Genuine Generosity!

Quashnet School's character word of the week is: "generous". The definition of generous is: Free in giving or sharing; unselfish. Here is what our homerooms think they could do to be generous today:
1. Sit and greet someone new at lunch. - Grace
2. Pick someone`s  books  up when they drop 
them. Ariana H.
3. Play with someone new at recess. Amiyah Peters.
4. Let a new kid join in a game. Jaimes P.
5. Allow a new kid to play with me. David F.
6.Bring someone to the nurse if they get hurt. Kailyn Westgate.
7.Help someone who got hurt. Avani
8.I could help my mom clean the house and not fight with my brother and sister so she can have peace.Erin Smith  
9.Help someone when they are hurt or when they are sad.Neil Howard                                                 
10. Share my snack with someone who doesn't have a snack. Gigi Cole                                          
 11.Play with someone that is alone at recess. Jimmy Perry     
12: Help someone if they fall.    Harry Dwinger
13.Sit with someone at lunch that is sitting alone.
Melanie Cordero
14. I will help people with their work. Mark Valois
15.When someone's feeling down, I will make them laugh or make them feel better. Bridget Connolly.   
16.If someone feels lonely, I will cheer them up.  Pukar Sitaula 
17.If someone got hurt, I would ask them if they were alright. Caleb Oakley-Robbins
18. I will go to Stop&Shop and donate money to the Salvation Army. Rhiannon Raymond
19.If my sister got hurt I would tickle her and she would laugh so loud her cheeks would turn red. Brady Sutherland
20. I will listen to my mother, and be generous to my family. Annika Lakatos
21. I will play with my dogs and play games with my family.  Jenna  Barnes                                       
22. I will help other people with the rock wall.   Kimberly Lemelin
23. I would like to go on a long walk with my mom and my dog Leo, and I will listen better to my mom. Stella Stecei
24. After school I am going to go on a walk with my friend Samantha and, play legos with my brother. Gabriela Santos 
25.I will help my mom with my little brother because he is sick. Kasey Boettger
26.I will help my mom with the babies. Collin Frost
27. I will help my little brother get his after school snack and with his homework if he needs it. Jillian Burdge 
28. At recess I could help Chase. Charlotte Bohnenberger                 
29. Today I will help  my sister make sugar cookies for Santa. Alexander Coggeshall                              
30. I will help my mom take care of my little brother so she can relax.
31.I will help my mom make a cake for my aunt's BIRTHDAY. Caden Harding                                     
 32. I'll make a present for my brother today. Nicholas Hemsworth                                              
 33.Today I will help my Grandma decorate her Christmas tree. Sarah Landry 
34. Today I will help my mom and dad pack all the bags because I'm going to Florida on Christmas morning. Rachel Sanford
 35. Help my mom set up the table for dinner and help make dinner. -Victoria Reynolds
36. When my sister is at gymnastics, I could clap when she does her routines right. Emerson Fraser.
37. I could try to pick a good gift for my mom and make sure to say a great thanks to my step dad for taking me Christmas shopping for my mom.-Anna Carroll
38.  After school today maybe I could clean my mom's bedroom.Matthew Portentoso. 

Spectacular Spiders

Remember the last time you took a walk through a field of grass? How many spiders did you see along the way? Perhaps you didn't see any spiders at all. But they were there. How many spiders did you see in your home today? Perhaps none. But they were there too. Spiders are very common creatures. They live almost everywhere on earth. Once, when people counted the number of spiders in a grassy field in England, they found that there were more than 2 million spiders in 1 acre. 
Spiders are found in deserts, high mountains, grasslands, marshes, and forest. Some live in caves; others live on beaches. Many kinds of spiders live in peoples homes and gardens. There is even a spider that spends its entire life underwater.

The Body Of A Spider
Some people confuse spiders with insects. Both spiders and insects belong  to a large group of animals called "arthropods". Arthropods are invertebrates with jointed legs and a tough outer skeleton. The skeleton, called the "exoskeleton", is like a suit of armor. It protects the soft body parts from disease and from drying out. Some spider's brains extend out into their legs! Muscles are attached to the inner surface of the exoskeleton.An insects body is divided into three parts: head, thorax, and abdomen. A spiders body has only two parts. The front part is a combined head and chest. The back part of a spiders body is the abdomen. Its connected to the cephalothorax it is covered by a large hard shield called the carapace. At the front end of the carapace are the eyes.

