OWL PELLETS!

Mr. Nelson paired us up and gave each group some tools like tooth picks, tweezers, a bone diagram and an owl pellet wrapped in foil. We then went into the art room to get started.  At first we were scared to touch it, but Mr. N reminded us that all the pellets were cleaned and sterilized. They are fragile, so we carefully pulled apart the pellet looking for the gross stuff inside.  Actually it wasn’t really gross at all.  It was COOL!  We found mouse and vole skulls, a lot of bones and a ton of fur. We were able to see what kind of animal the owl ate.

By Payton S, Sophie, Paola, and Hayden

Cranbrook 2012

My Favorite Christmas 2012

Ceramic Tiled Planter - Our Class Auction Project

Our school has an auction every other year to raise funds for computers, equipment, and other expensive things.  This year our class made a real cool project to be sold at the Auction.  We decorated ceramic tiles with pictures of Michigan wild flowers.  Mrs. Orozco arranged for us to glaze individual tiles then had them fired.  Later she bought a real pretty indoor planter filled with beautiful plants and flowers.  Our tiles were attached to the sides of the planter.  During the auction, many people bid on the project.  Congratulations to Zack and Sarah's family who won the bid.  We hope you love the planter and think of us all whenever you look at it!

LANSING 2012

Our first field trip for the year was to our state's capitol city - Lansing and it was super fun!  We first toured the Capitol building. It was beautifully painted, had a glass floor, fossils in the tiles and LOTS of stairs.  We saw the Governor’s office, both houses of Congress and the big dome.  We then had lunch, explored the gift shop and toured the State Historical Museum. There was a mining place that was dark (but not too scary), big wheel lumber movers, a one-room school house, and lots of other cool displays and set-ups.  Our last place to visit was the Hall of Justice.  There were 88 security cameras, a short movie on how courts work, and lots of hands-on displays to teach us about Michigan laws.  It was a very long but very fun day.

By Lauren and Sarah J

Brain Food - 2012!

For Halloween, Mr. Nelson brought in a freaky-looking BRAIN and we ate it! Well, we did eat a brain but it was made of a special jello-custard dessert called panna cotta.  It was gray and jiggled like crazy - just like the real thing, but it tasted like vanilla.  He used cranberry-cherry sauce for the blood which made it really gross and scary.  Most of us tried it, some didn’t want to.  It was AWESOME!

By Payton, Lauren, Stefan, Lexi, Linnea, Sarah D, and Sarah J.

Signature Bugs

This week our class made Signature Bugs, which was really fun.  To make one, you write your name, neatly and in cursive, on the Smartboard.  Mr. Nelson then copies, flips and connects the bottoms of the two signatures together then rotates the whole thing to make it look different.  Sometimes it looks like an alien and sometimes it looks like a crazy bug. After they were print them, we are given a chance to color and decorate them.  I hope next year's 4th graders have as much fun doing this project as we did.
- By Lauren, Lizzy, Katy, Paola, and Sammy G.