Mission Wolf: A Rare Experience
by Kendall H. & Audrey N. (5th grade)
In May, our 5th grade went on a special camping trip to Mission Wolf. Located in Southern Colorado, Mission Wolf is a sanctuary where wolves are born in captivity. We got to see the wolves up-close in their protective habitat. We learned a lot about animals that are native to Colorado, but face many challenges.
When we experienced the wolf encounter, we got to touch three wolves; Magpie, Illiomna, and Abraham. Students had to hold out their hands and let the wolves come up to them. If they came up to you, you would keep your eyes wide open and they would look into them. Abe laid on some people’s laps and Illiomna and Magpie just came by.
The camping experience was fun but VERY COLD! Dirt was flying everywhere. The food was good, but a minute after it was served, it would turn cold. The boys (and Pazleen) climbed Hokta Hill, a 45 minute hike.
This was a very fun, adventurous, and exciting experience. Even though it was cold, we all had fun. The wolf encounter was amazing. We recommend Mission Wolf to people who like adventures and the outdoors.
Interview: Send Out the Census-Takers!
by Sierra J. (2nd grade)
Part Two of Two
This is the second part of my story on the United States census. If you want some background information on how our Census program works, please go to my first article and read it.
"1920 Census Taker" credit: Library of Congress
For this article, I interviewed a member of our Regional Census program, Bryan C., 10 questions about his responsibilities:
“Why did you start working for the Census Bureau?” I asked him. He said,”I started working for the Census Bureau because the more I read about how important the Census was for the country, I knew that I wanted to help. I like history, and the Census has been a part of the history of this country for a long time”.
I also asked him about why they do the census. He told me that ”we do the Census so that we know how many people are in the country, and what part of the country they live in.
The government gives communities money to build things like roads, hospitals, schools, and libraries, and this is how the government knows how much money to give each area. The other reason why we do the Census is to determine representation in Congress. There are 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives, and they are based upon where the population lives”.
My next question was “Do the people that work for the census get counted?”. “Yes we do”, he said. “I received my census form in the mail and I filled it out and mailed it back in.”
Another question was, “How many people work for the census?”. He said ”Before it is finished at the end of the year, the census will have hired over 3.8 million people”.
And my last question was “Do any census workers have to speak another language other than English?” He said “There are many census workers that speak other languages than English. The questionnaires that we send to people are printed in 6 languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Vietnamese. Assistance guides that inform people about how to fill out their questionnaires are printed in over 60 languages, as well as Braille and large print. ” He also told me that they have call centers so people can call and ask questions. In that center there are different kinds of people that speak the 6 languages.
I had a lot of fun doing this interview and I want to say thank you to Bryan for giving me the answers to these questions, and thank you to all of you guys for reading my articles. I hope you learned something!
A Chalk Board With a Brain!
by Tasveen C. (3rd grade)
Promethean boards are becoming a very popular learning tool. When teachers have Promethean Boards, they can do many things in the classroom that a plain chalk board or whiteboard can’t do. Students can watch videos on it without students crowding around a small monitor (if it were a computer). Also, they can use the Promethean pen as a tool to navigate whatever is projected on the Promethean Board.
The cool thing about Prometheans is that teachers can save lessons on it for as long as they want. That’s one thing only smart boards like Promethean Boards can do. There are some learning websites designed for Promethean Boards, like Promethean Planet. There is also something called Active Votes. Here, every student gets an egg-shaped Active Vote which has buttons labled A,B,C and D. Students must press the button to cast their vote and the teacher can see who understands or a variety of ideas at once.
I have a Promethean Board in my classroom and I have to say it is pretty cool, but very expensive. A basic Promethean board with a projector is between $3000 and $5000. A website where you can find out more is www.prometheanworld.com and you can find a lot of information there as well. Aspen Academy hopes to get a Promethean Board in every classroom soon.
Going Bananas for Bananas!
by Isabelle Q. (2nd grade)
Monkeys like bananas because they are sweet. Monkeys prefer to consume sweet foods. Coconut is actually a monkey’s favorite sweet treat. Because monkeys are intelligent they like challenges and opening a banana is a challenge. Often monkeys are depicted with a banana because yellow contrast brown, their body color. Monkeys eat bananas, because they love them, and mainly because that it what’s available for them to eat where they live. They don’t eat JUST bananas, you know.
