Grade 2 Assembly – The Human Body

Grade 2P and 2L enjoyed working on their Human Body Assembly. They enjoyed sharing the information they had learnt through songs, poems and skits. The classroom enthusiasm spread to their homes, as you can see by the great costumes. Thank you parents for your continued help and support! The Grade 2 Assembly was a huge success!

Following are letters from Grade 2M and 2N to celebrate the learning that has taken place during our Human Body – Unit of Inquiry.

__________

May 28, 2010

Dear Ms. Perera’s Class,

We really enjoyed your assembly today. We liked how confident you were and your creative costumes.

We loved your songs, especially the one about the bones. We have also learnt that song, so we could sing along with you. Could you hear us? Your digestion song was very funny. Our favorite part was the end with the potty!

We are also learning about the body, but your assembly taught us some new things Ms. Tima hadn’t taught us.

We appreciate your hard work.

From,
Ms. Tima’s Class

__________

28 May 2010

Dear Lively Ladybugs,

We enjoyed watching your Grade 2 Assembly and learning more about the Human Body this morning.

We really liked the awesome song about the Digestive System. We learned that first food goes into your mouth where it mixes with saliva. Then you swallow your food, it goes down your esophagus to your stomach. Food in your stomach breaks down into small pieces as it mixes with acid, bile and other digestive juices. Then food goes to your small intestines where nutrients are absorbed into the blood. The blood then feeds the rest of our body. Eventually, waste ends up in the large intestine and then the potty!

It was interesting to learn that when we swallow air and other gases (like in soda), our stomach needs to release the gases by burping!

We also enjoyed the song about the bones! We especially liked the way you sang, “The foot bone is connected to the ankle bone. The ankle bone is connected to the Fibia and Tibia bones…”

We loved watching your assembly. Thank you again for presenting your Human Body information.

Yours Truly,

IST Grade 2 Kung Fu Praying Mantids

Sharing Our Learning

Insiyah created a poster with information about the Human Body (our current Unit of Inquiry – Inside Me). She used our class document camera to show her poster and explain ideas and concepts that she has learned both in class and from doing research at home.

“As we have been studying about the body and body systems, I decided to create this poster at my home. I made a skeleton. I wanted to show you inside the skeleton and how the skeleton looks. Did you know that your ribs protect your heart and lungs? Each of your hands has 27 bones. In your mouth your teeth chew food, crushing and mixing your food with saliva. This is where digestion starts. Your incisors are sharp for biting. Your canines are for tearing and your molars crush and grind your food. Your muscles work with your skeleton to help you to move. Your biceps gets shorter when you bend your arm and longer when you pull your arm straight. My class and I are enjoying learning about the body.”
- Insiyah, IST Grade 2 Kung Fu Praying Mantids

A Visit From CCBRT – Helping People With Disabilities

As we continue our current unit of inquiry, Inside Me – The Human Body, we are learning that our bodies have many different parts. Sometimes people get sick or have accidents that damage parts of the body. Sometimes people are born with damaged or even missing body parts. There are medical people who can help, but unfortunately, many areas of the world (like many areas of Tanzania) are poor and can not afford this kind of medical assistance.

Our class was visited by Mr. Erwin Telemans (Lenno’s dad), from Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation (CCBRT) in Tanzania. Mr. Telemans had heard that we were studying about the Human Body and asked if he could come talk to us about different ability people and how his organization, CCBRT is helping people with disabilities in Tanzania.

Lenno introduced his dad to the class by saying, “This is my dad. He works for CCBRT. He is a Physiotherapist (someone who helps people to walk and move around after an injury or operation). CCBRT helps people, kids and adults with disabilities to walk and move around easier.”

Mr. Telemans showed us pictures of children and adults that CCBRT has helped. He also brought in real x-ray examples for students to see what our skeletons look like inside our bodies.

At the end of Mr. Telemans’ presentation, students had many questions and comments. Students learned a lot about disabilities and how people and organizations like CCBRT are helping people to live happy and productive lives.

CCBRT was established in 1994 and is now the largest disability and rehabilitation center in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Circulation And Other Body Systems

As students explore the different body systems from our current unit of inquiry, Inside Me – The Human Body, they are discovering that these systems work together to make our bodies function.

Students were asked to reflect on the following question:
How do your body’s respiratory and circulatory systems work together?

