Ancient Egypt enrichment centers

We just wrapped up our Ancient Egypt unit with a tic-tac-toe of 9 different activities in 3 categories that the students could complete. The three categories revolved around creative expression, written expression, and critical thinking. Above Alex has created a new god/goddess and is writing the legend about how they rose to that level of worship.
Corinne is working on an article for "The Daily Mummy" the newspaper during that time period and Olivia is working on designing her ankh, the symbol of life.
Caroline is deep in thought designing her amulet to bring her good luck and protect her from evil or disease.
Leena is writing questions that she will ask when she interviews a pharaoh. She is also filling in the answers that he/she might say.

Ancient Egypt Pyramids

As one of our projects for our Ancient Egypt unit we made 3D pyramids. We learned about the process of mummification and how these mummies were buried in tombs in pyramids. We also learned that Egyptians opted to take some things with them as they may need them in the afterlife.
Alex wanted to bring with him his amulet, picture of his family, food, water, and a book so he doesn't get bored.
Lily wanted to bring her glasses, pet, family, and peace.

Wanted! Polygon posters

We have just started learning about polygons. We focused on triangles and quadrilaterals. Students were asked to make a "Wanted" poster searching for a polygon. They were asked to include their sense of creativity, correct mathematical terms, and at least 4 attributes that described their shape. Sorry some of them are sideways, could not reformat them!

Mesopotamian Choices

We started our unit on early communities in Social Studies. We started with Mesopotamia. We discussed their way of life and different innovations/inventions that they have added to our culture. As a culminating activity, students were given two options. They could a) write a letter to a person living today pretending they were a Sumerian or b) design a poster ad for one of the innovations/inventions that were done during this time.

Designing Another Experiment!

In science we got the opportunity to design and perform another experiment. This one was dealing with motion and gravity. Students used ramps and changed them in some way to see what effect they had on the distance of travel. Some groups covered their ramps with wax paper or aluminum foil. Some groups used a range of 3-6 textbooks. Some groups did it on the tile versus the carpet. Before we did the experiment we set up our plan with the question, hypothesis, materials, and procedure. As we completed the experiment we filled in a data table and wrote our conclusion. It was a ton of fun!

Ziggurats

In Social Studies we are learning about Mesopotamia, the land between two rivers. We also learned about ziggurats, which were being constructed in 2,000 BC in Sumerian cities. Through a website we were able to explore the history behind the ziggurats and take a tour through a ziggurat. We then were able to build our own ziggurats in teams with LEGOS. Check out our work!

Constellations

We have been learning about stars and constellations. We read a few legends about how several of the constellations were placed in the sky. We asked the students to create their own constellation and write a legend explaining how their legend was up in the sky.


Arla’s Arrow by Lily Schare
Long ago in the little town of Bartha, a little girl was forced to hunt. Her name was Arla. Her family wasn’t very wealthy. So, they made her do chores. She didn’t mind much In mid April Arla went out into the forest with her bow and arrow. She saw many animals but didn’t shoot them. She was waiting for a bigger animal. “That’s it!” She whispered exited to herself. She had come across an elk about ten feet long and ten feet wide! “BOOM, ”She had made a shot that killed that elk immediately. She dragged that elk all the way back home. The king had spotted her from his royal window and decided to share it with the town. He rushed out the door and asked Arla, ”May I share this lovely elk with the town of Bartha?” “You may.” Arla said as politely as possible. That night they had the biggest feast all because of Arla. Since that day the king had worshiped Arla and arla worshiped the arrow that she used. From that point on Arla’s arrow has been in the sky.

Santa's Sleigh by Corinne Hentschel
Santa comes every Christmas to give each child a gift. This year Santa decided to leave a present for everyone....in the sky! Santa wanted everyone to know he is real and believe in him so, he left his signature in the sky on his way back to the North Pole. In the harness, thre are nine reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph. He would have drawn those too but he had no time and he had to get back to Mrs. Claus. Only in the month of December this constellation shows only when the Claus' want it to. But especially on Christmas Eve, it shines the brightest. Brighter than all the other stars. So on Christmas Eve, look for this constellation.

The Starfish Legend by Carson Roman
The starfish was a symbol of the sea .Zeus loved the beach. For example the soft sand and interesting shells. There was one thing he loved most of all was the animals, especially the starfish. It was such a dear friend of his.
One day Zeus decided to take home one of the starfish. Zeus did not know that starfish would die if they were not in water after a long time. He kept the starfish on the middle of the table. After a few days Zeus woke up and saw the starfish was dry and was not moving .Zeus went to his neighbor’s house and asked what is wrong with my
starfish. The lady replied ‘Sadly your starfish is dead.’ Zeus ran crying to the
water and put the starfish back into the water. He decided sense that he dearly loved that starfish that he would put it in the sky. That’s the story of how the starfish is a
constellation!