Hibernation Presentations

Throughout this week, the Whales worked on all things hibernation. They finished up their hibernation sites, and they practiced their presentations. Leading up to Friday, many Whales were feeling “nervited” (nervous and excited). We talked about our feelings and reassured ourselves that it is okay to have big feelings about doing something new and something in front of an audience. We talked about ways we can prepare our bodies for a serious presentation. We noted that eating healthy food like vegetables, drinking lots of water, and getting extra sleep helps us prepare for a presentation.

A huge Whale round of applause for the Whales and their amazing work on their hibernation research and presentations! In the morning of Friday, the Whales presented for the Seals and Dolphins. This was a great opportunity for the Whales to be leaders and teachers to our younger ELC students. The Seals and Dolphins were captivated and learned many new facts about hibernating animals. The Seal and Dolphin teachers shared with the Whales after the presentation how proud they were of them. It is so extraordinary to have a community that gets to share knowledge with one another. The Whales shared with each other how they felt after their presentations. They expressed; “I feel proud”, “That was so much fun!”, “I am a teacher!”, “Do we get to do that again?”. Later in the afternoon, the Whales got ready to present for a second round in front of their families. We were so excited to see siblings in the audience! We are so incredibly proud of them for being so brave and presenting in front of a large audience of grownups. They taught us some amazing facts about hibernating animals. Who knew that Snakes smell with their tongue. SO INTERESTING!

Being a Whale is such a treasure. During the week, there was a Whale friend who had an interesting wondering about the inside of a stem that he found in the Piazza. The Whale noticed that it felt soft and looked almost like styrofoam. We came up with some ideas about what we thought it might be and then we connected with Mr. Mark. Mr. Mark was able to do some investigating and came in during lunch to chat with the Whales about his findings. Mr. Mark talked about what scientists do when they have a wondering. They make hypothesis’s and they collect data. Mr. Mark’s hypothesis was that it came from a Milkweed plant. Upon collecting data from a Milkweed plant, he noticed that it was different. So he went to the sunflower’s out in the Piazza and noticed that they indeed had the same thing. His thoughts were that the inside “foam” was what helped the plant collect nutrients from the ground. The Whales told Mr. Mark that they will research some more and look in the sunflower books to see if they could find more information. A big shoutout to Mr. Mark for coming in and helping us solve our wondering!