“The circulatory system is your heart and blood vessels. Blood takes food and oxygen to cells in your body.” – Noah

“Once air is in your lungs, blood removes the oxygen and takes it to the cells.” – Faris

“Your lungs remove carbon dioxide from your blood.” – Danni

“The respiratory system helps you take in oxygen and puts it in the circulatory system so your heart can beat and pump the blood.” – Aidan

To learn more about the circulatory system we watched the following School House Rock video – Do The Circulation.

How Long Can You Hold Your Breath?

This week the Lively Ladybugs have been learning about the respiratory system. One thing that we learned is that our body cannot store oxygen and uses it up very quickly, which is why we have to keep breathing.

Today we did an experiment to test how fast our body uses up oxygen. We all timed ourselves to see how long we could hold our breath and we recorded the time it took until our bodies needed more oxygen. We did this test a second time, but this time before we held our breath we inhaled and exhaled very quickly many times. We found that we can hold our breath quite a lot longer after we breathe in and out right before because when we breathe quickly we are allowing more oxygen into our blood. Then when we hold our breath it takes our body longer to use up the extra oxygen we inhaled!

Maasai and I – an Introduction

An IST Grade 2 tradition, the ever popular and exciting Maasai and I Unit of Inquiry has arrived! Students will be learning about and helping to define “culture” during this unit of study.

As modern day anthropologists, students will investigate and document the IST Elementary campus culture to preserve it for future generations in order to understand what life was like in the year 2010. Students will also study about traditional and modern day Maasai and other local cultures of Tanzania. We will compare and contrast the information we gather about cultures and report our findings.

Our PYP Theme:
Who We Are – An inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities, and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human.

Our Central Idea:
We can find similarities and differences among cultures.

Our Key Concepts:
Form – What does culture look like, what does it involve/include?
Causation – Why are certain cultures the way they are?
Connection – What connects all cultures and what are these commonalities as well as differences?

Parents
We invite you to participate in this unit of inquiry. As students learn more about the culture of IST, students will also do some self-exploration into their own personal/family culture. We will also be looking at what it means to be a “Third-Culture Kid” – to say you are from a certain country or area of the world but possibly never having been there or knowing little to nothing of your ‘home culture’. We invite you to take an active role in learning with us about our own culture(s) and exploring the diverse cultures of Tanzania. We welcome any artifacts of Tanzanian culture that could be displayed in our room during this 6 week unit. Please attach your name to the back of the item. It will be treated with the utmost respect, but please do not send anything in that is irreplaceable. Contact your homeroom teacher if you would like to contribute to this unit in any other way. Asante Sana!!!

Maasai image by S. Zabury from www.tingatingastudio.com

Reflection on Simple Machines

As our PYP Unit of Inquiry on Simple Machines comes to a close, we reflect on the learning that has taken place. Students have completed a summative assessment, reflecting on connections to our Central Idea and Key Concepts. Below are some of the student’s responses:

Our Central Idea for Simple Machines:

“Simple machines are used to move objects in different ways and influence our daily lives.”

Our Key Concepts for Simple Machines:

Form: What is a simple machine?

“A simple machine is a tool that makes work and people’s lives easier.”

“Simple machines cut things (wedge), hold things together (screw) and make things go up and down easier (inclined plane, screw, pulley, wheel and axle).”

Function: How do simple machines work? What happens when they work together?

“A wheel is really a few levers put together and the axle is the fulcrum.”

“Scissors are levers that work together. In between there is a fulcrum.”

“A screw is an inclined plane that is twisted. Using more than one pulley can make lifting heavy things easier.”

A compound machine is a machine that is made up of two or more simple machines.

“A wagon is an example of a compound machine because it has four wheels, two axles and a lever with the fulcrum at the hinge so that you can pull it.”

Connection: How do simple machines affect our daily lives?

“All simple machines make work and life easier for us.”

“A crowbar is a lever, it makes work easier so that you can lift things.”

“A knife is a wedge. The wedge has to be sharp to be able to cut.”

“If you are camping in the woods, you would use a wedge to cut fire wood.”

Reflection: What evidence have we collected to support this idea?

Students actively participated in learning both at school and at home. Students found many examples of simple machines being used everyday. Many students also chose to participate in this year’s IST Grade 2 Rube Goldberg Challenge!

Students submitted pictures, videos and projects. Mr. McKillip put together the following video to demonstrate the student learning that has taken place this term. Students participated in many different ways; hands-on classroom experiments, IST Campus simple machine scavenger hunt, computer lab games and experiments AND many students contributed home video footage from the IST Rube Goldberg Challenge (also included in this video).

