We had a visitor in class on Friday for more mad science. Thank you to real world scientist (and Logan’s mom) Helene Cousin for coming in to share her histology slides with us and to tell us a bit about her work with animals as a veterinary science professor at the University of Massachusetts.

 

She brought a more powerful microscope than any we have in school, and the students were able to get a close up view of the prepared slides she brought. We wrestled with a mystery or two (how do crows eat poisonous frogs?), asked good questions and thought like scientists about how the world works.

Samples of the slides we saw!

Parent Teacher Conferences continue this coming week, and Tuesday is Dress Like a Book Character Day (sometimes also known as Halloween!).

A preview of my book character… can you guess the book?!?

The weather was perfect today for our ascent up Brushy Mountain and our journey back in time! We started on the field on the Town’s Consolidated School (LES).  We listened hard for sounds of the past: oxen bells, children playing, trees being cut, farmers plowing, sheep baa-ing, horses neighing, the box factory down the road…

Then it was off to the woods to look at hemlocks, white pine, striped maple, white and red oak, cedar, chestnut saplings…

We found fungi, flora and fauna…

 

Then we were off the Glazier house (1790), where we asked if we could join them for lunch.  They accepted our invitation and we explored the foundation of the house, discovered their well, and found an unexpected geo-cache!

Thanks to Kim, there are a couple of photos of the teacher too!

We traveled from the Glazier’s house to Mason Pike’s, then off to the dam and the old mill pond…

We hustled down the mountain and the students learned the phrase: Don’t spare the horses!

Thanks so much to Noah for sweeping and being a pack horse at the end, as well as for his sense of humor and attentiveness to the dreamers who took their time.

Thanks to Kim for taking pictures (and the video) and leading us fearlessly to the bus (at the eleventh hour!).

Thanks to Steve for joining us for the day, asking great questions, and keeping us on track.

And many, many thanks to Brooke Thomas for leading us through time, over mountains, and through the winding woods once again!  What a great field trip (B-E-S-T field trip EVER! according to (the imitation) Brooke (who may be leading these trips herself one day based on her enthusiasm today!).

MOUNTAIN DAY 2017!!!

The Fifth Grade scientists examined cells through microscopes in the lab today… then someone put this under the lens!

The resolution, even through the lens of a hand held phone, is pretty amazing.

Who’s looking at whom?

Some might even call it mad science!  Worms, fungi, maggots, oh, my!  How does food decompose?   How are living things classified?

Our mold experiment has ended.  Petri dishes will either find their way home (sealed!) or have been thrown in the trash.  Bon voyage, spores and moldy, slime colonies!

Our field trip Friday to Morse Hill was action packed! We started with games and a secret Grade 5 handshake.  Then we moved on to orienteering, with a lesson on compasses, finding distance through paces, and then a scavenger hunt to find puzzle pieces.

Next up was raft building!  We broke into three teams to create rafts and then set sail on Lake Wyola!  Each craft paddled out to a waiting canoe, where the students high-fived their teachers.  There was a bit of splashing and a whole lot of fun!

Design and build…

Portage…

Embarking….

High-Fives all around!

Then we were off to the high ropes for the Sling Shot!

Thanks to Victoria, Mike, Nick, parents, and the Leverett PTO for making this incredible day possible!