More Non Profits

The Alchemists are finishing up their visits to Pierce County non profits with a trip to the Rainbow Center and the Emergency Food Network.
At the Rainbow Center we learned more about the LGBTQ community and how we can be allies. The students learned about how the Rainbow Center provides services to the community through sponsoring Tacoma Pride, providing education and a safe space to LGBTQ people.

At the Emergency Food Network the Alchemists learned how they warehouse and supply food to the food banks throughout the area. By buying in bulk EFN can get food much cheaper and then volunteers bag the food into smaller family size bags. The Alchemists bagged 3,400 pounds of rice! It was hard work but also a lot of fun.

The Alchemists are now completing their action plans for how they will help the non profit of their choice. It will be exciting to see what they are able to accomplish!

Fish Dissection

We had another visit from our favorite Marine Biologist, David Winfrey, so the Alchemists could look at the anatomy of fin fish. We looked at two tilapia and identified the fins, took off some scales and then opened them up to identify the internal organs. Mr. Winfrey also discussed with the students the development of back bones and how that was a major jump in evolution of all animals.

Science Fair

We had a wonderful turn out for the Science Fair and some really interesting projects to share with our visitors. The Alchemists worked hard on their experiments and engineering projects and did a great job of sharing what they had learned with other Seabury students and families.  Some projects included:

Does the color of a cookie influence favorites?

How can you make a better dam for salmon?

Does sound affect adults more than kids?

What is the best cleaner for getting rid of soap scum?

Could Brunelleschi use Tim's Mirror Apparatus to draw his picture of the Baptistery?  

How do different liquids affect teeth?  

Snake Lake

We had a great trip to the Tacoma Nature Center for the Water Sleuths presentation.  The students investigated a model of how rainwater runs into the sound and were able to see that pesticides, waste water, and other pollutants affect it.  

They also tested the water from Snake Lake for nitrates and phosphates, as well as the ph level. 

Students counted the number of animals heard and seen as they walked the half mile to one of the bridges over the lake.

Once they got to the lake, they used secchi disks to check the water clarity of the lake. Ask your child about the secchi disks!

It is a good thing they didn't need to count all of the mosquitoes that swarmed them when they reached the bridge!  They were everywhere!

Once they had gathered all of their data, they were able to deduce that Snake Lake is healthy!  

MAST Center

Continuing their study of Puget Sound the Alchemists went to the Highline Community College Marine Science and Technology Center. They learned a lot about plankton and how these plants and animals fit into the food chain and provide one-third of the oxygen we breath. They then ran a net through the sound and captured plankton to look at through microscopes and identify.

They then walked through the gallery and saw a massive gray whale skeleton and the plastic found in its stomach when it died.

The final stop was the aquariums where they saw many Puget Sound animals and got to touch some of them. Everyone had a favorite but the smiling skate was right up there!

Snow!

Big, fat flakes started flying and the only thing to do was go outside! Yeah, even fifth graders get really excited by snow.

Read Across America

Every year at Seabury we celebrate Read Across America, also known as Dr, Seuss's birthday, by dressing in PJs, reading Dr. Seuss books and having a trivia contest. But this year was extra special because we also honored our long time French teacher, Madame Olliphant, on her retirement. Madame led Gathering, was presented with a scrapbook the students created, and everyone enjoyed cake. Thanks Madame for all your service to Seabury!