Mrs. Hawley's Class - Second Semester
March 02, 2009
Web page update:
Mrs. Hawley's sixth graders are busy learning about how plants and
animals adapt to the environment. We have learned that different
animals see things differently, and that part of the reason for
this is that light is absorbed or reflected by pigments in the
plant, animal, or object. The eyes of the animal have adapted to
see certain wavelengths of light. Therefore, a bee might see
ultraviolet light being reflected from a flower, but humans cannot
see ultraviolet light.
We are also learning that there are three different kinds of
adaptations that help plants and animals survive. We are learning
about classifying organisms and how some species look like they are
related, but really they are not. On the other hand, some species
that don't resemble each other at all are actually related in some
way. An example is the paper wasp and the fiddler crab. Although
one is an insect and the other is not, both are arthropods, meaning
that they have an exoskeleton, a series of jointed legs, and a body
that is divided in segments.
Social Studies is taking us further and further into the past. We
have begun a unit on India. We are learning that the people of
India developed in a river valley, just like the Egyptians and
Mesopotamians. They learned how to control the yearly flooding of
the Indus river, and built irrigation canals. They also learned to
grow rice, barley, wheat, and cotton. As time went by and the
people interacted with others through trade, a new religion
developed called Hinduism. The Hindu religion has helped to shape
the social structure and even the political structure of the
area.
Our spelling words are getting harder each week. We sent several
spellers from the sixth grade to the county Spelling Bee in
Bridgeport. Loren Haase won second place in the county and Mykayla
Brown won third place in the county. Mykayla also won second place
in the individual rounds. Bradley Flohr won fourth in the
individual rounds and Loren Haase won first in his individual
round. Other spellers at the spelling bee included Rhyia Gibbons,
Chellani Perriot, and Kyle Doty.
We are gearing up to begin our projects for the Federal Junior Duck
Stamp contest. We have taken a prize every year for many years now.
No doubt our sixth graders will do their very best and give the
other contest entrants from the rest of Nebraska some serious
competition. Our sixth graders make us very proud every day, and we
are sure they will continue to do so.
