Vanishing Points...

I know, I'm not what you think of when you think "Del Rosario Art Teacher", yet here I was this week teaching my first art lesson! Fernando has been extremely busy at work and so, with his guidance, I planned art based on Raphael and his depth of field.

We read a book about the history of Raphael's life and work. We looked at his art for the depth vs. that of other artists in his time. Then, I found this great video (Thanks Pinterest!) about depth and vanishing points. It was a step-by-step art lesson using a vanishing point, inspired by the Carlsbad Flower Fields, which we've actually been to! We used oil pastels. It was a great lesson and very fun! And, may even inspire me to try again (although I hope Fernando can keep working with the kids too!)

Earth Layers Cake

In Science these past few weeks, we have breezed through the Earth Sciences section, opting for more projects than worksheets. We have done a poster project on Mountains around the world, made a board game about earth's surface, made crystal rock candy, written cloud poems, made clouds out of dryer lint, and collaged wind storms. But, the most popular activity so far was the Earth Layer Cake! Made from 2 types of ice cream, M&M's, peanuts, graham crackers, butter and sugar - it took us 3 days to make and even more days to eat! We simulated the inner core, outer core, mantle and crust and every layer was delicious!

Safari Park Field Trip

We had a great time at the Safari Park last Friday (in 90 degree heat! Seriously, it's early March!). I had prepared a worksheet for the kids to work on while we were there - it was a school day after all. I actually had gotten the information off the Safari Park website, recommended questions for 4th graders. It was all about animal senses - which they use and how well they use them. We quickly threw those questions out the window when we noticed that the park signs has NO INFORMATION on it and the Park volunteers and employees couldn't answer Sophia's question: Which sense do you think is the best sense of the Lemur?

So, we ditched the work and had a fun day! We did learn that:

1. Zebras are black with white stripes (black skin underneath to protect from sunburn).
2. Giraffes have an inch of tongue for every foot they are tall. And their tongues are purple to protect from the sun.
3. The Binturong, or Bear Cat, is related to a mongoose.
4. Tigers want to eat service dogs.
5. Baby gorillas have strong grip to hold onto Momma Gorilla's back.
6. Lemurs have a good sense of eyesight. Oh, wait, smell. Or maybe nothing at all.