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Tallahassee, Florida Program for gifted students Fall 2002 Mrs. Sandy Beck, teacher (Please check this page weekly.)
August
September 1 - Topic: Scientific Classification Students discussed why we classify or sort things in our environment: clothing, toys, tools. Working in small groups, students sorted a mixture of buttons into categories, from general to specific, and named each category after the common characteristic that all the buttons in that category shared. They learned about Carolus Linnaeus, the 18th century Swedish botanist, who devised a system of classification for all living things. They learned about taxonomy and how the animal kingdom (Animalia) is classified or sorted into kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus and species -- then studied the taxonomy of owls. Finally, they used a list of Latin descriptors to invent and draw their own owl and name it with a descriptive binomial, genus and species name. 8 - Topic: Adaptation - Camouflage Animals evolve or change in order to survive in their habitats. Through millions of years of evolution, animals have adapting to the look and feel of their environment by developing protective coloration. Students participated in an interactive game in which they searched for different colored toothpicks in the pinestraw outside our classroom. Students make inferences (some colors harder/easier to find) and drew analogies to animals in their natural habitats. Students inferred that some colors were easier to find while others were harder to find. Camouflage = adaptation = survival. Students met and learned about "Otus," a permanently disabled eastern screech owl. Then, they returned outside to observe how he blended in to the bark of different trees. Finally, students collected pine cones for next week's activity. 15 Topic: Adaptation - Camouflage Students created pinecone owls that would blend into the pinewoods habitat on the Astoria Park campus. 22 No class 29 Topic: Adaptation - Vision Through hands-on activities and close observation of "Cedar," a permanently disabled barred owl, students learned about owls' spectacular nighttime vision. New vocabulary words: Students wrote collaborative "list poems" about the barred owl:
October 6 - Topic: Adaptation - Hearing Students reviewed the vocabulary they learned last week by completing an interactive, on-line crossword puzzle. Try this at home! Students played two games outdoors which helped them to discover how: 1. Owls use their sensitive hearing to
triangulate on the source of a prey's sound -- footsteps, breathing,
etc. Students examined the barred owl's huge ears and facial disc. Students imagined what they would hear if they were in a barred owl's ear, wrote poems and illustrated them. Look for students' poems and drawings on this web site soon! 13 - Topic: Adaptation - Feathers and Flight 20 - Topic: Adaptation - Digestion 27 - Topic: Begin Individual Projects November 3- Work on Individual Projects 10 - Work on Individual Projects 17- No gifted/able learner classes -- Mrs. Beck will attend a professional conference. 24 - Thanksgiving holiday December 1 - Complete Individual Projects 8 - Students write self-evaluations 15 - Students present individual projects and take home course evaluations
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