SKYPE AND SEUSS

Today our class got a real treat.

We Skyped with about our favorite "Seussism" with Mrs. McCarthy's second grade class at Steward School. The students took turns sharing their favorite Dr. Seuss sayings and books and telling why they liked them.

It was fun to see that even though we are in different grades, we liked some of the same quotes.

One popular quote was "Today you are you, that is truer than true. No one alive is youer than you." 

INVESTIGATING IMMIGRATION

Thanks to TESPTO, the fourth grade visited the Tsongas Industrial History Center (Lowell Mills) to investigate immigration. (click on the links to learn more about the Lowell Mills or the specific immigration field trip we attended.)

The industrial revolution depended on people power to run the machines. Initially it was the farm girls and boys who were seeking money, but soon immigrants from other parts of the world came looking for job opportunities too.

We got to see first-hand what work in the mills was like!

This mill is still producing textiles today. And boy is it loud!

As part of our field trip we role-played. The first step was experiencing what it is like for immigrants who have traveled a long distance to get to the US only to have to wait some more.

Another part of the immigrant experience is having passports approved, or not by immigration officials.

Our class learned so much as we role-played being immigrants from Ireland, Greece, Cambodia, etc. We also got the opportunity to handle cultural artifacts some immigrants brought with them. This showed us how many similarities various cultures actually share.

Each group of students unpacked the luggage of an immigrant. We saw that the items they brought had  a great deal of meaning to them and many immigrants brought similar things. For example, they often brought religious items, musical instruments, clothing unique to their homeland, family photos, etc.

The class got a chance to hold a mock Town Meeting (based on the real on in the 1800s). The issue discussed was whether or not to fund a school for the Irish children.And of course,

ENDANGERED ANIMALS

Change Is Simple came to work with Proctor students to teach us about endangered animals throughout the world. They helped us see that humans endanger animals' lives in four main ways.

1. Over-hunting or poaching
2. Destruction of habitats
3. Pollution
4. Diseases

We engaged in some lively activities that helped us learn all about how to be more aware of this world-wide problem.

BREAK THE FORCE!

We have been exploring magnetism using magnets in 4K. In order to determine the strength of the magnetic field of our magnets, we conducted an experiment call "Break The Force." In it the students tested the strength of two magnets by placing a magnet on a pole and a magnet in a cup at the  one end of a balance. At the other end of the balance, another cup was filled with metal washers one-by-one until the force was broken. The students repeated this task 5 times, but each time they added another place spacer between the magnets. This showed that the magnetic force of the magnets decreased as they moved away from each other.