Mrs.Kerr and Friends: Week Four

It certainly is beginning to feel like autumn! Cool, crisp mornings and sunny, windy days. We have just completed our first month of school and I am happy to report that the children are right into the routine of things and strengthening their friendships each day.

We worked on landscapes this week. We learned words like isthmus, island, peninsula, cape, archipalego (land formations). We learned words like strait, lake, gulf, bay, and series of lakes (water formations). We looked at photos of landforms: mountains, cliffs, rocks and soil, hills, & prairies. We looked at photos of water forms: ocean, pond, river, & lake. We learned that the 5 oceans in the world are salt water and we cannot drink this water but the lakes and rivers are fresh water which can be used for drinking. We also learned that there is water in the ground (called fresh water springs). We learned that we are very fortunate to live where we do because we are surrounded by 5 Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie & Superior. We talked about the importance of taking great care and being good stewards of the Earth, specifically to the land and the water.

I showed the children using an apple how much farm land we have in comparison to the size of our Earth. I find the children have a better understanding of just how "little" farmland there is in the world and the great demands of it to produce food for the whole world's people if they can "see" this. Also, because we live in a predominately agricultural area they do see most of our land as agricultural. We must do our best to keep our soil and water clean and healthy.

The apple represents our Earth.

3/4 of our Earth is water which leaves 1/4 land.

Of the 1/4 land, 1/4 is mountainous, 1/4 is desert, 1/4 is urban, leaving 1/4 arable (able to grow crops)

Of the 1/8 arable land only the top layer is used for farming...it is good soil.

Looking at the whole apple again and the "peel" of the 1/16 arable land...it really puts into perspective the importance of taking care of our Earth's agricultural resources.

The children created some beautiful landscape art using pastels. I introduced some art of the Group of Seven so they had some inspiration. They enjoyed looking at these pieces and we talked about how they felt and what they saw when they looked at it. "It looks cold and dark". "It looks windy, the branches on the trees are sideways". "The Northern Lights are beautiful".

I also began reading to them "Tommy Smith's Animals", by Edmund Selous. I LOVE this book! It is an excellent, narrative book and there are 3 other books in the series that I purchased and I am eager to read them all. "All the animals in Tommy Smith's neighborhood lived in fear of him. Thinking that he would treat them more kindly if he knew more about them, they each agreed to meet him and share their life story. In these conversations Tommy Smith did indeed learn lots of information about the animals: the food they ate, the places they slept, the enemies they faced, and much more. In the course of these encounters with the frog and toad, the rook, the rat, the hare, the snake, the peewit, the mole, the woodpigeon, the squirrel, and the owl, Tommy's heart did soften, and, as the barn owl had predicted, he became a friend to all the animals." This week we've read about the frog and toad, the rook (crow) and the rat.

The children have also taken great delight to find insects outside and to stop and observe them. We were witness to an ant pulling a cricket (which was amazing to watch and to listen to the children talk about how strong the ant must be to be able to pull a cricket which is so much bigger), we watched spiders crawl across the grass, and we watched pill bugs.

Friday, we made our own fresh tomato sauce. The children were able to practise their "kitchen" skills, cutting, peeling, grating, measuring and mixing! Here are some photos of the children "at work".

Roma tomatoes ready to be canned,