Thursday, March 11, 2010

Biome Open House

I am FINALLY blogging about the awesome, fantastic, out of this world biome projects the kids created and presented to the community before we left for spring break. I mean call me bias, but these are some stinking smart and talent kids we have at our school.

So, a little background info... the kids have been studying ecology with a focus on biomes in science this trimester. They have learned about ecosystems, habitats, producers, consumers, decomposers, adaptations, abiotic and biotic factors and much, much more. For the kids assessment they had a HUGE project to complete that had five separate elements to it. Each student had to pick a biome in the world and create the following: 1. A brochure that defined their biome, described the climate, animals, and vegetation, and showed where in the world this biome is located. 2. A poster that showed an example of a food web in their biome that included decomposers, producers, and consumers. 3. A report on a specific animal from their biome which explained how it adapts and survives in the biome. 4. A public service announcement (either in written or podcast form) that explained the threats that are occurring in their biome and how humans can help to protect it. 5. AND last but not least, a life-sized replica of the biome that was displayed in the classroom, which contained different vegetation and animals!

Once the kids completed all the elements of the project it was time to invite the community in to showcase all the students hard work! We planned our Biome Open House and were very excited with the end result. The kids (all but the "too cool eighth grader") dressed up as an animal in their biome and lots of community members turned out! We asked people to fill out surveys for the kids' biomes and the feedback was awesome.



Gabe setting up his rainforest!

Dalton working on his Monsoon Forest!

Miss Jorgie working on her tree for her Temperate Forest.

Hmmm...trying to figure this one out.

Quinn picked the Grasslands...so he had to make a whole lot of grass!

Arlo's biome was the Arctic Tundra. The blue and white were so pretty together.

Jorgie's bunnies.

And Jorgie's bluebird.

Her foxes' den.
Jorgie's fox... named Foxie

A beautiful Jorgie pheasant.

and an owl.

Quinn's mama Cheetah.

And his baby cheetah, getting some water.

Quinn's hyena head. Very realistic with the teeth!

Quinn's hawk.

Quinn's giraffe (one of my favorites!)



Gabe's cobra

And Gabe's jaguar.

A monkey peaking out of the rainforest tree!

I loved Gabe's details of the little flowers on the vines.

Dalton's monkey.

Dalton's pride and joy... the tiger!

Dalton's peacock. So pretty!


Arlo's gorgeous polar bear.

And his fantastic seal.

Jorgie ready to wow everyone with her fox costume!

Quinn as a cheetah!

Dalton the tiger in his finished rainforest!

Dalton's food web.

Arlo the polar bear in the tundra!

Arlo's polar bears!

Arlo's food web. I wish you could see the drawings he did! They were awesome.

Can you find Jorgie the fox in her biome?

Yep, she blends right in.

Rats!

Quinny, looking proud, in the grasslands!

Quinn's food web.

The cool eighth grader in the rainforest.

Gabe's food web.

Donna the zebra.

Lion and cub in the grasslands.

Which one is Quinn?

Jorgie's brochure.

And her "public service announcement!"
And her food web! Pretty impressive for a first grader!

That is me, the tour guide, asking people to fill out surveys!

Gabe showing his mom the rainforest!

I was lookin' fine.

Time for the kids to share their knowledge!

Arlo answering questions.

Look at all those fantastic community members.

Quinn was on fire!

Jorgie showing her stuff.


The school was buzzing with information!

Dalton knew his stuff.

More people!



SNACKS!


I think Ang was sharing some facts with others!

Dalton has his public service announcement on a podcast for others to listen to!


Happy people in happy biomes!