Tree Planting Ceremony

You're invited! Click to enlarge

 The following press release is courtesy of Bob Jones Nature Center: http://www.bjnc.org/

Thank you for sharing this article with us, BJNC!

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Bob Jones Nature Center Wins Grant to Grow People’s Garden

Southlake, TX – September 10, 2012 – The Bob Jones Nature Center (BJNC) announced that it has received a $2,470 grant from the national nonprofit Alliance for Community Trees to plant trees at three Carroll ISD elementary school gardens in Southlake.  The schools are Jack D. Johnson Elementary, Old Union Elementary, and Rockenbaugh Elementary. These sites will be considered local People’s Gardens, part of the nationwide network of gardens supported by the USDA People’s Garden Initiative. 

The Alliance for Community Trees (ACTrees) People’s Garden Grant Program is a new national initiative launched in 2012 to explore and deepen the connection between trees and urban agriculture. With support from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, ACTrees has provided funding to 30 communities in 21 states to plant trees that produce fruit and nuts or provide shelter to community gardens.

“Trees are critical to healthy people and healthy communities,” said ACTrees Executive Director Carrie Gallagher. “We are excited to offer this opportunity to the Bob Jones Nature Center and the three schools to demonstrate locally that trees are an integral part of sustainable community agriculture.”

Each selected school includes kindergarteners through fourth graders who participate in hands-on garden activities.  Through these hands-on experiences students recognize the basic needs of plants and environmental factors affecting plant growth.  Each school will be receiving trees to provide a shade component to their gardens. Planting is planned for October 2012. The Bob Jones Nature Center is also working with the Citizen Forester program of the Cross Timbers Urban Forestry Council.  The program presents an opportunity for individuals to become skilled at planting, pruning, and maintaining trees in an urban environment. It also provides interested persons with the chance to get involved with local city and county agencies and help their community take care of its public trees. Tree plantings for Old Union and Rockenbaugh Elementary Schools are planned for Tuesday, October 23.  Johnson Elementary tree planting is scheduled for Thursday, October 25.

About the Bob Jones Nature Center

The Bob Jones Nature Center (BJNC) is a 501c3 non-profit organization working in association with the City of Southlake at the Bob Jones Nature Center & Preserve and is dedicated to the preservation of the Cross Timbers ecosystem and natural resources, offering   programs and classes for all ages.  The Preserve, a City of Southlake park, is located at 355 E. Bob Jones Road in Southlake.  The park is open seven days a week from 7:00am to 8:00pm (during daylight savings time) and is the gateway to miles of equestrian and hiking trails on the Walnut Grove National Recreation Trail. The Visitor Center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00am to 5:00pm. For more information, call 817.939.1110 or e-mail director@bjnc.org.  The phone number for the facility is 817.491.6333.

About Alliance for Community Trees

Alliance for Community Trees (ACTrees) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health and livability of cities by planting and caring for trees. With over 200 member organizations in 44 states and Canada, ACTrees engages volunteers to take action to improve the environment where 93% of people live: in cities, towns and metropolitan areas. Together ACTrees member organizations have planted and cared for over 15 million trees in cities with help from over 5 million volunteers. For more information, please visit www.ACTrees.org, follow us on Twitter @alliance4trees, and like us on Facebook at facebook.com/AllianceforCommunityTrees.

About USDA People’s Garden

The USDA People's Gardens Initiative is a national program with the vision that the simple act of planting a garden can help unite neighborhoods in a common effort and inspire locally-led solutions to challenges facing our country - from hunger to the environment. Learn more at www.usda.gov/peoplesgarden

About Citizen Foresters

Citizen Forester volunteers are committed to helping their community take care of its public trees.  Trained to plant, prune and properly maintain trees in an urban environment, Citizen Foresters are involved with many projects, including assisting with tree inventories, training and pruning newly established trees, measuring street trees for clearance, mulching trees in public parks, and participating in public tree planting programs and tree give-away events.  The Citizen Forester program is sponsored by the Cross Timbers Urban Forestry Council.  For more information call (817)392-5738 or visit the Cross Timbers Urban Forestry Council’s website, www.ctufc.org.  The Cross Timbers Urban Forestry Council (CTUFC) is a non-profit organization promoting urban forestry programs, education and awareness in a 17-county region.  CTUFC is comprised of members from various backgrounds drawn to the organization because of a love of trees and the role they play in our urban environment.

