Capitol tour

Getting in place for our photo on the Grand Staircase with Senator Clark Jolley, Representative Lewis Moore, and Representative Marian Cooksey.

The Supreme Court

The Criminal Court of Appeals

The five world class ballerinas from Oklahoma

A mural to honor those Oklahomans in the oil and gas industry.

We enjoyed a delightful tour of the Oklahoma State Capitol today. Our docent was Mr. Don Kennedy. He filled our minds with fact after fact about our Capitol. For instance, there are 650 rooms in the Capitol with over 1100 individuals employed there. The statue atop the dome called "The Guardian" is approximately 621 feet above the ground and the original Oklahoma constitution displayed in the Capitol has more words than any other state constitution in America. We enjoyed seeing all the wonderful art, especially the murals depicting elements of Oklahoma history.

We also sat in the House and the Senate, the Supreme Court and the Criminal Court of Appeals. The marble columns in the Supreme Court each weigh 6000 pounds and were erected in 1917. Each of the above mentioned rooms have beautifully carved features and rich wood trim.

At the conclusion of our tour, we had our photo taken on the grand staircase with Senator Clark Jolley, Representative Lewis Moore, and Representative Marian Cooksey. Each student will receive a copy of the photo as a memento of our Capitol visit.

Mavelous Covered Wagon Models

This week was "testing week" and we worked very hard. However, each afternoon after testing, we had "wagon time" which means partners worked on the construction of a covered wagon. Our class researched covered wagons to learn how they were made, animals used to pull them, and the items normally put in the wagon. We saw that the families had VERY difficult choices to make when it came to deciding upon the most important and treasured items for their wagon. We haven't quite finished, but we couldn't wait to show you what we have completed thus far! Hopefully, we will have them on display in the hallways next week.

Science with Second Grade

Today we invited Mrs. Easterly's second grade class to join us as we did an experiment involving items that decompose in a landfill. We paired up one or two second graders with two fourth graders for our lab work. Our materials included: plastic cups, plastic balls, water, shredded newspaper, popcorn, starch packing pellets and foam packing pellets. We discussed what a landfill was and how things decompose. Then each group wrote a hypothesis and tested the materials individually. First we packed the newspaper around the ball in cup and filled it with water. We observed for three minutes and recorded our observations. These same steps were done for the popcorn, starch pellets and foam packing pellets. The shredded paper remained unchanged as did the foam pellets. The popcorn got mushy and the starch pellets REALLY altered in appearance. They nearly dissolved. We concluded that the starch pellets would decompose very well in a landfill. The popcorn didn't dissolve, but it wouldn't be harmful to the environment and would eventually decompose. The newspaper and the foam pellets were the "least friendly" toward the environment.

We concluded that we should use starch pellets when shipping anything and we should ask companies to consider using them also to help the environment. Great job second and fourth graders!