Most spiders have eight simple eyes. Insects usually have five eyes: two large compound eyes and three simple eyes. Insects also have antennae, or feelers on there heads; spiders do not have antennae. But don't worry because spiders don't usually hurt you unless you hurt or bother them.


 Written and typed by Rachel and Sarah








 



  

Excellent Evolution

     Charles Darwin had thought about the theory of evolution. Animals and plants of the same kind are said to belong to a particular species. For example, dogs belong to one species, human beings to a different species, and White pine trees belong to a different family or species. The bones or imprint of plants/animals are evidence that these species lived long ago and have changed over periods of time. This evidence is called fossils.

 Dinosaurs lived here for more than 100 million years on our Earth. 65 million years ago the last dinosaur died and they became extinct, meaning there was no more of them on Earth. Dinosaurs had not always lived on Earth , just like people,roses, and termites. The fossil evidence proves that species change or evolve over time. Species changing over time is called evolution.

Naturalists Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace are credited with the theory of evolution, which has united biology, the study of living things. 

     Here are some of the major ideas that Mr. Darwin had.The individuals making up a population, whether it is a human population, a population of squirrels, or a population of birch trees are not exactly alike. The human population, for example there are different races and some individuals that are better able to fight diseases than others. Some have better eye sight than others. Differences are called "variation." Some differences, such as the ability to fight off some diseases, are helpful and may be passed on to the next generation. The result of such naturally favored people producing more children than unhealthy people do, is an increased number of healthy people in the following family. So nature selects those people of any population who are fittest and against those individuals who are less fit. That is what is meant by the expression             "Survival of the fittest." This way each new generation is a tiny bit different from the previous ones. Those differences from one generation to the next, can cause one species to change, or evolve to better survive in its environment. 

     Written and typed by: Amiyah Peters, Emerson Fraser, and Kasey Boettger   

Research from: " From Living Cells to Dinosaurs" by Roy A. Gallant. 

What is hail?

Hail is made of   little water pellets that are taken into a thunder storm. These little droplets are lifted into the sky and frozen like in a freezer and made into a bumpy basketball. Then they are dropped like when you jump into a pool. As the hail gets bigger it will repeat. Then it gets bigger and bigger until it will become too heavy and it drops to the ground.

Written by: Alex C
Typed by: Nick H

Unusual Creatures Online!!!

There's a new site that I, David Furtado, found for the unusual creatures! The site is found  at : http://unusualcreatures.com/ on every electronic device! It doesn't have all the creatures, but at least there's some.You will enjoy seeing videos of real footage of the creatures. The creatures also inspired musicians to compose songs that fit in with the certain animal. My favorite is the video for the Magnapinna Squid!!

Written by: David Furtado
Typed by: David and Ms. Martin

Stop the Invasion!

          On November 3rd Mrs.Hannah Nadel came to our classroom to give a presentation on her job. She is an entomologist. An entomologist is someone who studies insects. She is the supervisor of insect production at Otis Laboratory.  Mrs.Nadel works really hard on making the environment a better place. She does this by using an engineer's technology that will help eliminate  invasive insects. Most people don't know much about her job, but it is very important because without it, some invasive insects could munch down our native plants and animals. The invaders will go out of control because they have no natural predators. We hope people can help stop the invaders! 

                             Mrs. Hannah Nadel has tried many traps. One is called Tangle Foot, that is a strategy where you tie tape around an Oak Tree's trunk. Then, you put a sticky substance which won't easily dry up on the tape. Finally, when the Gypsy Moth caterpillar trys to climb up the tree trunk it will get caught in the glue. Another trap she has tried are little decoy females that spray pheromone, that will trick the males so they can't identify the true female. She also has successfully used a virus that will only sicken or kill the Gypsy Moth. Mrs. Hannah Nadel and other employees spread the virus by having a crew  flying in a helicopter to drop the virus on the forest to kill the Gypsy invaders. When they let out the virus it looks like a helicopter dropping water on a forest fire. Both educated classes behaved well during the presentation. Mrs. Hannah Nadel is very intelligent when it comes to invasive insects! 
                After Mrs. Nadel spoke,  a few of our classmates gave a presentation of their own design. The first student was Caden Harding. His design was a weighted certain trap. His trap works by having a painted black box with the females pheromone in it. There would be a weighted curtain so the Gypsy Moth can get in but, can't escape. After Caden, Sadie Biehl presented her design, which was a Resin Gun. She plans to insert resin onto the caterpillars cocoon and hopefully the caterpillar will get trapped and die. The next student was Collin Frost. His design is a glass jar with Oak leaves in it to fool the Gypsy Moth caterpillars into getting trapped. The last presentation was Alex Coggeshall's design. It functions by inserting a female decoy into a plastic jar with bark around it. The female decoy will be sprayed with pheromone. He hopes that the male will get trapped in the container and stop the life cycle of the Gypsy Moth. 
          Mrs. Hannah Nadel was our invader today, but she was not one that we had to eliminate! We certainly learned a lot, Thank you Mrs. Hannah Nadel and Ms. Martin!

