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5th Grade Mentors Day 1-Mrs. Cory

4/10/2015

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Describe your experience.
Did your student leave feeling good about themself? How do you know?
What will you do differently when we meet Mrs. Arce's class?

I had such a good time playing with Mia! She was so fun and agreeable. I loved talking to her because she was enjoyable and she always understood what I was saying. She knew what I was talking about when I asked who her superhero was. Mia was always happy to talk and also loved drawing, just like me! She drew a beautiful butterfly and two trees. I drew her a picture with her name on it. During That's Me, Mia always had an answer and then she was able to tell me all about it. She likes My Little Pony, doing crafts, and horses. She also loved dogs and had two! When I asked her about her superhero, she said that her superhero was Jesus and her dog. After that, I asked her about her friends, and she said that I was her friend. I knew that I collaborated with her and we became friends.
I knew that Mia left feeling great. When she came in, she seemed a little shy and reluctant, but when we started to talk she had a huge smile on her face that never left. When she had to go she waved to me so I knew she was happy.
Next time, I know that I don't have to switch topics really fast because the kids seemed really interested in some of the questions. They seemed to be able to switch topics on their own and still find as much things to be interested in.

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Watery Earth Lesson 5: How Botanists Use Water

4/10/2015

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Click on the picture to go to its source!

Botanists use water all the time while doing their job. They study plants and how they grow. Some of these plants include algae, ferns, mosses, fungi, and flowering plants. Botanists use water to keep the plants alive and healthy, as well as getting them to grow. They also study the effects of pollution on plants, such as acid rain. Botanists could also study water pollution and the environment. Many botanists work on trying to stop pollution in the water. Another place botanists might work could be a zoo. In the zoo they would focus on studying and watering the plants or feeding the animals and giving them water. They would also need to give the animals water to play and bathe in. Botanists use tissue culture to make new plants from a single cell. They need to grow the plants with lots of water to keep them healthy so they will grow. Other botanists use biotechnology to develop new or improved plants. They need to use water to give the plants nutrients while they are developing and improving. Water is so important and we use it every day, just like botanists!

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Watery Earth Lesson 4-How Red Pandas Use Water

4/9/2015

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Click on the picture to go to its source!

Red pandas are a very special animal. Even though they are called a panda, they are not a member of the panda family. They actually are related to bears and raccoons, and they share the same striped tail. In the wild, they usually live about eight years. Along with needing to drink lots of fresh water daily, they eat bamboo, which has a lot of water in it. Most of their diet is made up of bamboo, which is about 60% water and moisture, but they also eat insects and fruits. Red pandas are known to be good swimmers, but they usually stay high up in the trees of Nepal, Myanmar, and China. Since these are the only places where the red panda lives in, the increase of deforestation is making them endangered.

Humans

Humans are supposed to drink 64 ounces of water each day. This helps us to stay hydrated and get the nutrients we need to stay healthy
We use water when we brush our teeth to keep them clean and get rid of bacteria

Red Pandas

Red pandas can eat 20,000 bamboo leaves every day, which are 60% water
They only drink about once a day because they get a lot of water from bamboo

Both

We both use water to keep clean when we take showers or wash ourselves
Even though we drink a lot more water than red pandas, we both drink water
There is water in the food we eat, like fruits and berries

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

Answers:

Water is a natural resource because it is something that we use everyday, but it is not created by us. It is made naturally, so it is considered a natural resource.
All living things need water to survive because it is in the food we eat, we need to drink water, and it has the nutrients we need to stay healthy.

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5th Grade Mentors

4/9/2015

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Focus on your strengths and superpowers
Always be kind
Show empathy and understand what they're going through
Always look at them and don't get distracted
Hold thumb up on one hand and pinky on the other hand. Try and switch them fluently and say the poem, "Empathy, it's empathy. Empathy, it's empathy. When you put yourself in place of me, it's empathy."
Be patient
Let the butterfly struggle by helping them learn but letting them come up with a solution to their problem
Kindness is the real global warming
Find your superhero, somebody that you look up to and that is always there for you
Be their superhero by being kind, honest, understanding, enthusiastic, respectful, and empathetic
Find connections with them
Play icebreakers like That's Me, when you say something about you and the other person says either, "That's me!" if they can connect or, "That's not me" if they are not similar.