Yes, monkeys love bananas. But their main diet in the jungle, their natural habitat, is not a banana. Bananas don’t grow under the trees and in the thick of wild growth. They grow in open and sunny spaces. Filipinos planted bananas in their yard. Monkeys thrived on insects and fruits other than banana. The pet monkeys in captivity, ofcourse, were served bananas since bananas were abundant in the Philippines. Some Americans did business by exporting monkeys to the U.S. for experimentation in laboratories. They fed the monkeys with bananas. So that’s why monkeys eat bananas.
“Lacrosse…It’s In My Blood”
by guest writer, Walker F. (3rd grade)
Lacrosse is a big deal to my family. I play on the “Panthers” and my younger brother does too. My dad played on the “Panthers” when he was a kid. I set the personal goal to play lacrosse at the same high school as my dad. I also want to play in college.
Photo by Christopher Stockman Photography
The photo above shows an attack man dropping the ball because the defense man came up behind him and pressured him to drop the ball. This is called, “playing tight” in lacrosse.
In the lacrosse league that I play in with the “Panthers”, there are big tournaments called Jamborees. In this kind of tournament, your team can’t lose a game, or they are out. Last year, we won 3rd place. This year, we hope for 1st!
I like to invite my friends and family to important games, like when we played the “Hawks” who are our rivals! If you play lacrosse or think you might like it, leave a comment about your experiences. I hope you have set big goals like I have!
More Than the Trophy
by Isabelle R. (2nd grade)
Xander from Yellowknife, NT, Canada
When I was 6 years old, I started swimming lessons. My first team was called Highlands Ranch Seahawks and my second swimteam was South Metro Swim Team. In South Metro, I met up with some of my friends from Seahawks! While on both teams, we competed in ‘meets’ which are like a competition. On the day of a meet, you have to make sure you wake up early. On April 3,2010 I got a trophy for 4th place! I also got a Seahawks trophy on August 2nd,2009. My trophies help me remember my achievement and my old teammates. I love swimming and never want to stop.
Practice Makes Perfect!
by Madison S. (2nd grade)
Piano lessons are a great way to learn how to play paino. There are a lot of piano teachers at Aspen Academy. When you take piano with Mrs. Marshall, you go from purple books to red books to blue books to the orange books. As you get into different levels of books, you experience more advanced piano lessons. When you take piano with Mrs. Otchiwa, you use a different set of books. When you take piano with Mrs. Fisher, you get another book series.
credit: Eric Hamilton
It is very convenient to take music lessons right at school. You also have the opportunity to perform in front of the whole school at our Aspen Morning Programs. Remember that practice makes perfect, so make sure you have extra time in your schedule to dedicate to learning a musical instrument! If your child does not play a musical instrument, you might want to sign them up for piano.
Healthcare News: A Mock Medical Center
by Jenny W. (3rd grade)
The Third Grade opened a Medical Center to celebrate their graduation from “Medical School”, a unit on human biology. After weeks of prep, the center was open for just one day. Students treated 2nd, 4th and 6th graders at Aspen Academy. Patients were given a secret symptom card which listed various medical problems. The third grade students staffed a reception desk, collected an insurance copay, acted as doctors and nurses and provided a variety of health magazines for the waiting room.
Using their medical journals, the third graders asked their patients specific questions, narrowing down the diagnosis to one of four ailments: Athlete’s Foot, E-Coli, H1N1, or Chicken Pox. Because some of these illnesses share common symptoms, (fever, itching) students had to request samples from the lab to verify the diagnosis. A patient file was created complete with copay receipt, heart rate, weight, symptoms, lab results, diagnosis and a treatment plan.
I was so nervous about seeing my first patient. Now I want to be a doctor! -Ali L.
This project is a tradition in Third Grade at Aspen Academy, Hopefully you had a chance to visit the Medical Center and were happy with the results….(not the lab results) the experience!
Doggie Database
by Ashlyn N. (3rd grade)
A microchip is a small electronic chip that you can surgically place under the skin of a dog or a cat. If the pet gets lost, the owner can go to the place where the monitoring chip was sold and the employees can help you track your pet with a microchip locater.
When I own my own pet, I will do this. British dog owners are forced to microchip their pets and take out insurance. The chip is the size of a large grain of rice and uses RFI (Radio Frequency Identification) technology. Many other animals can be micro chipped too. In dogs and cats, chips are usually inserted below at the skin at the back of the neck. Berlin and Prague also demand that dog owners chip their pets. Why don’t we do this in the US?
Microchips help in the return of lost pets. Animal shelters and animal control centers can quickly and efficiently return pets to their owners. A pet can be quickly matched to its owner. I wonder if people will ever have micro-chips to keep track of their location?
