Aquaponics

Our Aquaponics System

Our class is making an aquaponics system. An aquaponics system is a food production system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising water animals such as fish, snails, etc.) in tanks, with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water). Basically, the fish waste fertilizes the plants and the plants clean out the water for the fish. It's in the corner of our room!

Right now it is in pieces. The fish are staying in a bucket with a pump. A dad from our school has an aquaponics in his yard. He is going to make a few changes on the system before we put it together. One thing he wants to do is change the pipes from flexible tubing to hard plastic tubing. 

We hope to grow kale, lettuce, and maybe peppers in our aquaponics. We also hope to feed our guinea pigs, Charlie and Lola, with the vegetables.

Codes in Chapter Five

Sometimes authors write in code to make the storytelling more interesting. This chapter is full of coded messages. Some of the codes we could break and some we couldn't.

The Story

The whole story is a coded message for Edward. When the Princess runs away into the forest, that might be like the journey Edward is about to take. It is telling him to love the people that care for him. If he does not, there will be consequences.

The Princess 

The princess is a code for Edward. Just like Edward, she is beautiful and does not love the people that love her.

The Ring

The golden ring in the story might be a code for Edward's pocket watch. The ring got swallowed and the pocket watch got sucked up into the vacuum.

"You disappoint me."

This was in the story and Pellegrina whispered it to Edward. It was the big hint that the story was meant for Edward.

Bright Stars

We think stars are a code for something but we can't figure out what. They might be a code for Edward and how beautiful he thinks he is.

The Witch

The witch is a code for Pellegrina. They both say, "You disappoint me."

***Update***

The Prince

The prince is a code for Abilene. We didn't think of this at first, but then we checked in on our Today's Meet with our San Diego buddies in Mr. Grant's class. We saw that Caden wondered why the Prince fell in love with the Princess. What a great question! Did he love her just because of the way she looked? That made us wonder what the Prince was a code for. He is a code for Abilene. They both said, "I love you," to people that did not love them back. Why does Abilene love Edward? Is it just because of how he looks?

Did you find any other codes that we missed?

Chapter 3 Drove Us Nuts

Why this chapter drove us nuts...

• I didn't get why Pellegrina looked at Edward in that way. I need to know! ~Grace
• The chapter ended with a cliffhanger. I want to know what happens next! ~Mia
• It was such a short chapter. I want to hear more. ~Ethan
• There wasn't much of a story in the chapter. ~Liani
• The chapter drove me nuts because I don't know where they live so I don't know how far of a ship ride they will take. ~Oliver
• It drove me nuts because I'm wondering why Pellegrina has all of a sudden decided to tell them the story. ~Coralie
• I want to know more about the ship. Why is Pellegrina not going?~Millie
• It drove me nuts because I thought Pellegrina liked Edward but now I'm wondering if she actually does. ~Tessa

What do you think the author's purpose was for this chapter?

• She wanted to keep us excited. If you want someone to keep reading, you have to keep them interested. ~Addy
• To keep wondering. ~Charlotte
• She wanted to add some mystery. ~Phillip
• It's short so you'll focus on the ship and the Pellegrina mystery. ~Oliver
• To introduce us to important things like the ship. FORESHADOWING ~Jamie

Maker Jr

What did you learn from Maker Jr?

• We learned about electronics and how we use them.
• I learned that you can use new parts over and over.
• I learned that it's not only a big machine. You can take it apart and make something new.
• A lot of electronics are not fixed. They just get thrown out or recycled and you are forced to buy a new one.
• There is a Maker Space in Ottawa University and it is open to the public and free to visit every Sunday.
• I learned that if something of yours breaks and you fix it, you can feel really good about yourself.
• Sometimes it costs more money to fix it than buy a new one.
• Inside of electronics are lots of cool things including pulleys and gears and parts that look a lot like other things.

Take cover!

Habitudes and Edward

We have been learning a lot about the HABITUDES: perseverance, imagination, courage, adaptability, curiosity, self-awareness, and passion That made us wonder...

What kinds of HABITUDES do you think are necessary for a "miraculous journey"?

