Captivating Canal!

On Thursday our class traveled to the Cape Cod Canal Visitor's Center. This year is the 100th anniversary of the canal.  The original canal was built back in 1914 by August Belmont. A lot of work went into digging the canal, but it was worth the time and effort because ships really needed a quicker and safer route to deliver their cargo. Going around Cape Cod meant lots of shipwrecks and extra time and money spent traveling. 
  The first canal was VERY narrow and twisty. The current was so strong that many vessels had accidents and it was also very challenging to take a ferry from one side of the canal to the other. We learned that school children had to carry buckets of sand with them on the ferry because the boat caught fire quite often! There is so much to learn and enjoy about the canal past and present. Here are some of our favorite facts that we learned while studying the Cape Cod Canal:
* There are 3 bridges that cross the canal: Sagamore, Bourne, and Rail Road.
* The canal's current changes directions ( East to West) every 6 hours. 
* The maximum height of a ship's mast that wants to enter the canal is 135 feet.
* Many animals can be observed in and around the canal including: whales, porpoises, seals, fish, birds, and lobsters. 
* The canal's length is 17.4 miles, its depth is 32 feet, and its width is 500 feet.
* There are cameras all along the canal to monitor vessels' activities.
* A vessel has the right of way at the Railroad bridge, so a train must wait. 
* Swimming in the canal is forbidden. You may only fish from the shore, not while on a boat. 
*Dynamite was used to break up the gigantic boulders that were in the way of digging out the canal.
*The construction of the canal turned Cape Cod into an island! 
*The canal connects Buzzard's Bay and Cape Cod Bay. 
* The Cape Cod Army Corps of Engineers bought the canal from August Belmont and improved it a lot by making it wider and straighter. They are still in charge of the canal today, and our tax dollars go to maintain the needs of the canal. 

During the field trip we saw the current change three times. We went on a scavenger hunt inside of a 40 foot patrol boat, had 3 different lessons from the expert rangers, played a trivia game,and finished by eating our lunches right next to the canal! Our behavior was superb and we really appreciate all of the parents who came along to chaperone!!!

 

Powerful Pollination

  

Pollination is when a new seed is made inside of a flower. Pollination partners work together to pollinate flowers. They work together like a honeybee and an apple tree. Did you know that pollinators don't try to collect the pollen on purpose?Most pollinators are attracted to a flower's nectar but, bees are an exception to the rule and take both pollen and nectar.

Bees collect pollen in their pollen baskets to make honey. All the food you eat like strawberries, blueberries and cranberries need to be pollinated. If pollination did not happen we wouldn't have all the food we eat. We also would not have milk or meat, because cows eat grass and hay, we also wouldn’t have chocolate, which is made from the cocoa bean. Those are only two of the things we wouldn’t have without pollination.  All of the food we eat depends on pollination.

 A flower must have a shape, color, and smell that appeals to its pollinator in order for pollination to happen. Most flowers give off a sweet smelling scent to attract their pollination partner, but one flower species smells like rotting meat to lure their partner...can you guess??? A fly!!!

In order for a seed to be formed a grain of pollen needs to get to an embryo, for example, a butterfly lands on a flower to get nectar and gets a light dusting of pollen. Next the butterfly lands on another flower of the same species and one of the grains of pollen gets on the stigma of that flower, after a while the pollen grows a little tube down to an embryo (also called the egg). The egg then gets fertilized and becomes a seed, but the only way a seed can be formed is with a pollen grain, getting on the stigma from the same type of flower as that the pollen grain came from.

We did an outside observation on drawing the parts of a flower. Here are a couple parts of the flower: ovary, style, stigma which all together is called the pistil. The pistil is the female parts.We also saw all of the male parts including the anther and filament, which together is called the stamen. Who knew how amazing flowers could be?!! Maybe the next time you are outside, you could try observing and identifying the reproductive parts of a flower!!!

Written by: David K, Jordan, Shaun, and AJ.

Iditarod!!!

   This week we have been learning about the Iditarod, which is  held each year in Alaska. The race began last Saturday and it starts the first Saturday of March. The Iditarod, aka " The Last Great Race" is a sled dog race honoring the time in history that mushers had to deliver special medicine to help people sick with Diphtheria. all the way from Anchorage to Nome. These towns are more than 1,000 miles away from each other and the weather was so treacherous that dog sled was the only way to make the delivery. If it were not for the heroic mushers and their dogs, many people could have passed away.
   Not just anyone can enter into the Iditarod. You must qualify and only 70 teams can compete each year. A musher can have a maximum of 16  dogs but a minimum of 12 dogs at the starting line. To finish the race the musher must have at least 6 dogs still pulling the sled. The Ididitrod is 1,180 miles long and usually takes at least 9 days to finish.
   A musher must bring their own supplies such as dog food, a propane stove, a headlamp,  a sleeping bag,  an axe, and 8 pairs of booties for each dog. Each team must complete an 8 hour rest stop and a 24 hour rest stop, but it is their choice when they do it.
   There is also a shorter version of the Iditarod for people ages 14-17 called the Junior Iditarod. This competition is 158 miles long and takes  more than 14 hours to complete. All mushers have to worry about moose because they are very territorial animals and are known to attack the teams.