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We would love to see you at our tree planting ceremony on Tuesday, October 23, right after school. Students will read portions of the program, the choir will sing a song, and the Boy and Girl Scouts will be there! Refreshments will also be provided.  

See you there!

Week of September 24 - 28

Phew! I can't believe it's already the last teaching day of September!

So much has happened in Science Lab this week:

• Kindergarten students learned about germs and proper hand-washing techniques. We put on some special, glowing lotion (to mimic how we can't see our germs without a special science tool, but they are always there!) and held our hands up to a black light to see our "germs" glowing. We practiced washing our hands and then looked at our "germs" under the light again to see what we'd missed. Ask your student to show you how to wash all the germs away at the sink.
• 1st graders learned about the 3 types of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. We even got to hold each type of liquid in a baggie. Our solid was the baggie itself and "Mrs. K's special solid" (an alka-seltzer tablet), the liquid was water, and the gas was the fizz from the combination of two of those items. Ask your student to tell you about what happened to the baggie's shape when we combined the special solid and the liquid.
• 2nd graders also talked about matter. We saw the 3 types of matter on our table, as well, but our matter was in a clear cup so we could exercise our observation skills and write down everything we saw, touched, smelled, and heard in our science notebooks. Ask your student to tell you about this activity and some of the descriptions he/she wrote.
• 3rd graders focused on matter molecules this week. We talked about how molecules look when they're in different types of matter (molecules in a solid are very close together and still, molecules in a liquid are a little farther apart -- sometimes bumping into each other -- and always moving, and molecules in a gas don't touch but are always moving). We played a game where we pretended we were giant molecules and had to move around the room at different speeds and distances from others, according to what type of matter we were. Ask your student to show or tell you about molecules in cold milk, a warm breeze, and a shoe. 
• 4th graders are starting their organisms and environments unit. Last week, we practiced making microscope slides and looking at them under the microscope. This week, we looked at algae from pond water under the microscope to see if we could find any moving protozoans. We also looked at onion slides with a drop of dye and a leaf. We talked about the food chain and how life might be different if certain objects in the food chain did not exist. Ask your student to tell you how to create a slide for the microscope and what some of these objects looked like when magnified.

I've been trying my best to take pictures of the students during their activities, although sometimes I get so caught up in helping and teaching that I completely forget to take pictures! In any case, you can always view our latest photographs on our class Instagram by searching for @MrsKarasClass through the app on your smart phone. You can also view the pictures on the web by using this link.

My classes are also trying to find time to tweet at the end of each class. They would love some readers and even a response or two! You can view our tweets at www.twitter.com/MrsKHasClass. Anyone can read our messages -- not just those that have Twitter accounts. You must have a Twitter account to reply to one of our tweets, but it's quick and easy to sign up!

Have a terrific weekend!

Green Thumb Club

Dragons,

I wanted to let you know about an after school club opportunity: the Green Thumb Club.

The Green Thumb club will meet on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month (if school is in session), from 3:00 to 3:45 pm. The students get about 10 minutes for snack and circle time, 15 minutes for a nature craft, 15 minutes of working in the garden, and 5 minutes of clean-up and transition time. The other GTC leaders and I have some fun activities planned for Green Thumb Club this year and would love for your student (and you!) to join us!

This year, the OUES Green Thumb Club is partnering with Calloway's Nursery. We will hold at least one club meeting at Calloway's (TBA) this year. In return, Calloway's Nursery will provide two $25 garden gift cards (during the meeting held at Calloway's), discount coupons for members throughout the year, and at least 1 special discount day for garden club participants! If you'd like more information on Calloway's Nursery, please feel free to visit their website and sign up for the My Texas Garden e-mail newsletter.

The first meeting of the Green Thumb Club will take place on Tuesday, October 9. Everyone is welcome to join!

Hope to see you there!