Written AND typed by: Sadie, Sarah, and Jillian

Extending an Ending!!!

Our class has been working on writing satisfying endings of narrative story writing.
This is an example of a BORING ending!
 "So that is the end of the story about how I survived that avalanche."

This is an example of a satisfying ending! 
"I was at the top of the Green Mountains. The ground seemed to be moving! I thought it was all my imagination.  Tiny rocks started to pour down like a disastrous rainstorm.Now I knew that shaking ground was not my imagination. I ran down the steep rocky hills. Until humungous rocks fell down. I felt like they were chasing me like police dogs. I heard out in the distance avalanche!!! There were helicopters flying across the mountains making sure no one was on the mountains.They saw me....I got out of the disaster.I survived the avalanche! 


written by : Rachel
typed by: Rachel and Sarah

Tracking Tales

Colin and Caden use multiple tracking guides to research facts for their predator/prey stories.

Jillian, Ariana, Emerson, and Victoria use stamps to lay the tracks of their predator/prey stories.

In STEAM, we learned how animals leave behind many clues of their presence in the forest including:
*feathers, bones, fur, or antlers
* molted skin
*chewed branches, nuts, and cones
*tracks
*nests, egg shells, cocoons

We also learned about the different predator/prey relationships of species native to Cape Cod and New England. To conclude, we designed our own "Track Tale" including researched facts and details.

Animal Evidence

  

 

The Green Briar Nature Center came to visit us and brought along amazing examples of evidence animals can leave behind in nature. We loved getting to handle all these special specimens. At the end of the lesson, we were able to observe a REAL LIVE turtle. She is very special because she is three-legged to do the fact that she was hit by a car. We also observed a rabbit, who has never lived in the wild. He had a very soft coat, large ears for hearing, and powerful hind legs. We really appreciate the chance Mrs. Beers gave us to touch these fascinating creatures. Did you know that a turtle can feel you when you touch its shell? Also, did you know that the New England cottontail rabbit is a candidate for the endangered species list due to habitat loss? What can you do to protect the wild habitats of Cape Cod?

Excellent Engineers!

Mashpee 4th Graders Propose Gypsy Moth Controls

LANNAN M. O’BRIEN | Posted: Thursday, November 6, 2014 8:57 am

Quashnet School Ms. Martin's Class

Supervisory entomologist Hannah Nadel gave a presentation on gypsy moths to Quashnet School teacher Katie Martin's 4th grade class on November 3.

There was no fidgeting, chatting, or misbehavior in Quashnet teacher Katie Martin’s 4th grade class on Monday, November 3. Instead, students sat quietly in their seats, attention focused on guest presenter Hannah Nadel, a supervisory entomologist at the US Department of Agriculture laboratory on Otis Air National Guard Base.
The event was the culmination of a unit on the gypsy moth caterpillar in Ms. Martin’s two STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) classes, for which students completed a life cycle lab with the Thornton Burgess Society and designed controls for the invasive species. The goal of the project, Ms. Martin wrote in an e-mail, was to engage students in real-life problem solving that requires higher-level thinking rather than memorization.

Dr. Nadel, who studies insect reproduction for her work, was invited to share her knowledge of the gypsy moth caterpillar and to critique students’ control designs.

Ms. Martin explained that at the base, there are security measures to keep the insects inside.

“We call it a containment facility,” Dr. Nadel said to the students during the first of two workshops that day. She described the damage that the invasive species can cause to local trees and other plants. People often think of trees as “big and strong,” she said, “but if caterpillars eat most of a tree’s leaves year after year, that tree will die.”

Following Dr. Nadel’s presentation, four students were invited to share their gypsy moth caterpillar control designs, each of which included a report describing their design accompanied by a drawing. Rhiannon J. Raymond proposed a trap that attracts male gypsy moths using a chemical-free scent that mimics that of the female gypsy moth. When the male lands on the structure, comprising “a circle with a dome on it,” she said, the dome opens and the moth is sucked inside.

“No more egg masses, no more caterpillars, no more pupas,” Rhiannon said matter-of-factly. “Problem solved.”

