Week 10 Blog Post

                                          Week 10 Lab 04/02/25

To start this week off, on Monday I went to the UI School of the Wild. While there, we did three mini lessons, one over prairies, and we learned about the size of a prairie impacts prey/predators, and also how prairies in Iowa have changed since the 1800s. Next, we went to the Coralville Rez to learn about the organisms that live there and how we can use our knowledge on which organisms can survive in polluted water and non-polluted water to determine whether the water was polluted. Lastly, we visited the Iowa Raptor Project where we learned about different types of Raptors and why they are there. One that specifically stuck out to me was Spirit, the bald eagle. She is almost 40 years old and cannot be released because she has a dislocated wing. Overall, it was a great learning experience!

This week was our first week back in lab since Spring Break.  First, we were going to check on our fast plants, but we found out they died. Next, we learned about evolution and how species evolve over time to survive. We also learned about migration and why animals migrate for reasons such as climate, food, predators, etc. We reviewed a little bit for our exam tomorrow as well. Lastly we did an activity where we preyed on beans using spoons, forks, and popsicle sticks to see which was the most effective method. 

What we learned this week in lab was a lot of prior knowledge for me as I remember learning about these topics in elementary school, but it was a good refresher as this is knowledge I need to know and feel confident in as a future teacher. 

I can use what we learned this week in my future career as an elementary teacher as I will teach my students about how species evolve and why. Why migration happens and relationships between predators and prey. The bean activity we did will definitely be one I use in my future classroom as it was very insightful, fun, and engaging. 

Comments

  1. Morgan Crisman2 April 2025 at 17:37

    Hi Makenna,
    I really enjoyed reading your blog! I like how you said that you would use the activity we did in lab in your future class. I said something similar because I thought this activity would be very educational and fun for elementary students. Thanks for your post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Taylor3 April 2025 at 06:41

    Hi Makenna! I agree this activity would be great to bring into your future teaching since it is so engaging. hands-on activities are very intriguing and fun for students. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Macy Engelmann3 April 2025 at 13:26

    Hi Makenna, I also went to the School of the Wild this week! I had a great time being outside and in a new learning environment. I think it is important that students are able to be outside and do hands on activities in their learning.

    ReplyDelete

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