A Star's Life 2/26/10

Stars have their own lives in space. They are glowing balls of gas just like our sun. They puff off layers of gas as they slowly fade away. Stars can be joined up to form constellations in our night sky. A group of billions of stars is called a galaxy. Most galaxies are spiral or oval shaped. One galaxy looks like a wheel. Some big stars explode. They leave a big cloud of gas. The stars in our universe have amazing lives.

by: Julian, Lila, Sean and Sophie

Earth's Best Friend...The Moon 2/24/10

The moon orbits the earth. It takes about one month for the moon to travel around the earth. Earth's moon is a satellite. A satellite is an object orbiting around a larger one. It has phases. A phase is when the moon's appearance seems to change. It's shape doesn't actually change though, it's just the sunlight reflecting off it at different angles. The moon is earth's only natural satellite.

by: Abby, Kate, and Nicolai

Our Amazing Solar System 2/23/10

All the planets have their own unique characteristics. The planets are formed from the left overs of the nebula that gave birth to the sun. The sun's gravity keeps the planets in their own orbit in the solar system. Earth's moon has high mountain ranges that people thought looked like faces. Jupiter has a big red spot that is actually a gigantic hurricane. It has been raging for at least 400 years. Two earths can fit inside this Great Red Spot. Saturn is the second biggest planet. It's light enough to float in water because it is made up of gas with a small rocky core that is surrounded by hydrogen. Neptune is hard to see even with a very powerful telescope. First they thought Neptune had two moons but later Voyager 2 discovered another six. Uranus has a sideways axis. Astronomers think it may have been knocked on it's side by something floating in space. Our solar system is so amazing. There are many more cool and interesting facts to discover about it.

by: Claire, Cyperus, Elisabeth, James, Kasiah, and Ryland

Our Sun Summary 2/22/2010

The sun is an average star. The temperature of the sun is 15,000,000 C. It heats planets billions of kilometers away. There are spots on the sun called sunspots that are not as hot as the rest of the sun. The sun is humongous, more than one million earths could fit inside it. The important thing about the sun is that it heats our earth and other planets.

by: Alanna, Cameron, Dalvin, and Oskar

Dia de los Muertos

We have been learning about the Hispanic holiday, Day of the Dead. Over the past week, we have been reading stories and creating a classroom alter. There are flowers, pictures, and pan de muerto on our alter. We lit candles and took turns placing them on the alter. We shared stories about our relatives. As a final touch, we ended with a moment of silence honoring all those who have come before us.

World Map

Welcome

Hello,
I have two wishes for this blog. One is that this will be a helpful tool linking students and families to online resources. The other is that our class will post projects to share with their friends and family.