As we have traveled from continent to continent during this school year, the month of April finds us exploring the verdant continent of South America.

“About a third of the world’s bird species live in South America.  South America boasts the world’s driest desert, tallest waterfall (Angel Falls is almost 20 times higher than Niagara Falls), longest mountain range (The Andes Mountains), largest rainforest (The Amazon rain forest), and biggest river by volume of flow (the Amazon).”*

*South America,by Libby Koponen

Every month, we explore plants and animals from the continent we are studying, and this month, we are mesmerized by the variety and color of South American animals. In addition to weaving the features of South America into our lessons, we are also studying birds, care of the Earth, and parts of the flower.

One experiment we are running is to see how decomposition works and how we can be more conscious of using materials that don’t decompose and how they ultimately impact the health of the Earth.  We have a white, plastic spoon laid next to one half of a bell pepper.

So far, the students have observed that the plastic spoon stays the same, but the bell pepper is getting wrinkled and smaller.  We encourage the children to draw their observations on paper provided for them, and to take note how the plastic spoon doesn’t decompose, while the pepper is changing day to day.

Birds are also part of our overall classification lesson.  In the beginning of the year, we start with “living and nonliving” then we moved to “plants and animals.”

Once we know that we are dealing with animals (not plants),  then we looked at the difference between “vertebrates (has a backbone) and invertebrates (no backbone).”

Animals that are vertebrates can be further classified into mammals, reptiles, fish, amphibians, and birds.  Next month we will complete this study by learning about insects.

This month the students learned that all birds have feathers, but not all birds fly.  Find out from your children the answer to this true riddle.

Thank you to all the parents who traveled with us to Springs Preserve and helped deliver a wonderful field trip for all of our students.

REMINDERS

Family “KICK-NIC” event is sponsored by the PTO and being held today, Friday, April 17th, at Amador Vista Park starting at 3:30pm.  Concessions available for donations.  Bring your picnic blankets and chairs, and enjoy some fun outdoor games with your entire family.

Mother’s Day Tea on Friday May 8th at 10:30-11:15am, see you all there! Thank you to Clare and Cortland (and their families) for providing delicious snacks and beautiful flowers for our classroom.

We are so grateful for the opportunity to teach your children and watch them grow and develop.  Each child in our care is precious to us. Thank you for showering us with gifts, food and flowers; we are moved by your generosity and appreciate your thoughtfulness. Ms. Melissa, Ms. Diana, Ms. Nancy