In the Spring, Thoughts Turn to Planting...

We started learning about plants by closely examining a lima bean seed. We were able to see the seed coat, the baby plant, and the "picnic lunch." Then we had a chance to plant some seeds of our own in planter boxes located on the playground. We were able to watch during the spring as the lettuce, spinach, and radishes we planted grew.

After learning how plants spread out their seeds to help ensure their survival, we were challenged to create our own "seed dispersal devices to carry a lima bean seed as far as possible. We planned, designed, and built our devices.

Then we tested them to see how well they traveled with the wind, which was provided by a fan!

This testing helped us determine which features helped the devices carry the seeds farther. We used this information to design new devices which were more effective.

We tested these new devices and measured the distance each was able to carry its seed.

Our devices were successful in spreading out the seeds!

It was also fun to learn about the various parts of a plant and what they do to help the plant survive. Did you know that the purpose of a flower is to make seeds so that there can be more plants? We learned about the parts of a flower. Then we had to make a scientific drawing of a flower and label its parts.

 Our real challenge came when we had to design a flower model which would attract a specific pollinator. We worked hard on our designs and came up with a variety of lovely flowers...and they had all the parts needed to produce seeds!

Surely these flowers will be a delight to their pollinators!

During the spring, the vegetables seeds we planted near the playground grew and grew. In May, we were able to harvest our crops. Don't they look great?

It was fun to pick the crops that we had grown....but it was even more fun to eat them! The fresh vegetables were DELICIOUS!

Picture Perfect Learning

Improper fractions, the magic of learning never ends in third grade!

The girls were totally absorbed in researching a new website called CultureGrams. Here they are able to find concise, reliable, and up-to-date information about their individual states. 

Design Thinking

Third graders have been busy exploring the old kindergarten playground then designing ideas that could replace it.  After pitching their ideas to the class, pairs of students decided on what they would build a prototype of - everything from a student cafe' to rock walls!  Students used recycled materials, tape, and learned how to safely use hot glue guns.  In the final stage, students will pitch their ideas to the class for a vote on what would work best.

French: Escape Room

It has been a whirlwind of activity in 3rd grade French these last few weeks.  The girls all finished up their dollhouse rooms and did an amazing job coming up with paragraphs to describe these rooms.  Now they are learning about French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists and are making their own version of Van Gogh's Bedroom.  Last week on Friday the girls had a blast using everything they have been learning to find their way through the challenges of an Escape Room completely in French.  Luckily everyone worked together very well and they all made it out before their Ipads got stolen!

The Weather, It Is A Changing!

We began our study of weather by creating our own thermometers. We carefully poured colored water into plastic bottles to fill them.

We screwed a special cap containing a clear straw onto each bottle and added colored water until the straw was half-filled. 

It was fun to take the thermometers outside, where it was much colder. We saw the water level go down in the straw as the thermometer cooled down!

We conducted experiments to see how hot water will move when placed in cold water. A small jar of hot water (colored red) was lowered to the bottom of a container of cold water. We watched carefully and drew pictures as we saw the hot water move up out of the bottle to travel to the top of the cold water.

We conducted a similar experiment with cold water. A blue-colored ice cube was placed in a tub of cool water. As it melted, the cold water from the ice cube streamed down to the bottom of the container.

After learning that hot water rises and cold water sinks, we discovered that hot and cold air move in a similar manner. It was interesting to learn that wind is caused when hot air rises and cold air moves in to take its place. We decided to make devices which would show the direction the wind was coming from. We used patterns to make wind vanes. We then were challenged to design and create our own original wind socks! 

We tested our wind socks with a fan first and the took them outside for the real test. We found that it was important to use a compass to find out which direction is north so that we could properly orient our wind socks so that they would give accurate information.

Learning about the weather was fun!

Greek Myth Play Videos

Click on the links below to view the Behind the Scenes and the live performance!

Behind the Scenes

Prometheus and the Gift of Fire & Pandora's Box

Greek Mythology Alive in Third Grade

.............and the Bryn Mawr School tradition continues with the class of 2027!

Greek vases tell the ancient stories.

                                   
Each student created a picture book retelling and illustrating the famous Greek myths "Prometheus and the Gift of Fire & Pandora's Box".  

     The girls read their books to the younger students. 

    Now a sneak preview into the Greek Myth Play of 2018!