Gretchen Brinza
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Back to the Raccoon--Modeling Where the Matter Goes!

4/11/2018

 
 After figuring out that dead stuff gets consumed by different organisms (including us!), we went back to the raccoon that started this whole unit.  We figured out that the adult raccoon that died was probably a baby once (ok, it really was a baby at one time) and that it consumed matter to grow into the adult.  If everything is consuming something, then the raccoon had to consume something once, too!

We did some research to figure out what exactly a raccoon consumes to grow bigger, grow more fur, make offspring, etc., and figured out it would be a good idea to model this, and here were our original ideas...
Picture
Using the criteria we set forth and looking at different models, we decided that our scientific model to explain how a raccoon grows should be simple, and we established consensus to look like the picture below. We also figured it was time to official "talk" like scientists, and use words to describe what each of these organisms are:  
Picture

When it was all said and done, we were like, "What do the plants eat?"  They were lonely with no arrows going into them...so how do they actually get the matter they need to grow?  Because they grow, right?

We've got a whole bunch of ideas...but there's lots of arguing.  We've got ideas that plants need water, air, sunlight, and soil, but not everyone thinks that all types of plants need all of these things.  Looks like we'll have to be doing something with plants in order to fiture out where plants get the matter they need to grow!

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    Mrs. Brinza

    Fifth graders in one of the two sections I teach are currently participating in research through the Next Generation Science Storylines Project!  We are excited to be on this journey to share in science education!

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