BY: Averi, Callia, Alex, and David K.

Amazing Angles

   Lately we have been working with angles and using tools called protractors. One of the protractors is called a full circle protractor, it goes from 0 to 360 degrees around the perimeter of the circle. Also there is another measuring tool called the half circle protractor, it measures from 0 to 180 degrees. It is different because when there is an angle to measure that is bigger than 180 degrees, you have to just measure the smaller angle and subtract it from 360 to get your answer.
    An angle is a figure that is made by two line segments or rays that make up an acute angle, obtuse angle,straight angle, right angle or a reflex angle. An acute angle is between 1 and 89 degrees, an obtuse angle is more than 90 but less than 180 degrees. A straight angle is exactly 180 degrees and is 1/2 of a circle. Finally, a reflex angle is more than 180 and less than 360 degrees. 
   We also have been playing a game called "Angle Tangle". Player #1 draws an angle of their choice and player #2 estimates the measure in degrees. Then Player #1 uses a protractor to get the exact measure. Then, using subtraction,  the team finds the difference between the two. 
   The difference is how many points Player 2 earns, so you want to make your best estimate.  Player 1 and 2 keep switching positions and at the end of the round, they add up their scores and whoever gets the LOWEST score, wins!
   In closing, we feel that since we have spent time measuring, drawing, naming, and estimating angles, we have improved a lot in our understanding.
By: Nick and Troy

Iditarod, From Cape Cod ; )

   The children have been working SO hard in all subjects and have taken a special interest in practicing their reading, writing and math skills while learning more about Alaska's Iditarod that is currently underway. Please check out www.Iditarod.com If you click the tab for "Race Center", you can check out the 2014 Current Standings.

   Thank you to all families that were able to send in materials for our Edward Toulane Project. If anyone is able to donate any additional emergency snacks or boxes of tissues, it would be greatly appreciated!

   In writing workshop, we have been working on narrative writing with a focus on "Showing, Not Telling" to produce strong, detailed writing full of high quality vocabulary and literary devices such as: similes, hyperboles, and onomatopoeias. A gentle reminder that we have our "Long Composition" on March 18th.

   Please continue to also follow our school BLOG @:http://qsmashpee.blogspot.com/

~Katie  :)

Purposes in Writing...

    We received a great question from Troy's mom, Amy, on whether or not it is OK to have more than one purpose in your writing. We have been noting that in our class book "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Toulane", that there is definitely more than one purpose. We have found the book entertaining, but it is also inspiring and a place where the author is expressing her feelings through characters.

Here is the question:

    "You did a wonderful job explaining an author's purpose in writing. Using PIE will help me to remember persuade, inform, and entertain. Do you think it's okay to have all three in one writing? I write a blog for my business website of stand up paddle boarding and I would like to do all three of these things. I want to persuade people to paddle board with me. I also want to inform and educate them about the sport of stand up paddle boarding. Lastly, I would like to entertain them with my writing and keep it funny so that they will keep coming back to my web page/blog"

Here is our class answer:

 Hi Amy!
   We talked about your question in class about having more than one purpose in your writing. It is a VERY good idea to combine the 3 purposes in your BLOG writing.
   For example, Anna says  "People might get bored if you just give lots of facts/information, so you should try to keep it entertaining by mentioning exciting details about stand up paddle boarding..."
   Also, we think you should tell funny and interesting stories about SUPB, because it will make people excited and want to try it out for themselves. To try and persuade, or convince, people to try the sport, you could mention how it is good for relieving stress, staying in shape, or spending more time in nature.
   We realized that to keep it funny AND informative can be challenging. Try and write like it is you actually talking to someone. This is called using your "voice" in writing. AJ and Averi have a very strong voice in their writing and it makes it very entertaining to read their stories!
Good luck with your blog!!!
~The whole class!

Author's Purpose

      The author's purpose is important because it helps you understand why the author wrote the piece. There are many different purposes for writing.You can find the author's purpose in both nonfiction and fiction.There are many different examples of author's purpose, such as to inspire, to express feelings, to entertain, to inform, and to persuade. 

                         By: Callia, Nick, AJ and Averi
 

1.   To inspire…( to make the reader want to do something better/ something good, to teach a life lesson, etc.)

2.   To inform…(to teach the reader or to give information)

3.   To express feelings…

4.   To entertain…(make the reader laugh, cry, etc.)

5.   To persuade...(makes the reader start or stop doing something)

6.   Answering a test question/ORQ/SA...

Author’s purpose is as easy as “PIE”

Persuade

Inform

Entertain