Classroom Activity: Beetles

In science this week, we looked at the preferred environments of beetles and isopods. Students chose an animal to investigate in their science groups. The purpose of this investigation is for students to learn that all organisms have a preferred environment in which they live. For instance, penguins prefer the Arctic freezing temperatures over the hot scorching climate of the desert. 


First students tested with one variable - water. We had three different types of soil - dry, moist, and very wet. Students placed 5 of their organisms in the container with the different mounds of soil and waited for ten minutes. At the end of the time, we marked on our notes which mound of soil the organisms could be found. Then we did it again for a longer period of time - for three hours. 


After three hours, we again observed where the beetles and isopods were to be found. Then we made our observations. Students shared their findings and came up with their own conclusions.  Some of the isopods seemed to prefer the moist areas, whereas the beetles preferred the dry areas. 

Using a Blog for the classroom

There are many reasons teachers use a blog or a website nowadays for a classroom. One of the ways I'd use this blog would be to archive the year and all the activities I do with my class. It would serve as a place to look back and see and read about what this class did and how they progressed. It would be a great way for teachers to also get ideas and learn about what's going on in this grade/classroom.

Another way I'd use this blog is to provide links and resources for my students so it's all in one place for them to access. This removes the pain of bookmarking individual computers in my classroom with all the different sites I want them to visit for various subjects. By providing all the links on one place, I only need to bookmark one site on each computer.

Finally, this blog would serve as a great way to communicate with parents about what is going on in the classroom. They can read about what activities their child is participating in and what's coming soon. I can post newsletters, important dates, and reminders. Parents are becoming more and more tech savvy so they can easily click and read about their child's class.