South O’Brien Elementary School , Primghar, Iowa

Hello Square of Lifers!  For this project we observed an area in our outdoor classroom.  We made two observations.  We read many of your data lists, and we each chose a comparison school.  We completed Venn Diagrams to help identify our similarities and differences.  We researched some unfamiliar animals and plants. We completed Frayer Models on some of the animals, plants, and non-living things.  We then wrote our final reports.  You’ll find them below.  We’re looking forward to reading the final reports.  We hope someone chose us!

Flowerbed #3:  (Three students chose to observe this flowerbed.  Each has his own final report.)

            My school is South O’Brien Elementary.  My school is in Primghar, Iowa, USA.  My school is real fun and there’s lots of stuff to do.  The school I chose is Pequenakonck Elementary.  Their school is in the city of North Salem, New York, USA.  This school has two playgrounds with trees all around.

            The things we had in common are an ant, a spider, and a bush.  We both have these things because we have the same seasons.  We also had some differences.  I had Purple Aster.  It has a lot of purple and violet colors.  I also had Creeping Phlox.  It looks like a lot of vines and a ton of flowers.  They had a snake.  It is a garden snake.  They also had a Burberry bush.  It has red berries and all kinds of colored leaves.

            I learned a lot of things.  I learned about where things live, what they do, and what they are.  Also, I learned to be a scientist and learned how to use an atlas.
 

            My school is South O’Brien Elementary.  My school is in Primghar, Iowa, USA.  We are a third grade TAG class.  The school I chose is Allen Elementary.  Their school is in the city of Strongsville, Ohio, USA.  Some of the people in this town work under Lake Erie.

            The things we had in common are bees, leaves, acorns, wood, glass, rocks, and dirt.  We both have these things because we have the same seasons and we did (this project) in the same season.  We have glass because people litter.  We also had some differences.  I saw Purple Aster.  It has a lot of leaves and some are purple.  It is found on the eastern side of the United States.  I also had Sedum.  It is pinkish.  It blooms in late summer.  It grows up to 2 feet.  They had Queen Anne’s Lace. It is a plant.  If you plant it, it comes back every year.  It grows in the northeast side of the United States.  They also had Slippery Elm.  It is a tree.  It can live up to 200 years and it grows medium sized.

            I learned when I look at plants really close I may see a spider web or insects.  It is fun to study them.  I can find a lot of things.
 

            My school is South O’Brien Elementary.  My school is in Primghar, Iowa, USA.  I am in 3^rd grade.  The school I chose is Pequenakonck Elementary.  Their school is in the city of North Salem, New York.  This class is in fifth grade.

            The things we had in common are ant, dirt, grass, bee, and leaves.  We both have these things because we have the same season.  We also had some differences.  I had Purple Aster.  It’s a plant.  It was purple.  I also had plant bulbs.  It was small.  It helps plants grow.  They had a wasp.  It paralyzes spiders for food.  They also had an Eastern Red Cedar tree.  It lives in the east and it is red and it can grow 40-50 ft. tall.

            I learned about North Salem.

Flowerbed #5:

            My school is South O’Brien Elementary.  My school is in Primghar, Iowa, USA.  My school is pretty small.  It has about 300 kids, an estimate, and that is elementary.  The school I chose is Meadowbrook Elementary.  Their school is in the city of Rapid City, South Dakota, USA. 

            The things we had in common are ants, flies, grass, and weeds.  We both have these things because they have the same seasons like Iowa.  We are so close to each other on the United States map. We also had some differences.  I had a ladybug.  It has spots and is about 1 centimeter long.  I also had Russian Sage.  It is a plant.  It is light purple and stemy.  It lives in wet-dry areas.  They had a caterpillar.  It is wormy and small.  It turns into a butterfly or a moth.  They also had a roly-poly.  It can roll up to a ball.  It lives in wet places.  It is an Arthropod. 

            I learned that two states have a lot in common.  It is very fun to do group projects together.

Center flowerbed:

            My school is South O’Brien Elementary.  My school is in Primghar, Iowa, USA.  We got new swings at my school.  The school I chose is Maud Abrams Elementary.  Their school is in the city of Cape May, New Jersey, USA.  This school has 10-11 classes of each grade level.

            The things we had in common are wood pellets, ant, small spider, grass, weeds, and small rocks.  Our summer temperature is hot and so is theirs.  We both have these things because our seasons are the same at the same time because we are not so far apart in the world.  We both have wood pellets because we either have playgrounds or gardens.  We also had some differences.  I had Creeping Phlox.  It is purple and is 6-12 inches long and 1-3 inches wide.  I also had a statue of a praying girl.  It was in memory of a girl who died in an accident.  They had sand.  They had sand either for a playground or a sandbox.  They also had a nice basketball court.  They had a newer court than us.

            I learned that some schools had more classes than we do.  Not all places have as much snow as we do and some don’t have any!