Week of September 10-14

Dragons,

Here's what happened this week:

• Kindergarten played my "magic box game" to preview and predict what we might do in Science Lab this year. We also decorated the cover page of our science notebooks.
• 1st Grade learned about lab safety. We started off with a demonstration that exploded! Then we talked about how to keep ourselves safe during experiments. Finally, we practiced wafting and wrote about it in our science notebooks.
• 2nd grade learned about lab safety and some science tools. We played a game called "What's in my Bag?"
• 3rd grade learned about lab safety and some science tools. We went on a scavenger hunt to identify various science and safety tools around the room.
• 4th grade learned about lab safety. We borrowed some iPads and had a QR code scavenger hunt!

Some classes had the opportunity to send a tweet this week, too! I told the students about our class Twitter and explained how Twitter works. Then I gave students an opportunity to contribute a sentence to our summarizing tweet and encouraged them to tell the world what we learned and did in Science Lab that hour. I typed exactly what students asked me to type -- right down to smiley faces and hearts (for "We < 3ed it!" -- a student request).

You do not have to have a Twitter account to read our messages; just go to www.Twitter.com/MrsKHasClass and scroll to read. If you prefer to have updates sent to your phone via text message, you do not have to have a Twitter account for that, either! All you have to do is text "follow @MrsKHasClass" to Twitter's shortcode, 40404, and you'll start getting realtime updates. (Standard messaging rates do apply, so I don't recommend this option for anyone without an unlimited texting plan.)

I hope to begin posting pictures of the students in action (both on the blog and on our class Instagram) sometime next week. (I'm currently waiting to make sure that all parents have given permission for their student's picture to appear on district-related websites.)

I've spent some time reviewing the supplies in the lab, and I've realized that I could use a few donations. I don't want anyone to go out and buy these things, but if you've got them hanging around your house and you're not going to use them, I'd love to see the following items make their way to the lab:

• Food coloring
• Snack size baggies
• Aluminum foil
• Colored paper
• Beans (dry)
• Rice (dry)
• Cinnamon essential oil
• Peppermint essential oil
• Baby powder
• Vanilla extract
• Plastic cups (preferably clear and 9 oz, but we will take what we can get!)
• Straight pins
• Clear tape
• Glue sticks
• Coffee filters
• Paper towels
• Kleenex
• "Wet ones" or Clorox wipes
• D cell batteries

I also wanted to let you know that the sign-up sheet for volunteering in the science lab has been posted; you can find it by clicking on the "Volunteer" tab at the top of this page.

Thanks for making my first few weeks at OUES so fabulous!

Wanted: Lab Assistants

4th Grade Dragons,

I am going to offer you a very special position: I would love for you to be my Lab Assistants!

Lab Assistants will come to the Science Lab on Fridays during 4th grade recess. You will work in groups of 4 on a rotating schedule, so you won't miss every Friday's recess!

Lab Assistants will be responsible for feeding the animals, cleaning the cages, and giving our animal friends some TLC.  Lab Assistants might also help me set up for some upcoming experiments and activities in the lab.

You can find out more information about the Lab Assistant job and how to apply by clicking on the form below. If you're interested, please fill out the application and return it to me by Friday, September 21, 2012.

Click here to view the form

I'd love for you to apply!

 

Animal Friends

Dragons,

I wanted to introduce you to our two lab pets: Cha-Cha and Thelma. My OUES friends have been having fun getting to know our lab pets during the past week!

Cha-Cha is our chinchilla.

She's a little shy but very sweet. She sleeps inside her home for most of the day, while taking breaks to run on her wheel or climb to the top of her cage for some food. When she decides to move, she darts around so quickly!

Thelma is our guinea pig.

There has been some discussion in the 4th grade as to Thelma's name; we had a hard time deciding if she is Thelma or if she is Frieda. It was a split decision, and I'd already been calling her Thelma (a tip from a few younger OUES friends), so we're going to stick with that name. :) 

She's a hoot! She runs around her cage and darts in and out of her little house all day long. Thelma likes attention, and she'll come to the edge of the cage to get a closer look at you if you get near. One thing I love about Thelma is that she greets me when I walk into the classroom in the morning. It's true: Thelma runs to the side of the cage and gives me a little squeak; it sounds like she's telling me, "Good morning, Mrs. K!"

Any time you're at OUES for a visit, make sure you stop in and say hello to our furry friends!