Over the past two weeks, 4th graders have been coming to CLIC to learn about animal adaptations,food chains, and food webs. In this lab, we first discuss the many adaptations of the owl that help them hunt and survive.  One of these adaptations is the owl's ability to eat small animals whole.  The gizzard and glandular stomach of the owl processes the meat of the prey and then compresses the fur and bones into the pellet.  After 6 to ten hours, the pellet is extracted through the owl's mouth.  

Dissecting barn owl pellets is an action packed way to see a real life food chain revealed right before your eyes.  4th graders are slightly apprehensive at first, but once they realize it is the coolest thing to find skulls, ribs, hips, and everything in between they love this lab.

 Students first carefully pull apart the pellet to separate the fur from the bones.  Students begin realizing that some of the pellets have many skulls of different sizes in them. Did the owl eat a nest of baby mice or caught a bird nesting in the barn?  Some pellets have just one big skeleton or a bird skeleton. Excitement builds as students go up to the microscope to identify their rodents by their teeth.  Is it a mouse, a shrew, a rat, a mole?  What color fur does it have?  This is such a great lab for the children to naturally discover what their owl ate in that one day.  It is also a great way to introduce the role of the biologist.  Students love the microscopes and use the same method as biologists to learn about the eating habits of owls. 

Some students say the owl pellet lab is the best thing ever.  Some had to power though getting used to the idea they were picking through dead animals.  Over all, 4th graders enjoyed coming up with their own hypothesis of what their owl ate.  No two pellets are alike so it is really interesting to see all of the reconstructed skeletons on the final day. The lab is a great experience in real life science! 

CLIC Art Club has been busy working within a two month exploration of drawing portraits.  We just started our final project of portraits on canvas. Students began with learning how to draw the mathematical proportions of the face.  Did you know that everyone has the same proportions?  For instance, if you take a measurement of the width of your eye, your head is 5 eyes wide.  Your mouth lines up with the center of your pupils. If you draw a line dividing your head in half horizontally, your eyes lie on that line.  It is strange for children to begin this realistic method of drawing, but once they get it, their portraits are unbelievably great.  Art club has become an art academy since the level of dedication that the children have become a remarkable group of artists.  

I like to start with portraiture since it is most rewarding for children to be able to draw people, and it can be frustrating.  When students learn the mathematics behind drawing, it makes sense.  The best thing is if you can recreate a photo of a person, you can pretty much draw anything.  It is all about seeing shapes, lines, and repeating pattern.  Art is all about dissecting what you are seeing into a systematic method of recording information.  It takes critical thinking and is demanding, but I am amazed at the dedication of the students.  They truly want to get better, and it shows.  I love the two art club days.  Every week, we wish the class would not end, because it is just that great. 

Thank you for your donations to CLIC!  Your donations make it possible for the children to experience painting with real art materials like acrylics on stretched canvas.  They love it!

STEAM Club ( Science, Technology, Engineering,Art ,and Math Club) meets on Monday and Tuesday mornings 8:00-8:40 am.  We have over 50 children enrolled and it is actively engaging children in engineering and problem solving.  This club is all about figuring things out without any adult intervention. Students love the diversity of the weekly challenges, and there is something for everyone.  We have been focusing on Bio-inspiration over the past few projects.  

The challenge that we will be testing this week is body armor shirts inspired by animal defenses.  We talked about the many ways animals and plants defend themselves with shells, quills, plates, etc. Students then had to create a protective garment for Angelina, a roller derby player who needed a garment to protect her stomach.  Using limited materials, inspiration from nature, and a whole lot imagination students have been designing body armor for their client.  This week we will be dropping weights on the shirts (with floral foam in the stomach area inside the shirt) to see how well the shirts protect from impact.  Students will get to see how the foam dents on impact, and then get a chance to retest and redesign their technologies.  Teams will also show how they used animal defenses to keep people from even wanting to bump into the shirt.  

The challenge before this was all about being inspired by Bio-Luminescence.  We learned how animals chemically create light to mate, communicate, attract and defend.  Students then had to create a LED- embedded flag for a spy to communicate with.  The project was truly challenging because students had to turn the LED on and off from at least two feet from the flag.  Many of the students had never even worked with LED's and batteries but they powered through and figured it out. This was definitely an engineering feat, but as usual, the kids came up with many ingenious solutions! 

I love that the children have really embraced good design practices.  They have learned how to build things to last for Testing Day.  Testing Day is exciting because they get to see their technologies ut to the test.  They really  love the design, test, redesign, and retest part of engineering.  

CLIC morning and after school clubs and classes are continuing into November. You must send in a permission form before your child participates. 

MORNING CLIC this week:
Monday (8:00-8:40 am)- STEAM Club- Bio-inspired Body Armor Lab-Beginning
Tuesday (8:00-8:40 am)-STEAM Club- Bio-inspired Body Armor Lab-Finishing and Testing
Wednesday (8:00-8:40 am)- Chess Club (Drop in, no permission form needed)
Thursday  (8:00-8:40 am)-Art Club- Portraiture Painting on Canvas-Day 1
Friday  (8:00-8:40 am)-Art Club-Portraiture Painting on Canvas-Day 2

AFTER SCHOOL CLIC this week:
PPP Club (Proctor Planet Protectors) -Wednesday, November 4, 3:00-4:15 PM
 We will be building a Crayola marker sculpture illustrating how we will be involved in a "marker to fuel" project this year.  It should be fun! 

Fun Thursdays- 3:00-4:00 PM.
Limit 30 children. Fun Thursdays will be an hour of free time creating. Students can come work on classroom projects or create their own projects. Students must send in  a permission note to stay after school.

CLIC During the School Day!
4th graders are coming to CLIC for science learning about animal adaptations.  We are learning about owls and dissecting owl pellets to learn about food chains and animal adaptations.  Students will also learn to use microscopes to identify bones and contents of the owl pellets. We are also creating food chain tubes.

6th graders in Science came to CLIC this week for chemistry building three dimensional atom models. Students in Social Studies came to CLIC as part of their unit on Russian culture. We created Faberge Imperial eggs and learning about the Russian cultural significance, the politics, and the beauty of the 50 eggs.

​Your Support is Needed!
Thank you for your donations in October.  We have been able to raise $4,600. Only $10,000 to go!  CLIC needs your support, your donation is tax deductible, and you can donate any time of year. CLIC Program is unique in that it is funded partially by public dollars and private dollars.  Every drop of paint and roll of tape is funded through private donations. I must fund raise for every dollar spent in CLIC so please consider donating to this innovative program.  All CLIC classes and clubs as well as all of the classroom integration projects during the school day are funded through you and the community's donations. Help keep CLIC Program open to all and free of charge. EVERY DONATION HELPS!

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.  Are you cleaning out your craft drawer or basement?  CLIC loves odd materials and craft supplies!

Contact me any time. Thanks, Jen LaRussa at jlarussa@topsfieldps.org.