Alpha

My, how we’ve grown since August! Theme: Where in the World?! This week we headed to the great continent of Africa… We learned where it is and what it’s made of- like DESERT! The Sahara is the world’s largest desert; almost all of the United States could fit inside it! Africa has a tropical jungle in the Congo, and grassy plains (not unlike our grassy plains in Texas) called the savannah, it has big coasts, tall mountains and the world’s longest river: the Nile! Alphas mapping out regions and biomes of Africa… When we think of Africa, some of our

Nothing quite beats tent city on rainy days! Theme: Where in the World?! We headed to Europe this week!  Visiting the second smallest continent we discovered that the Ural Mountains separate Europe from Asia. And as we detailed our own maps we saw that there are several seas with interesting names that surround a good part of the westward jutting peninsulas. Names such as Caspian Sea, Baltic Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.. On Tuesday, Eliza (Malin’s mom) visited us to share many interesting facts, cool relics, and delicious treats from Scandinavia. Thank you SO much for indulging Alphas in some

Jon and his Hojalata self portrait… Where in the World?! This week we headed further south. We could see on our big wall map that we were in Equator-territory, once we made it to the continent of South America. All first year Alphas take a trip around the Sun when we learn about patterns and cycles like the seasons – but we reviewed it in order to see what happens to the seasons in the Southern hemisphere… Have Dolly, Will Orbit…Here we find our Earth (played by Max) heading into Spring, in the Northern Hemisphere, and Fall in the Southern.

YAY Division I is going to the tournament this weekend!  Not every Math Pentathlete will be able to go, but every member of Math Pentathlon practiced good gamesmanship and showed up each week to learn and have fun learning new strategies and games. We LOVE Math Pentathlon! Where in the World?! This week was full of fabulous guest speakers who educated Alpha students on our bordering countries – Mexico and Canada! First, we explored Mexican tradition by making cascarones (confetti eggs) with Ms. Emma’s step mom and assistance from dad. Step 1: Hollow out our shells…. Step 2: Add some

Popsicle party!!! Thanks to the donors who helped us meet our Bowl-a-thon fundraising goal!! Where in the World?! This week, we sailed around our very own continent of North America, noting the landforms like islands and lakes, isthmuses and straits, and peninsulas and bays. We noticed that of the three largest countries in North America, the United States occupies most of the temperate zone. Peninsula…bay… We spent a lot of time north of the U.S.A., learning about the land the earliest people found there — like the biggest waterfalls, rainforests, bays…Here’s a link to some of the slides we looked at