Invertebrate Day

Invertebrate Day is a day that your fifth grader will never forget at Baker-Butler. It is filled with hands-on scientific learning. Students experience collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving as they rotated through four different activities. Engagement was stellar and learning was accelerated!

In Ms. Thomasen's classroom many connections were made as students learned that invertebrates do not have a backbone. Students learned that squid and clams are related and how siphon tubes in clams and squid have different functions. 

In Ms. Spring's class, the "A" for art was put in STEAM! Students combined elements of science (insects and friction) with math (symmetry) and art. During this rotation, students reviewed what they knew about insects and then created bugs by writing their name in cursive and making a mirror image of the name and coloring the "bug."

Ms. Roesch's class was turned into Worm-a-Rama! As students entered the room, they were each given their own live worm to investigate. Hypotheses were made and mini-labs were set up to discover their worms' preferences - warm vs. cold, dry vs. damp, and darkness vs. light. Did you know that worms have five hearts? Students also used stethoscopes and straws to monitor their worms' heartbeats. Many students named their worms and there was more than one sad good-bye as they returned their "new buddies" before leaving the classroom.

Mr. Hazlett and Ms. Caldwell's room was filled with cephalopods. The students became experts as they learned how to dissect and learn the important internal workings of a squid. Students learned how to identify a female verses a male and what the "pen" was.  A somewhat smelly, but a great day had by all!