STEM Challenge: 'Big Smelly Bear' Back Scratchers

So what's a big smelly bear to do when he has an itch on his back and no one is willing to help him scratch it?! Enlist the help of the 2-F STEM student engineers to make him his very own back scratcher, of course! ; )

After reading the book, Big Smelly Bear by Britta Teckentrup, students were given the challenge to build a back scratcher that could help this lovable, but stinky bear whenever he has an itch. Our 2-F engineers had their choice of materials and worked in pairs to create these functional and helpful tools. They even got to try them out on one another (and their teachers!) to make sure that it was durable enough to stand up to the itchiness level of a bear! 

Another job well done and fabulous STEM afternoon in 2-F! : )

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Painted Lady Butterflies

Our beautiful Painted Lady butterflies have officially emerged and have been spotted flying around our Fuller Meadow school community. Here in 2nd grade, we are especially proud of these lovely creatures, as we played a huge role in fostering their transformation and providing diligent care as they worked through their life-cycle.

Since their arrival as tiny caterpillars, we fed them, observed them carefully, watched them transform, gave them sugar water and orange slices, and patiently waited for them to emerge from their chrysalises as adult butterflies. The entire process spanned a couple of weeks, but the students lovingly cared for and checked in on them each and every day. The joy on their faces as we released them from the net was simply the best! : )

*In addition to learning about the stages of the butterfly (egg, larva, pupa, adult) the students also expanded their knowledge learning all about what takes place throughout each phase. Be sure to ask your child to share what they've learned with you- they are very proud of how hard they worked throughout the entire unit. We are also in the process of completing our fabulous Lifecycle of the Butterfly poetry books, where students wrote different poems for each stage and created a crayon resist/watercolor illustration for each page. I could not be more proud of ALL their hard work- way to go my awesome (almost!) 3rd graders!

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