The Digestive System

     We have been studying the Digestive System in Science class. Today we recreated a model representation of the Digestive System. We used every day household items like bread, water, and a Ziploc bag.
     First we started by taking a slice of bread and pulling it into smaller pieces. The pulling apart of the bread mimicked the action of the teeth chewing, grinding, and pulling food inside our mouth. After breaking the bread into smaller pieces, we moved the bread into the Ziploc bag. The action of moving the bread was representing the esophagus swallowing the bread and taking it to the stomach. The stomach in our case was the Ziploc bag. We filled up a cup with water and poured the water into the stomach. The water represented saliva and other digestive juices that would be found in the stomach. We then squeezed and massaged the bread and water together which was representing the chemical digestion that occurs in the stomach as well as the mechanical digestion of peristalsis. The peristalsis is muscular contractions that allows the food to travel through the small and large intestines. The food that travels through the intestines has the nutrients absorbed back into the body to be used for energy later on. Once the food had been dissolved in the digestive juices and travelled down the intestinal tracts we made the journey to the garbage can. The distance travelled from the student's seats to the garbage was representing the food travelling through the rectum. The students then deposited their Ziploc bag into the garbage can and this represents the removal of waste from the body through the anus.
       Today's class was exciting and disgusting all at the same time!

 First we ripped the bread in half and then into tinier pieces to mimic the process of chewing.

 Then we placed the bread into the Ziploc bag to mimic the process of food being swallowed down the esophagus.

 The food was then sitting in the stomach.

 The water was poured into the Ziploc bag to mimic the saliva and digestive juices that would be present with food in the stomach.

 We then massaged and squished the bread and food together to mimic the chemical and mechanical digestion process in the stomach and as the food moves through the small and large intestines.

To end we walked to the garbage can which was to mimic food moving through the rectum to the anus. (The garbage can was the anus where our waste was removed).

Posting Pictures Online

We had the pleasure of having Constable Budahan come and speak to the Grade 3's yesterday about online safety. He shared an acronym with us that resonated with me and I wanted to share it with our classroom families. Students were told to THINK before posting pictures online:

T- True: Is the picture true?

H- Harmful: Will this picture hurt me or someone else?

I- Illegal: Is there anything illegal in the picture I want to post?

N- Necessary: Is the picture I'm posting necessary or serving a purpose?

K- Kind: Is the photo I'm posting kind to myself and others?

Thank you for reading this post and for speaking with your children about what they do online. This is a conversation that should be constantly evolving and occurring.

The Students of Room 4

Repeated Subtraction

Today we were working on using repeated subtraction to understand division. One of our learners used snap cubes to create an empty number line and then used the blue blocks to represent the number of jumps made on the number line. This is a great hands-on way to represent math facts and solidifies the learning for this student. 

Repeated addition

Today we learned about the relationship between multiplication and repeated addition. Students are now transitioning from writing out groups of items with pictures to using repeated addition as an alternative.

Practicing Addition with QR Codes

We spent math class this morning practicing our double digit and triple digit addition facts using QR codes. We worked cooperatively in groups and had to solve the question before using our QR code readers to check our answers. 

We are learning about mass!

We are continuing our exploration of measurement by moving on from cm, m, and km and transitioning into a study of mass. This is our brainstorm from this morning's math meeting.

Telling Time

We are practicing out time telling skills for on the hour and half past the hour.