This Week in TARGET...

1st Grade

Monday in TARGET, 1st graders practiced Inventor Thinking.  We brainstormed the many and varied uses for a whisk other than as a kitchen utensil!  Student responses were very creative.  It could be used as a bird feeder, a toy holder, a lantern, and even a bubble blower!  Next, we made Brainfocals to help our brain see things differently when using Inventor Thinking strategies.  Inventor Thinking is all about creativity: Fluency, Flexibility, Originality, and Elaboration!  Students practiced thinking like an inventor by changing bubbles (circles) into as many different and creative ideas as possible.

2nd Grade

We had a yummy TARGET day on Tuesday!  This week's Research Based Question was all about energy!  We researched light, sound, and heat energy and then students worked together to make solar ovens out of pizza boxes, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, and black construction paper.  We used the sun's energy to make solar oven s'mores!  Students definitely enjoyed this ooey gooey experiment.  

Second graders brainstormed other foods they could probably cook in a solar oven like pizza and hotdogs and many were anxious to recreate their own solar ovens at home.  Here's a great tutorial if you want to try this experiment at home! 

4th Grade

We began studying the artist Jan Vermeer's life and work by analyzing two of his paintings: "The Geographer" and "A Lady Writing."  Students created their own replica of "Girl with a Pearl Earring" using water-coloring techniques.  Each week we're discovering more clues and connections in Chasing Vermeer.  Students deciphered Calder's Code using deductive reasoning strategies and wrote their own secret messages to a friend. Fourth graders built spacial knowledge by exploring characteristics of two- and three-dimensional shapes.  After predicting, students discovered that eight pentominoes can be folded into open boxes.

5th Grade

In this week's installment of Mystery Disease: A Fuzzy Challenge students acted as county health inspectors to analyze interviews with patients to determine the source of the E. coli outbreak at the Barrow County Fair.  Students began reading through Contagious Disease Reports and documenting data to support their theories.  Was it contaminated water?  Contact with animals?  Tainted fair food?  Time will tell...
We also utilized the CDC's website to research the epidemiology of Escherichia coli 0157:H7 outbreaks in the United States and look for commonalities.  Students discovered that over 50% of the E. coli cases were from foodborne illness.  The food vehicle in over 40% of these cases was ground beef and another 20% from contaminated produce.