Blog Posts - What's going on in Mr. Solarz' Class?

Lesson 5 - How Botanists Use water

4/10/2015

Botanists use water during their studies often. Botany is the scientific study of plants. Some of these plants include flowering plants, mosses, and fungi. All plants need water in order to survive. They need water in order to grow. Water normally takes up 80 – 95% of the mass of a growing plant's tissue. They also can study the affects of pollution such as acid rain on the plants. They also study the effects of pollution on the water and on the environment. Botanists water plants and they then measure the plants. They may specialize in limnology, which is the study of freshwater plants. Limnologists also study inland waters, such as lakes, resiviours. and rivers. They can study plants that float in water such as duckweed.

Watery Earth Lesson 4 How Seals Use Water

4/9/2015

Harp Seal Pup

Seals are semi-aquatic marine mammals. Harp seals only spend a little bit of time on land, because they prefer being in the water. They like swimming in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Oceans. Fur Seals will stay in the ocean for weeks at a time. Seals can dive up to 13,450 feet. Seals can stay submerged under water for up to 1 hour. They can swim up to 23 miles per hour when they are chasing their prey.

Seals use water in many ways!

Humans

Humans can purify water for drinking.
Humans use fishing poles and nets to catch fish in the water.
Humans use water for transportation, such as boats.

Seals

They can dive up to 13,450 feet deep.
Seals have blubber to keep them warm in the freezing cold water.
Seals can drink seawater that is undrinkable for humans.

Both

They can both swim, except for seals are much faster than humans.
They can both hold their breath underwater.
Seals have flippers for swimming faster, and humans have made flippers for moving faster in the water.

1. Why is water considered a "Natural Resource?"
2. How is water essential (required) to our survival and the survival of all living things?

1. Water is considered a Natural Resource because it is made without the help of humans. Water would still be on our planet if humans weren't alive.
2. It is essential because every living thing needs to drink liquids to stay alive, even plants. Without water there nobody would be alive.

5th Grade Mentors

4/9/2015

• You have to be empathetic and understanding.
• You have to be patient and calm.
• Let the butterfly struggle. They have to figure it out themselves.
• It is more about the journey than the destination.
• You have to be kind.
• Everyone has a superhero.
• Service.
• Unconditional Love.
• Perseverance.
• Encouragement.
• enthusiasm.
• You don't have to be sick to get better.
• Connect with little kids.
• That's me game.
• Comparison is the thief of joy.

Reflection

Who's your real-life superhero? Why?
Whose superhero are you? Why?
What's your superpower? Describe it.
How do you use that superpower for good?
What's your Kryptonite? {what weakens you?} Describe it.
How are you going to ensure that the student you work with leaves feeling better about themself?

1. My real life superhero is my parents because they always help me stay on track and be kind. They help to bring out the best in me. My cat is also my superhero because she loves me so much.
2. I am my sister's superhero because she looks up to me and likes to do what I do. I help her get better at what she does.
3. My super power is cats. I can easily connect with cats, and they are my favorite animal. I can make them understand. My other superpower is that I'm good at reading. I love to read, and we have a big library, which is wonderful.
4. I use it for good because when my cats annoy my mom, I can make them stop. I help my little sister with reading, because she is still learning to read.
5. My Kryptonite is when I have a lot schoolwork, and homework. I feel really under pressure, but when I prioritize I can get it all done.
6. I can try to make connections with them, and try to be like their friends. I can try to make them feel important, and be kind to them. I can try to be their superhero, and everyone needs a superhero to look up to.

Watery Earth Lesson 3 - Natural Resources

4/8/2015

Natural Resources

Wind

Hen

Wood

Pepper

Nickel Ore

Beans

Man-Made Resources

Fork

Measuring cup

T.V.

Water Bottle

Clothes

Bag

Write a definition for Man-Made Resources (in your own words) and Natural Resources.
Why is "water" considered a Natural Resource?
List three or more Natural Resources that you use daily.

1. Man-Made resources are things that humans made, that people use. Natural Resources are things that are naturally made, that people can use.
2. Water is considered a natural resource because water is naturally made, and we can use it for things, such as cleaning, cooking, and drinking.
3. I use water daily, because I drink water from my water bottle every day. I use graphite daily, because it is in my pencil, that I write with. I use cotton daily, because it is in the fibers found in my clothes.

Watery Earth Lesson 2 - How We Use Water

4/7/2015

•Drinking and eating
    - We Drink water
    - We use water for cooking food
    - We sometimes mix powders to make drinks
    - Smoothies
•Keeping Clean
    - Wash hands
    - Wash face
    - Showers
    - Baths
    - Plumbing
    - Cleaning the house
    - Car Wash
•Caring for Pets
    - Washing Pets
    - Your pet needs water to drink
    - Fish need water in their tanks/Bowls
    - Some pets need their cages to be moist and humid
•Playing
    - Water balloons
    - Water Guns
    - Pool
    - Lake
    - Oceans
    - Waves
•Other
    - Watering Plants / Crops
    - Rain
    - Sink
    - The Boiler
    - Humidifier

What seem to be the most commons uses of water (list at least three)?
What are the most unusual uses of water (list at least three)?

