REPORTERS, SCIENTISTS, AND MEDIA LITERACY...OH MY!

Did you know first graders have superpowers?  Not just the things we talked about yesterday (friendship and kindness) but for real superpowers.  Check out the picture below.  We can fly, lift buildings and cars, see through walls, become invisible, and run at lightning speed!!

What!?! Well, Miss Kylie put it online, so it must be true, right?  Wrong! Today we started to talk about something called Media Literacy.
​Check out this website about the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus.  Just because it's online doesn't make it real.  As we work through our research projects we have to be careful about fact checking and using our common sense!

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Last of Hurricane Harvey Pets
Headed to East Coast

Today we heard from Miss Ella, the Reporter of the Week.  She told us all about the last of the stray cats and dogs from Hurricane Harvey taking trips to the East Coast to find new and permanent homes.  Sometimes pets get forgotten about in the craziness of natural disasters, but they need homes too!  We took a minute to talk about the efforts taken by the Aspen Animal Shelter to help stray animals in our environment.  Many people have adopted pets of their own as well to love and care for.  You can also visit the animal shelter to help walk the dogs and play with the animals.

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And...we heard from Mr. Yari, our Scientist of the Week.  He asked us: What will happen if I pierce a plastic bag full of water with a sharp pencil?  We made some great hypotheses (including exploding water), but turns out he had a surprise for us.  Ziplock bags are made of polymers.  Polymers are chains of flexible molecules.  When broken by a sharp pencil they form a seal that is water tight!  Check out how many pencils we fit through this bag without any leaks!!  Thanks Yari!