We hope that you enjoyed our presentation. IST Grade 2

Rube Goldberg Challenge!

As we investigate Simple Machines in our current Unit of Inquiry, we ask the following question: “Who is Rube Goldberg?”

Reuben Lucius Goldberg
(July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970)
Rube Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor. Goldberg is best known for a series of popular cartoons he created depicting complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways – now known as Rube Goldberg machines. (from Wikipedia.com)

Rube Goldberg’s cartoon, “The Self-Operating Napkin” How many simple machines do you see in this picture?

The Self-Operating Napkin is activated when the soup spoon (A) is raised to mouth, pulling string (B) and thereby jerking ladle (C) which throws cracker (D) past parrot (E). Parrot jumps after cracker and perch (F) tilts, upsetting seeds (G) into pail (H). Extra weight in pail pulls cord (I), which opens and lights automatic cigar lighter (J), setting off skyrocket (K) which causes sickle (L) to cut string (M) and allow pendulum with attached napkin to swing back and forth, thereby wiping chin.

Here is a video clip from one of Mr. McKillip’s favorite children’s TV shows from Japan called PythagoraSwitch. The show producers have local university students create Rube Goldberg machines which are then introduced during the show.

Now it’s your turn! Take the Rube Goldberg Challenge!
It is your turn to try and make your own Rube Goldberg machine using what you have been learning about simple machines in class. This activity is for students that want to challenge themselves at home. Students can create their machine. Then have parents take pictures and/or video. Students can then use this evidence to present their machine to the rest of the class. Click HERE if you want to download the instruction page that will be sent home with students who are interested in doing the challenge.

Get started thinking about making your own Rube Goldberg machine by playing Goldburger To Go form PBS Kids online.

You will need to use your critical thinking/problem solving skills in order to complete the task of serving the Zoom staff their lunch. If you get stuck, you can always ask for a hint.

Here you can find some real-world Rube Goldberg Machine ideas and examples.

Good luck and HAVE FUN creating your own Rube Goldberg Machine!

We Like To Move It, Move It… Exploring Simple Machines

As we begin our next PYP Unit of Inquiry, we investigate the realm of Simple Machines.

Central Idea
Each PYP Unit has a core or central idea. Our central idea for Simple Machines:
“Simple machines are used to move objects in different ways and influence our daily lives.”

Key Concepts
The ideas and concepts to help students gain a better understanding. Our key concepts for Simple Machines:
Form: What is a simple machine?
Function: How do simple machines work? What happens when they work together?
Connection: How do simple machines affect our daily lives?
Reflection: What evidence have we collected to support this idea?

IST Grade 2 teachers have put together a list of Internet resources and games for students to explore.

Here are just a few resources for you to try.

Simple Machines – Resources and Games

Levers
Levers – Investigate how levers work in this interactive mobile

Problem Solving with Push/Pull Physics and Simple Machines
Magic Pen – Draw items and use simple machines to solve problems
Fantastic Contraption – Design and build your own compound machine
Roller Coaster Designer – Use gravity’s pull to create your coaster

Learn About Simple and Compound Machines
EdHead Simple Machine – Learn about simple machines
EdHead Compound Machine – Learn about compound machines
Simple Machines – Identify the different ways simple machines are used

Additional resources and games cane be found on the IST Grade 2 STUDENT page under the sub-heading Simple Machines.

Have fun exploring!

3… 2… 1… Blast Off!!!

Today grade 2 students in Mr. McKillip’s class had an opportunity to learn about rockets first hand from their grade 5 buddies in Ms. Jenny’s class.

Nuzaina and Anmol said “Grade 5 students have been studying about Space, The Final Frontier. We have been learning about planets, asteroids, meteors, comets, the Sun and gravity. We created our mini-rockets and launched them using different types of energy.”

Below are some examples of our rockets being launched.

Here students mixed vinegar (an acid) with baking soda (a base) to create a chemical reaction that was used to propel their rocket. Watch this short video clip to see what happened.

Again students used a chemical reaction to create pressure from the carbon dioxide gas being released into the sealed bottle. The slight explosion propelled the student’s rocket. Watch this short video clip to see what happened.

Using pressure created by pumping air into the water bottle atop the launch stand, this student was able to propel his rocket high into the air. Watch this short video clip to see what happened.

Games and other Rocket Fun!

NASA’s Rocket Builder – Build your own fleet of rocket ships
Addition Blast Off – Can you add as fast as a rocket?

You can play these and other Rocket Games from NASA Kids Club!