can help our environment is protecting the animals that roam our planet. With that in mind, 1L has planed to adopt an endangered animal. As a class, we voted and decided to adopt a Panda through the World Wildlife Fund. Our class donation will go towards keeping the Panda safe and living free in the wild. We have decided to make a goal to donate at least $2.00 per student to the fund. But of course, any spare change is welcomed! We are so excited to play a role in helping this species live happily on our planet. Please return your donation by Friday April 28, 2015 so that your child can be a part of our class Earth Day Service Project.

Here is some information about the Panda:

Giant pandas are found only in the temperate forests of China. Although classified as a carnivore, the panda’s diet consists almost exclusively of bamboo. Despite being one of the most popular animals in the world, giant pandas are threatened by habitat fragmentation and unsustainable development. It is estimated that 1,800 pandas remain in the wild. WWF is the primary international conservation organization protecting pandas and their habitat.

http://gifts.worldwildlife.org/