Research Papers, Scientific Illustrations, and Library Trips

The Whales have been putting their scientist hats on during their hibernation study. They have worked as groups to read non-fiction research about their hibernating animals. They have talked about the main facts and they each were in charge of writing two facts for their research papers. They also created illustrations that went along with their facts to help them remember their facts. They have been teaching each other about their animals. It has been so fun to see them sharing their knowledge with one another. They have talked about the similarities of their animals and differences. We have noticed that many animals slow their breathing down for hibernation and their heart beats slow as well. However, some animals go into true hibernation like Northwest Painted Turtles, while, other animals like the Oregon Black Bear go into Torpor.

Each Whale has spent time this week working on a scientific illustration of their hibernating animals. We talked about noticing small details when illustrating like a scientist. Their illustrations are to help others see what their animals look like in real life. They are now working on adding color to their illustrations using different art mediums. The Whales are practicing using an artist hand which is soft and helps us stay in the lines of our illustrations. The Whales are feeling extremely proud of their illustrations and have been talking about the hard work they have to put into their illustrations. They can’t wait for them to be finished and hung up!

On Friday, the Whales took their first trip to the Forest Grove library. We had a community discussion about library etiquette. The Whales did a great job being respectful of other community members in the library. They made sure to put the books they weren’t going to take and put them back where they belong. We talked about the importance of a library and the jobs of librarians. Each Whale got to pick out a book to add to our classroom library. We will hold on to these books for 2 weeks and then we will go back to the library and return them. We will be taking library trips every other Friday. The Whales are so excited to return to the library soon!