Abiotic Adventures

This afternoon's lesson featured Abiotic Adventures. The students took soil samples and learned how to determine if it contains nutrients. They also learned about glaciers, plate tectonics and how soil is formed. The video below shows a group making "soil soup". Ask your child for the recipe when they get home, but I wouldn't order it at any restaurant.

Note for Parents

Since the 5th grade is having a great time at Ferry Beach this week, you will be getting progress reports from 5th grade teachers next week. This is a change from the other grade levels that will be sending them home this week.

Biddeford Tide Pools

The kids just returned from exploring the tide pools. We managed to have no injuries on those slippery rocks and found awesome things including a sea anemone!

Day 2 has begun

Good morning from Ferry Beach! The sun rose just after 7:00am over the Atlantic Ocean and our day has begun. Looks like a super day ahead!

Well, we just got back from the tide pools and all the while I was trying to download an awesome 1:16 minute video of the kids watching the sunrise. I began the download at 7:15 and it is now 11:36. I will have to post shorter segments of video in order to let you see in a timely fashion.

Day 1 comes to an end

The kids had a great afternoon learning about abiotic and biotic factors...make sure you quiz them when they get home as to what those terms mean. Dinner this evening featured pasta with or without sauce, delicious garlic bread, roasted squash, and garden salad. You can see video below of them gobbling down their dinner. After dinner, they had a crossword puzzle "dessert quiz" where they work together for dessert at their dining table to reinforce the lessons of the day.

Their evening lesson after dinner was Marine Lab which is a prelude to tomorrow's excursion to the Biddeford Tide Pools. They learned about the different tidal zones and what species live in each. The students were also prepared on how to walk on the rocks and stay away from the dreaded black rocks...those that have slippery algae growing on them! It is now 9:51pm and I am sitting in my room and all I can hear is the surf outside, all boys (I can't speak for the girls dorm) are sound asleep. Day 1 has come to a peaceful end.

We have arrived!!

The bus ride up was comfortable and we made good time, arriving about 10:10am. The kids liked the idea of having a bathroom on the bus. Here at Ferry Beach the surf is pounding, students have had dorm orientation and a practice Fire Drill. As I write, the kids are outside having a great time. Soon they will come in for lunch which the menu is: Fruit salad, potato salad, tossed salad, and chicken or cheese focacia! After lunch, students will go on their first lesson The ABC's of Ecology. The weather is beautiful!

Counting Down to Camp!

Wow, can you believe we leave for camp on Monday? Today in Literacy, we talked about camp and the excitement is building. While most kids never experience homesickness, there have been some cases in years passed. So today, we took steps to help in case they feel any symptoms of this dreaded illness. We watched a clip from the movie The Sound of Music, with Julie Andrews singing My Favorite Things. I had the kids write a list yesterday, and today we put it into song with a slightly different chorus: When I'm homesick, when I'm lonely, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad! Below you can view some of the video from the three classes as they shared what they wrote. We had a great time and talked after how we need to help each other out during our camp week if we notice anyone experiencing any symptoms. Have a great weekend, rest up! The long range forecast for Saco, Maine looks good so far! Check out the link: http://www.weatherforyou.com/weather/maine/saco.html