Guest Speakers

Earlier this month, we had two speakers come talk to us about Virginia's natural resources to help with the challenge that Mr. Joseph and the Virginia Department of Education gave to us.

First, we had a speaker from the Virginia Department of Forestry come talk to us about the importance of forests in the protection of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. She did a demonstration about polluted water and showed how trees and vegetation near banks of rivers (and other water sources) can help reduce pollution.

To follow up with her talk, we made our own "polluted" water and built water filters out of various materials to see which ones would function best as filters.

Second, we had a speaker from the Hanover-Caroline Soil and Water Conservation District who talked more about our watershed address, watersheds in general, and the importance of soil as a natural resource. She did two demonstrations that really hit home the concept of a watershed.

A demonstration to show the importance of vegetation in filtering pollution from water sources

Various pollutants on a small watershed model

Look at that polluted water! (upper middle in picture)

After having two great speakers come in and share their knowledge with us (along with our other studies on the topic!), we feel ready to start working on our demonstrations for Mr. Joseph. More information to come as we move through the process!

Updated Pages

Please check out the Reading & Language Arts page for information on our word study program this year.

Updates on the Science, VA Studies, and Math pages coming soon!

Happy Friday!

Watersheds and Salt Dough Maps

This week we have been getting our hands dirty with watershed models and salt dough maps.

On Monday, we used soil, food coloring, blocks, foil, and water to simulate what happens with pollution in our Chesapeake Bay watershed. Ask your students what we discovered!

Our rudimentary watershed model

On Tuesday, we used the salt dough that was made at home to make a map of Virginia's regions. The class did a really nice job and I was impressed with the variety of bright colors that came in!

Salt dough can be messy!

We are having a great week so far!