Aside from the projects I already posted about:
My Poetry
My Atom Model
My Sign of the Beaver Animated Book Report
I've actually been learning about a lot of other subjects.
In Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM), here's what I've been up to:
I learned about ecosystems. In nature club, I made a terrarium. It's an entire ecosystem enclosed in a bottle. When my Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunts came to visit me, we got to go on several field trips to see ecosystems around Georgia. This is a picture of one of the alligators we saw at Magnolia Springs. It is a natural hot spring and a habitat for snapping turtles, alligators, and other swamp loving creatures and plants. We were able to get really close to the alligators and snapping turtles.
After visiting Magnolia Springs, I did an acrostic report on alligators.
If you can't read the picture, here is what I wrote:
An alligator can weigh as much as half a ton! (1,000 pounds)
Living fossils.
Length is around 13 feet.
Ironically, they are gentle mothers even though they look big and scary.
Gators usually live in swampy areas.
Alligators' eggs become male or female depending on the temperature. Male in warmer and female
in coolor.
Two different species of alligators: the Chinese and American Alligator.
Often alligators are hunted.
Reptiles.
Another ecosystem we visited was a Cypress and Tupelo grove in a lake at George L. Smith State Park. This is a picture of me and my Aunt Lindsey canoeing around the groves. At one point, my head was right by a bush growing in the lake, and when I looked at the leaves by my face, I saw a water moccasin (or cottonmouth) snake curled up on the leaves! I screamed!
Grandma and my mom wanted to go take pictures, but their respective canoe partners disagreed!
At the different parks we visited, I identified a lot of birds and saw many birds' nests. I've been reading about John Audubon, and I wrote up this Top 5 report on Ornithology. If you can't read the picture, here's what I wrote:
Top 5 Things for Watching Birds:
1. Eyes - for looking for birds.
2. Ears - for listening for birds.
3. Feet - for taking a walk.
4. Field Guide - to show you what bird it is.
5. Hands - for drawing birds.
Top 5 Dos:
1. Do feed birds.
2. Do buy bird baths.
3. Do draw birds.
4. Do take notes about birds.
5. Do grow trees for birds to live in.
Top 5 Don'ts:
1. Don't try and catch birds.
2. Don't be mean to other bird watchers.
3. Don't scare birds.
4. Don't walk in other peoples' yards.
5. Don't try and touch baby birds.
Top 5 Facts about John James Audubon:
1. He tied a piece of string to a baby bird to see if it would return.
2. He collected stuff that birds left.
3. He failed every exam he had taken.
4. He loved the outdoors.
5. He survived and earthquake.
And a bonus fact (because my mom said I forgot to write the most important fact about him):
6. He is famous for drawing very detailed pictures of birds.
I also went to the Georgia Aquarium to learn about different ecosystems and habitats. Here I am with my FAVORITE animal, the penguin.
To wrap up my Georgia ecosystems unit, I went to a junior rangers camp about how to survive outdoors as a contributing member of an our Georgia ecosystem.
I also did a STEAM unit on electricity. I can tell you all about: atoms, electrons, nucleus, protons, negative charges, positive charges, neutral charges, static electricity, conductors, current, circuits, batteries, volts, vibrations, frequencies, decibels, and dry cells.
I went on a field trip around my house and played with the circuit breaker. I also saw our electric meter, and the transformer in our neighborhood.
I applied everything I learned doing different experiments and playing with Snap Circuits.
I love this kit! You should buy it too! You can create closed and parallel circuits to power lights, a fan, an alarm, music, and space wars.
Still part of my STEAM, I started learning the guitar and completed a unit on sound and wave energy. I still have a long ways to go on the guitar! However, I really enjoy playing it, and I hope I get to take lessons soon. Here is a picture of my sound and wave vocabulary words and anchor pictures:
While I was learning about sound, I really liked watching youtube videos of jets breaking the speed of sound a creating a sonic boom and vapor cones.
Ok, my mom and I feel like this is an epically long post! But one last thing. I planted cantaloupe seeds at Nature Club in March. I grew them in my window sill and then transplanted them (after researching how to transplant them) outside in a container. They have been in their new home for about two weeks and they are doing well.
One more last thing for STEAM. I totally rocked my unit on decimals on IXL. My mom says I am a math genius.
But we are not done yet. (I do a lot of work in three weeks of school!) This is what I've been up to in Language Arts and Social Studies:
I also took a field trip to an historic plantation home in South Carolina. It belonged to James Henry Hammond, who is famous for telling congress, "Cotton is King!" I do not think he was a good man. He owned hundreds of slaves and was one of the major leaders in favor of slavery before the American Civil War. I want to be like Dr. King, and not Mr. Hammond.
I've started my learning unit on Westward Expansion during the 1800s. I've watched a PBS documentary about Lewis and Clark, and I've read two books about their expedition.
I finished up my Huck Finn vocabulary and wrote a story using all the new words I now know. The prompt my mom gave me for my story was, "a person, and his nemesis." Here's my story:
One day Harold was told to gather stuff for his company's party. His boss told him that there was two of everything, but only one of the thing they needed most, and that another company was having a party too. Harold rushed to the store right when the other company got there. To make things worse, his arch enemy was the one shopping for his company. "Sam . . ." Harold thought, "My arch enemy!"
They were both ornery now. They both rushed into the considerable store. They were now ignorant of where all the party stuff was. Harold wanted to spite his arch nemesis right now. Harold and Sam were both impudent toward each other. When Sam saw that someone else was taking something he needed, he told them that he was a pro in baseball and that he would give them his autograph if they gave him the thing they just pulled off the shelf.
Harold saw what was happening and told them that Sam was an impostor. The lady thanked Harold and gave him the ingredient instead. Harold rushed passed the alcohol because all the people at his work practiced temperance, but the people at Sam's work did not, so he had to stop there. Harold now had the head start, but when he accidentally broke something, someone told him to reform it.
When Harold was reforming the thing he broke, Sam passed him! Now Sam had the head start. When Harold and Sam only needed one more thing, they both ran to it and started fighting over it. When they were fighting over the thing they needed most, someone picked it up and went away with it. Sam and Harold ran after them.
Sam told him to give it back, but Harold's soliloquy won the person over and the person gave it to Harold. Hooray! Harold won.
The End.
A couple of other things I've been working on are IXL grammar, learning Thai, and poetry.
And just for fun - and because this post isn't long enough . . . .
I went to Disney World!!!!
I have mad skillz on the trampoline!
Peace Out,
Ollie and Mom
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