Lesson Fourteen: John Muir and Rachel Carson

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John Muir and Rachel Carson

Lesson: John Muir was a naturalist who worked to preserve forests. He helped to establish Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park. He also helped to found the Sierra Club. 

Rachel Carson was a marine biologist who wanted to teach people to preserve our earth. She was also a writer and helped establish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

We discussed ways to help take care of our earth including: turning off lights, saving electricity, driving less and biking more, using less water, and recycling. We watched a short clip from the BP Oil Spill and saw pictures of the Brianhead Forest Fire. We ended with a clip from the Lorax with Dr. Seuss' famous quote,"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not."

     

Experiment: We planted green bean seeds! 

Towards the end of the week our butterflies started to hatch!

Lesson Thirteen: Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

Lesson: Charles Darwin was a naturalist and biologist best known for his theory of evolution and the process of natural selection. For years he observed different animals in their natural habitat. He thinks that the more adaptable and evolving a species can be, the more they thrive. The species that can't adapt and change, die off. So evolution is any change in the heritable traits within a population across generations. 

Darwin did studies of bird beaks and plumage. He also did a study of earthworms and their effect on their environments. 

Experiments:

Bird Beaks: We tested different tools that represented bird beaks. We used these tools to pick up different kinds of bird food to see what beaks worked best for particular foods.

Caterpillars! We are watching the amazing transformation of caterpillars to Painted Lady Butterflies. They should make their transformation soon!

Bug Collection and balancing butterflies: We looked at a bug collection and learned how to make a
balancing butterfly.

Earthworms!! This had to be one of our best activities yet. We played with, examined, and observed earthworms!

Lesson Twelve: Dot Richardson

Lesson: 

Dot Richardson was a two-time U.S. Olympic Gold medalist 

who later became an Orthopedic Surgeon.

In this lesson we discussed how our knowledge of science and the human body helps us become healthier and become better athletes. By studying biomechanics and anthropometric characteristics, scientists have found that certain body types can have advantages in certain sports. We watched clips of famous athletes who are the 'best' in the world including: Michael Phelps, Michael Jordan, Usain Bolt, and Simone Biles.

Experiments:

We did a March Madness themed competitive exercise routine. We started with eight teams and eventually ended with two teams who competed in the hoop shoot competition.