Alpha

Oceans This week we dove deeper into the ocean – 600 feet down to the beginning of the Disphotic or Twilight zone. Very little light reaches this deep. Disphotic gets its name from being a region where photosynthesis cannot occur and plants can’t grow. To understand the differences between the two zones for the living organisms that live there we looked at sperm whales and giant squid. Alphas learned that Sperm whales are incredibly unique mammals. In some form of evolution they have been on earth 20 million years or more, can dive the deepest of any mammal (2,000-10,000 feet), […]

This week we learned that the ocean has layers that are divided by how much light is in it. The first layer we explored is called the Euphotic Zone. We learned that most of the creatures in the ocean live in this layer, and just like all living things on land, these creatures require sunlight, air, water, and food to live. Alphas knew that many of the tidal zone creatures had adaptations that helped them capture microscopic food particles from the water, and we learned that those particles were actually living plants and animals called Phytoplankton and Zooplankton. We learned

Water, Water Everywhere! This week, we investigated what many rocky seashores offer…shelter and food for some of the world’s most adaptable creatures in the intertidal zones. (oh! how we wish we had tidal pools to explore in our neighborhood!) The ecosystem hangs on for dear life as the tides ebb and flow….and what creates tides? We learned that the ocean is always moving by the force of winds and currents and especially the pull of the moon’s gravitation creating 2 high tides and two low tides on earth each day. We looked at the Dr. Suess type animals that can

Our penguins chillin’ in the Peace Corner Alphas started Q3 off with new table team goals for the New Year! We are learning how to take responsibility for our team-environments and our team relationships. We will be taking on daily team-jobs and learning how to recognize conflict and how to respectfully deal with it! Table teams deciding who’s responsible for daily table jobs including… Pencils, Cans on and off, Sweeper, and Spray and Scrub… Pao and Leo spraying down their tables… Water, Water Everywhere! This week Alphas reviewed the essential things all living things need: air, water, and food. They

What’s Around Us?! This week in Alpha we learned more about Europeans that made first contact with indigenous people in North America. People have been living in North America between 13 and 40 THOUSAND years. The first Europeans to land on the continent were the Vikings and they got the idea to go west from stories they hears about strange fishermen in small seal skin boats landing in Ireland who indicated that they’d come from the WEST. The Vikings had the best technology for sailing so they set out about 1000 years ago and settled in Iceland, Greenland, and New