A lot of our learning this year has been focusing on 'cattle". We adopted both a beef and dairy calf, discussed different methods of reproduction, cattle markets, and beef by-products. To celebrate all this learning, we did so with food. Chef Jeff cooked us up the best burgers to go with our St. Patrick's Day themed green buns.

Homemade buns are just far superior to store bought so we went through the motions to learn how to make dough and shape hamburger buns. We just happened to make them green. 

Students were put into 3 groups. Each group measured the indgredients needed as well as mixed them together. The hardest work was kneading. Students were taught the technique of kneading dough as well as knowing the signs that the dough is ready to be risen. There are lots of techniques for making dough so it was a fun lesson to be hands on but also make connections to our current measurement unit as well as our future fraction unit!

Synopsis: This lesson is an observational science experiment where we took a project that we started in September and are expanding on over the next month. In September, students built a vermicompost bin with red wiggler worms. We learned about how the red wigglers do their jobs and have been caring for their needs. We brought in worms into the classroom to watch them eat 3 types of food: apple, banana, and bread. We want to see what food the worm enjoys best based on how fast the item disappears. This lesson ties nicely to our charter and the grade 3 Earth Systems unit. Later, I will have the students create a poster to display their learning in a creative and visual way. We wrote 'opinion' paragraphs as a tie to language arts detailing their hypotheses on what will happen. This lesson also will have connections to the Soil My Undies experiment where we can use the same vocabulary words and understandings to gain a deeper appreciation of the importance of maintaining healthy soil. Now we will wait and see what comes! 

Update: Due to the circumstances (time of year) the container we were using was not efficient enough to keep the worms warm over the winter. We will reevaluate this project in the spring!