1. Drinking water was very common, so was toilets, and going to the pool.
2. Going from place to place using boats was one uncommon way, another was water beds, and canoeing.

Our Mars Simulation

4/6/2015

Write at least one paragraph that describes what happened from start to finish in our mars simulation.

       We had blasted off to Mars. I felt a thrill of excitement, we were going to create a colony on Mars. We would have a whole team of people, to be the first to colonize Mars. Earth had become too broken-down to live in anymore, but Mars was still an option.
       We selected a nice spot to land, in between the North Pole and the Equator. We had prepared for months, creating a currency, packing supplies, inventing ways to live and get around. We had everything a country needed, a flag, a national anthem, we had even created a bit of a government. The name of our colony was The United Kingdom Of Coconuttia.
      I have to admit, there was some conflict. Dan stole Dakarai’s personal laptop and his weight set. Luckily, Alious got them back. Malina’s phone was dropped in a bowl of cereal and milk. I was talking to Ace, when he said something, (I don’t even remember what,) but I got angry at him and punched him. No bones were broken, and he was fine, but it was apparent that we needed some sort of laws, a constitution. We wrote the laws of our new government in the constitution. We decided that a bill of rights was what the people of our new country needed. We allowed them to be armed with guns, so people can feel secure and able to protect themselves. Not a good idea.
       In the middle of the night a gun was set off. It ignited the spark that ruined our colony. We slept in an oxygenated pressurized cabin. The spark from the gun blew up the cabin. All of our hard work was destroyed.
We would have been dead, had the teleporter not gone haywire and teleported all of us back to Earth. We just walked outside, and to my absolute horror, we had squished someone under the small cabin. His hand just stuck out from under it, and in his hand he held, a sack of gold. We snatched the gold up, at least we would have something to use as money. We figured that the dead man wouldn't need the gold anyway.
      I looked about, we seemed to have gone to some rural area, or something. There we lots of dirt roads. Then something caught my eye, a wagon, several of them, heading away from us. I Heard one person say something about heading west. I took this in all at once, and suddenly I knew, we were back in time, on the Oregon Trail, heading West.

Watery Earth Lesson 1: My Water Story

4/2/2015

The waves were pounding the sand viciously, and the water was a gray blue color. Seaweed was everywhere and I was worried that it could wrap around my ankles in my arms. It had stormed the day before causing massive waves, and the sky remained cloudy and gray. It smelled strongly of salt. I paused for a moment to rid myself of red seaweed that wrapped around my ankle. I continued swimming, because I spotted my Dad’s head bobbing in the waves. I swam towards him, but I got another piece of seaweed tangled around my legs. I shook the seaweed off, and turned back towards the waves. A massive white-cap was coming right at me. I didn’t have time to do anything, it grabbed me, and all I could see was water and foam. I couldn’t breathe, and the water tumbled me around. My knee scraped the sand, and at least I could tell which direction was up. I swam towards the surface and coughed out some water. The massive wave was behind me now, and it broke on the sand, gliding up the beach, bringing seaweed and debris with it. I treaded water for a little bit, and then I turned and headed back to shore.

Human Body Research Paper

3/31/2015

1. What writing skills did you improve while working on your Human Body Research Paper? Explain.
2. What are some concepts that you learned about the human body during this unit that you think are
important (not just interesting)?
3. What was the most challenging part of writing your Human Body Research Paper? Why?
4. What aspect of the Human Body Research Paper are you most proud of? Why?

1. I improved on transitioning between subjects. I improved on it because in the paper we had lots of transitions between different the parts in the different systems. I also learned a lot about concluding things, because we had to write a small conclusion at the end of each system.
2. I think that involuntary muscles are really important, I think so because they do the work during peristalsis so we don't have to think about digesting.
3. I think it was challenging to switch my notecards from various websites into my own words and writing. I found it challenging because sometimes the websites had worded it very nicely in a way that I understood and I wanted to keep it that way, but I had to make it into my own words.
4. I am the most proud of all the systems that I wrote about. I am the most proud of it because it was very challenging to write and I am proud of the outcome.

What Will We Do First On Mars?

3/17/2015

We should get our spacesuits on first.
Adalberto, Kai, and Christoph should start building the water-finding machine so we can get water.
Teo should start contacting NASA and tell them that we are safe.
Elin should start building some of the goggles and the boots that we need.
Ada and Alondra should start building our oxygen machine.
Wu Chen and Alexandrine should start preparing some food.
I should make sure the animals are safe and healthy.
Leyla and Iskandar should look for a good area for us to make our domes.
I think the rest of us should start unpacking the supplies for the domes, and get a head start on the domes.

Moving Quickly to Prevent Harm

3/12/2015