News Show March 20

Here is our News Show from the past week. We hope you enjoy this glimpse into our classrooms. Please leave a comment or question. (MAKE SURE YOU LET IT LOAD ALL THE WAY BEFORE YOU PLAY IT....OTHERWISE IT WILL CONTINUE TO BUFFER!:)


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How Hard Does Our Heart Work?

Today in class our students participated in a few activities to see how hard their hearts work. First, students were asked to squeeze a tennis ball until they could see an indentation. This is about how much pressure the heart must exert each time it beats, pushing the blood through our system of arteries and veins. This was challenging enough, but then the class had to "pump blood" for a full minute by squeezing the tennis ball about 70 times in one minute. That is how many times the average heart beats in one minute. The class never worked so hard! They knew if the heart stopped, the body would eventually die. Of course, they did not want that to happen! The class realized their heart works very hard.
Our second activity focused on how much blood the heart pumps in one minute. Students could not beleive the heart pumps about 19 cups of blood each minute. Using a cup, a funnel, and a plastic tube, volunteers tried to "pump" 19 cups of blood (colored water) from one container to another. However, since valves in the heart must open and close each time the heart beats to prevent the blood from flowing backwards, a student had to pinch the tube closed once per second to simulate the action of the valves. The students could only get a few cups of "blood" transferred in a minute. Again they realized the heart works extremely hard! During this activity, the class discussed that the heart has 4 chambers, (2 atriums and 2 ventricles). The funnel represented an atrium, a place where the blood enters the heart.

Click HERE to see the video clip we used to close our lesson today which shows and discusses how the heart works.

Prior to specific lessons on each body system such as the one discussed above on the circulatory system, our students enjoyed creating life-sized labeled illustrations of the body systems to compliment the research they completed on the major parts they were assigned. We have had a lot of fun learning about six major body systems and have learned A LOT in the process!

Tikatok Writing Contest- My Advice to the 44th President!

Hello students! I have a wonderful writing oppurtunity for you! Charisten, a student from Mr.Pinchot's homeroom, brought in a flier from one of her favorite websites, TIKATOK. It is a website that allows you to create books online!

Here is the challenge:

Write a story titled, "My Advice to the 44th President"

Barack Obama just became the nation’s 44th president. Pretend you have the chance to have lunch with President Obama. What would you advise him to do as President?
How do you think he can help the country in 2009? Be sure to include colorful illustrations to support your story.

What can I win?

The winner for “My Advice to the 44th President” will receive
complimentary paperback copies of their stories and have
copies of their stories sent to President Obama himself.

Turn your entry in to Ms.Launey by Friday to be entered in the contest and earn 25 behavior bucks!

March 2-6 Four Corners News

March 2 from melissalauney on Vimeo.

Weekly News Broadcast- Feb.27th

Thank you to all of our viewers out there who have left comments. The students are enjoying creating their reports with an audience in mind.

Also, check out our new standards-based board in the hallway behind Mrs.Lopez-Sinclair's and Ms.Launey's Classrooms. You will find an inside look at the creation of the Four Corners News and a spotlight of each of last week's reporters.

(Make sure you let the video load before your start it. Otherwise, there will be a lot of skipping.)


Untitled from melissalauney on Vimeo.