Dr. Nadel complimented Rhiannon’s strategy of using the species’ natural behavior against them, and said that similar traps exist currently and more are being developed. However, there was one problem.

“How do we get the traps out there?” she said, and Rhiannon said that people would have to set the traps. In that case, Dr. Nadel said, the plan could be expensive: workers might have to be paid $12 or $13 per hour to place the traps in remote areas with concentrated populations of gypsy moths.

Kimberly J. Lemelin, too, said she planned to use the female gypsy moth scent to trap males. Instead of a dome trap, she would create a scented soap and place it in a bucket of water. Attracted to the female scent, male gypsy moths will fly into the bucket and drown.

When the buckets are full, she said that they will be dumped in the trash

“If they are left out there something bad could happen because an animal could drink some of [the soapy water] and get sick or hurt,” Kimberly said. “another reason is because I didn’t want it to go into a water resource.”

Dr. Nadel liked the idea of using a soap that would create a film on the water’s surface, making it difficult for male gypsy moths to escape, and lauded Kimberly’s concern for human safety as well as the environment.

Erin M. Smith and Harrison J. Dwinger each proposed vacuum-like structures. Erin’s technology would be designed to destroy gypsy moth caterpillar egg masses, while Harry’s would “suck up” caterpillars in the larval stage. When asked how the trap would differentiate the caterpillars from non-invasive species, Harry said that his design would include a small video camera to identify the insects it traps and sort them into separate containers.

“I like the fact that it’s environmentally safe,” Dr. Nadel said of Erin’s “egg mass fighter,” but added that it would take a long time to eliminate the invasive species in North America using that technology.

She said that Harrison’s proposal resembles traps that scientists are using today. Like his, the traps recognize particular insects in order to target the invasive species.

“I’m very impressed that you thought of that,” Dr. Nadel said.

Entomologist Visit!

Dear families,                                           10-29-14

       We have a very special event planned in STEAM this Monday, November 3rd. An entomologist (insect scientist) who works on the base will be coming in to review our “Invasive Species Design Challenge” products and discuss her career.

The children have worked extremely hard as engineers. As a class, we have decided to dress formally for our presentations/visit with the entomologist. We will try our best to leave sneakers, jeans, and sweats home on this professional day.

Thank you for your support!

~Katie Martin

kmartin@mashpee.k12.ma.us

Materials Needed

Dear families,                                                       

We are looking for the following donations to complete a special STEAM project:

·      pine cones ( any shape or species, but the bigger, the better)

·      acorn caps ( it’s OK if the acorn is still inside!)

·      brown or black twine/yarn

If you are able to send in any or all of the materials to be shared with the class, that would be wonderful!

Sincerely,

Ms. Katie Martin

Animal Unit

We activated our prior knowledge today by starting a "K, W, L" chart for the topic of "animals". We had time to write down everything we already know about animals, and also ask questions about what we would like to learn more about. Here are some examples of questions from both homerooms:

1. How do animals get sorted by their body parts?- Gabby
2. What is adaptation? - Mark
3. What is metamorphosis? - Brady
4. Which plants are invasive to Cape Cod? - Kim
5. Is there an animal that eats bats? - Ariana
6. What kinds of birds migrate?- Kasey
7. What effects do humans have on the environment? - Nick
8. Why do elephants have such a long trunk?- Matt
9. Why are reptiles cold-blooded?- David
10. How does an animal learn a behavior? - Amiyah



Here are the topics we will be studying throughout this unit:

·    *Classify animals according to the physical characteristics they share.

·    *Animal life cycles

·        *Metamorphosis

·    *Inherited characteristics

·    *Characteristics effected by environment or climate

·   *Adaptation

·   *Migration

·   *Instinctive behaviors

·   *Learned behaviors

·    *Seasonal behaviors

·    *Invasive species

·    *Human effects on animals/environment

·    *Food chains and webs

Tree Identification Lab!!!

Mark, Gabby, Brady and Annika working with a Black Oak sample.

 This week in STEAM we had a lab to learn how to identify common tree species that are native to Cape Cod. The species we have learned about are: White Oak, Black Oak, American Holly, Pitch Pine, and White Pine. Paying close attention to the leaves/acorns and needles/cones helped us with our identification.

Gigi, Rhiannon, Jenna, and Bridgette inspect acorn specimens.

Kim, Stella, Neil, Harry, Kailyn, and Melanie count the needle bundles...do we see three or five???

Erin and Avani studying the details of a cone from a Pitch Pine.

Thank you to Thorton Burgess for supplying us with our lab kits!!!