Who is your superhero?
If you were a flavor of ice cream, which one would you be and why?
What is your dream job?
What do you think is your superpower?
Where is your favorite place to go on vacation?
Comparison is the thief of joy. Don't compare yourself to others and improve yourself
You can't be better than your best
Make a shield to protect you from bad things and decorate it to show the good things about you

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?

My real life superheroes are my parents and grandparents. My parents always help me to get better and they are proud of me just for who I am. My grandparents also are my superheroes because they have so many great stories to tell, and I want to be just like them and make the most of everything.
I am my cousins' superhero because they are always looking up to me and repeating what I do. I am also my sister's superhero because even though we fight sometimes, she wants to be like me and we talk about things that bother her so I can help her feel better.
My superpower is that I can understand what people are feeling and why even though they might not show it. I can understand how they are feeling and I can help them feel better.
Whenever I know that someone doesn't feel so great, I can help them to understand about the problem. Then they can feel better about them self!

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Watery Earth Lesson 3 - Natural Resources

4/8/2015

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Natural Resources

Man-Made Resources

Rocks

Glasses

Phone

Clothes

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Watery Earth Lesson Two: How We Use Water

4/7/2015

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We drink water to stay hydrated and healthy
There is water in most of the foods we eat, such as when fruits and vegetables get watered to grow more
We use water in the shower to clean ourselves
We use water to clean our pets
We use water to make an environment for aquatic animals like turtles and fish
We give our pets water to drink
There is water in the food that we feed to our pets
We use water to clean the house, like washing floors and windows
There is water in the toilet to flush away our waste
We water our plants to keep them healthy
We use water to wash our hands and keep them clean
We use water in the sprinkler to play and cool off
We use water to have water balloon fights
There is water in the pool where we go to swim
We use water to cook food
Ice is frozen water that we use to keep things cold
We drink water to help us eat pills and medicine
We use water to clean up messes
We use water to put out fires
We use water to make noodles
We use water to heat our homes

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. The most common uses of water are:

Washing your hands
Showering to keep clean
Washing pets

2. The most unusual uses of water are:

Making macaroni and cheese
Creating rainbows
Washing our cars to keep them clean

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Our Mars Simulation

4/6/2015

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1. Write at least one paragraph that describes what happened from start to finish in our Mars Simulation.

When we began our Mars trip, I was very excited to be one of 22 people selected to go to Mars. I needed to learn a lot to become an expert on Mars. The first thing we did was read the book If the World Were A Village. It told us about why we needed to create a new country. It also helped us learn about what we needed to do to provide for everyone that would live on Mars. I worked with the other people that were going on the trip to plan what we were going to do. There were so many jobs that needed to be done, and only 22 people to do them. I learned about solutions to problems that would come up on Mars by reading the book Mission: Mars by Pascal Lee, a NASA scientist. I found lots of new inventions that would prevent these problems from happening. These included a new oxygen tank and a water bottle with a built-in filter. After this, we started to create a constitution. First, we needed a preamble, so we studied the preambles from other countries to find ideas that we wanted to put in ours. We all shared ideas, and then we used those ideas to create our own preamble. Then we got into groups to share our preambles and decide which one was the best. The best one would move on to the next round. Finally, we selected a preamble to start our constitution. Then we started writing our constitution. We then wrote a bill of rights, which ended our trip to Mars. We chose to bring guns, but the spark from the guns collided with the pressurized oxygen in our domes. We fortunately were able to escape in our teleported, but we ended up in Independence, Missouri, in 1849! I was really excited to start a new journey and expand the United States!

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Human Body Research Paper

3/20/2015

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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?
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What We Will Do First on Mars

3/17/2015

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When we get to Mars, we need to get our oxygen masks and space suits on so that we can breathe and stay safe on Mars. We should have a couple on the spaceship and Mr. Solarz, Ryan, Alison, and Nicky can go get the other ones on the lander. They can also get some of the essential supplies that we need to live. I think that Lucas V., Madi, and Demetri should start building the machinery that we need to solve the problems on Mars. Then Hasanain and Bela can use the water machine to purify water and search for it. Payton and I can also search for water. Then, Chris and Tucker can start to build the domes, but we can still sleep in the spaceship. They can also build the domes with heat lamps to store our supplies. The rest of us can then unpack the supplies and help to create the domes.

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