Alpha

K/1st: Week of May 8th

Thank you ALL for such a special Teacher Appreciation Week! BEST BOUQUETS EVER!!!! We LOVE our new totes (and all that was in them) and LUNCH was not only delicious, but soooo relaxing; what a wonderful treat! THANK YOU!!! What’s Above Us this week… This week the Alphas learned more about our star. Because of you awesome parents out there – they already knew A LOT! Alphas were shocked to learn that the sun contains 99% of the matter in our solar system. This led to a discussion on matter (we reviewed the 3 states of matter from our study …

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Girl displaying project.

This Week in K/1st

This Week in Our Big Backyard We traveled west! Along the way we stopped at the Llano Uplift and visited Enchanted Rock. We learned about the ancient geology of this place and how it’s part of what makes Texas special.  Next, we continued on into the Chihuahuan desert and found so many mountain ranges! Among the mountains we explored basins and canyons. We updated our state map as we went, using symbols for mountains and including the area’s major rivers, Pecos and Rio Grande. We began constructing our tiny West Texas world by laying down sandy, and at times rocky, …

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Group of kids at part time school display drawings of foxes.

This Week in K/1st

This Week in Our Big Backyard We always start a new quarter off with our traditional round of Barnyard Babble, where Alphas discover who is on their new table team! This quarter we’re extending our study to the entire state of Texas, so we began by orienting ourselves by making a compass rose and learning about cardinal directions. Once we were familiar and resolved to Never Eat Soggy Waffles, we introduced the directions to our beloved peeps. They’ll be joining us on this tour of Texas! We started with Austin, and our hometown backyard – the Blackland Prairie. Next we …

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Handmade owl project on display in basket at micro school.

This Week in K/1st

A note about next week: We’ve got lots going on! Our first field trip (to a neighborhood fire house) after lunch on Wednesday and a picnic at Shipe Park on Thursday! Please wear walking shoes and be sure to pack your water bottle… In Our Big Backyard… We learned about another landform: plateaus! We built some using teamwork. Next, we looked at the Edwards Plateau specifically. We learned that it was uplifted by tectonic plates ~100 million years ago – when the area was covered by an ocean. It’s composed largely of limestone, which forms in shallow water when water …

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girl learning about nature

This Week in K/1st

This week in Our Big Backyard… We know we need air, water, and food in order to live and all our food depends on SOIL. We know soil is a mix of living and nonliving material – so – how did the Earth’s Crust go from solid rock to teenie-tiney rock and minerals? WEATHERING! Weathering can eat some rocks away because rain has a little bit of acid in it. Over many years, it can eat holes in to rock. There are many rocks in Texas that have been weathered! Ryan’s fossil bubbled wildly when we dropped it in a …

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Alpha Sept 13