Right now, from what we've learned about Edward, we don't think he would do well on a journey. All he knows is that he looks good. He takes things for granted. He doesn't like to think about unpleasant thoughts or anyone other than himself. He does not know anything about the world.

Here are the Habitudes we think Edward will need and maybe, what he will learn on his miraculous journey.

Imagination

If you got stuck somewhere, you could use your imagination to get yourself unstuck. To even start a journey, you need imagination to see yourself on the journey which might be something new for you.

Perseverance

If, let's say, some dirt gets on Edward's fine silk suit, he will need to persevere and not just give up. On a miraculous journey, you should probably expect to encounter a lot of new things that might be hard to overcome. Perseverance will be needed to overcome these unexpected things.

Courage

On a journey, you may have to try things that you've never done before. It will take courage to face these challenges.

Adaptability

Edward is used to the same sorts of things everyday. On a journey, he will need to adapt to all sorts of new adventures. If he can't just "roll with it", he may not be able to continue with his journey. He will also need to adapt to changes like new people and new lifestyles.

Curiosity

If Edward is curious, he will ask questions about which way to go. He will wonder about things which might help him to make decisions.

Self-Aware

In order to be safe, Edward needs to know what he is good at and what he needs help with. He needs to go beyond just thinking about his looks.

Passion

Dear Blog Readers, we are not sure if Edward needs passion to go on a journey. What do you think?

Global Read Aloud: Chapter 1

Predictions

Edward will go on a journey. It won't be just any journey. The word "miraculous" tells us that this adventure might be filled with miracles. It might be filled with unexpected things, magical things, or even impossible things.

Edward is stuck up

Here is our proof:

• Likes to look at his own reflection in the window
• He has very fine clothes
• "unsavory" animal that he got his whiskers from tells us that he thinks if it isn't a rabbit it is unsavory or sloppy and not good

Surprised

Some of us thought Edward was going to be a very adventurous rabbit who was excited and loved his owner. Now that we've read the first chapter, we are surprised. He is kind of stuck up and mean.

Edward and his looks

Why do you think they go into such detail about how Edward looks?
-To help us know about the main character
-maybe some details of his looks will be important to the story later on
-the way he looks is so important to his character

So far, we like the book because:

-I'm thinking. The book is already changing my thoughts about how the book is going to go. ~Noah
-I like it because I like the descriptions. It helps to paint a very clear picture in my head. ~Millie
-I also like the descriptions. Particularly the ones about Edward. I like the details. ~Liani
-It is not written like most of the books that I read. ~Marin
-I like how it describes him so much. I want to know more about him. ~Phillip
-I like how you can hear his thoughts and what he thinks of other characters in the book. It makes it funnier and helps you understand Edward better and get to know him. ~Addy and Elinor

How Muchness

In Literacy, we continue to build our stamina for doing quality reading of Good Fit books. Some of us noticed that we don't always check for understanding when we read alone. Many of us get to a work or part that we don't understand and simply keep reading. This can makes things confusing if it happens too often.

To address that problem, we have started "Reading with Someone". In this strategy, students pick a suitable person (one they can focus with and hopefully, one that helps us build our team dynamics), and together they choose one book to share or two books to each take turns reading from. The two big ideas behind "Reading to Someone" are to practice our fluency, and to more thoughtfully check in for understanding with each other. Some of us have noticed that being forced to check in for understanding is giving us the opportunity to get more of what we're reading. It's exciting!

Today, our whole school sat with our Tree Families and saw a presentation on Ryan's Well. We can't believe that a grade 1 boy from Kemptville could make that big of a difference. That must mean that we could have that same impact on the world!

Last year, Ryan Hreljic came to speak to our Leadership Club. If you are interested, Leadership Club takes place on Fridays at second recess in room 209.

Other Clubs: Tuesday-School of Rock, Wednesday-Dancemania and Guitar Club, Thursday-Ukulele Club, Friday-Leadership Club.

After the presentation, we were treated to a dance lesson from Gillian. Here we are playing shape tag with her class.

In math, we are continuing to look at whole numbers. We are focusing on "how muchness" or what numbers actually mean by comparing numbers and finding relationships through number lines. We are starting with numbers that many of us are more comfortable with and will build from there.