Yay for warmer weather!  Although it was not toasty, the temps warmed up enough for us to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and snow.  After a couple of weeks inside, it was great to be able to get out and move.

We started to wrap up our unit on birds with a study of beaks and how they are used.  We learned that birds do not have teeth or hands, but they have beaks.  Different beaks are used for different jobs that we might use tools, our hands, or teeth to do.  Beaks are used for pecking, or crushing, or prying, or sipping, or grabbing, etc.

A student brought in some beautiful peacock feathers to share, and the children enjoyed examining them.  They are quite different from the turkey, chicken, and quail feathers we have studied so far.

We read more stories about birds, including Beaks, The Little Red Hen, Parrots Over Puerto Rico, Edwina the Emu, Edward the Emu, and The Penguin Who Hated the Cold.

The kindergarten students continued to take notes from a variety of books about birds for their bird reports.  Next week they will begin to organize their notes and write their reports.

It was exciting to celebrate Tammy’s birthday this week.  Many children made her cards and pictures, and everyone enjoyed brownies and/or cake.

For Friday science the children learned about camouflage and defense mechanisms that different prey animals have to stay safe from predators.  We did an experiment with skittles and m&m’s, which was particularly fun.  The children were birds who used their beaks to peck up insects from an environment.  They found that the insects that blended in with the environment were less likely to get eaten.