Teaching the 4th Graders at the Matheson Wetlands

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Last week and the week before, we got to take the Helen M. Knight Elementary's 4th grade classes to the Matheson Wetlands to teach them about the water cycle. I also had my formal evaluation last week, which went extremely well and I was very pleased with what Heidi had to say. I collaborated with one of the teachers and got some of her pictures. Kelly took the pictures of me-- so I credit them both for these. 

First, we all sit down and talk about what was learned at their previous stations. This gives me a chance to assess what they know and do not know, so we can play the Water Cycle charades game.

I don't remember what I was talking about here, but probably something like "So what did you learn today?"

 I love my face in some of these pictures! Here, we are playing the Water Cycle Charades game. Each student gets a card with a word relating to the water cycle, such as: condensation, precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, transportation, runoff, percolation...

 Here, the student is about to act out what her card is (or maybe she already did because of the boy pointing and yelling?) I think I am asking her if she remembered the hand movements we used in the pre-field trip so she could act hers out. Some kids had a lot of trouble with this game, but they loved it!

 This is me telling the students that they have to come to the middle of the floor to act out their cards so everyone can see them and get a chance to guess. After the kids guess what the correct word is, one by one the students have to line up and at the end, everyone has to put themselves in the correct order of the water cycle! After that, I go down the line and everyone acts out their parts and the students get a chance to yell the word that is being acted out. It was so much fun!

 The kids trying to put themselves in the correct order! Not without my enthusiastic faces, however... :)

"So who goes after condensation?"

 This part of my station is called "Imagine". I am reading an amazingly descriptive story of a raindrop who travels around the world and goes on all different kinds of adventures. The children close their eyes and try to see themselves traveling as the raindrop. Afterwards, with my assistance, they compose a poem called a diamante about what they saw on their journey.

"Don't open your eyes until I tell you to!"

 The students follow me on the boardwalk on their way to the next fun station!

 Haha! This is me stopping the students and asking them to be as quiet as they possibly can because the other station has not quite finished up yet.

Ranger Heidi (my boss) teaches the kids a station entitled "Pollution Solution", where students experiment with pouring water through a cup of pebbles, sand, and wetland soil. They then watch to see which one the water comes out of slowest, and fastest. Then, they take water that has been colored purple to represent pollution, and the pour it through wetland soil. Amazingly, the dark purple water comes out a light yellow color! This station shows how important wetland soils are in preventing pollution.

Ranger Karen reads an old Native American tale called "The Hero Twins and the Swallower of Clouds". The story talks about how a giant has taken over a town and is swallowing all of the clouds. The snow will not fall, it will not rain, and people and animals begin to die. The Hero Twins come and defeat the giant and save the day! The rains come again, and everything is back to normal. We talk about how important water is to humans and the animals, and then discuss water flow. Behind Karen is a rock formation, and we talk about how the water flows really fast off the top of the rock, but then slows down once it hits the area with trees and shrubs, and then completely stops once it gets to the flat wetlands. The students then get to play a relay demonstrating all of these examples. I thoroughly enjoyed teaching this station!

Funny Phrases From Fourth Graders 

Okay... so, we walked .5 miles to the Wetlands, and on the way there and back you hear some pretty hilarious things if you listen well. I will add the others later, because right now I only remember three!

Torturing Tomatoes

My favorite 4th grade quote: "Well, if tomatoes were alive, I'd put ketchup on them just to torture them!" This was after the boys had a heated argument over whether ketchup was tomato blood or if tomatoes were made out of ketchup... or if tomatoes were alive.

Spending isn't Stylish

4th grade girl talking to me on the way back: "Well, I still take the bus… but then my aunt has to take me home to my house… and my parents pay her some money to do that. I have thirty-six dollars in my bank account! But… I don’t like to spend money, it’s sooooo not in style." Well said, sister!

Can a House Boat Make it to Africa?

4th grade boy #1: "Dude! I can’t wait until we turn 18."

4th grade boy #2: "Why?"

Boy #1: "BECAUSE! Then we can take our house boat and go hunting!"

Boy #2: "OH YEAH!! I want to paint our house boat red and black."

Boy #1: "Okay!! Then, we are going to take it to Africa. There are so many deer to hunt there!"

Boy #2: "Yeah! I heard the best fishing is there, too!"

Kelly had some good ones, too. I need to find them and add them to the list! Next week, we're taking the 5th graders to Canyonlands Island in the Sky District. This is when I will be videotaped while teaching and I have to watch it later! I'm terrified!