Today we  picked what native American tribe we wanted to learn about. We got a piece of paper that told us info about that tribe. Powhatan, Catawba, Lumbee, and Cherokee are some

Today we went down to the library to learn where the native Americans lived before and where they live now. Heather the librarian gave us a piece of paper that had a map on it. We had to label the names of the tribes and color them in.

Today we did creation myths which are  a native American thing. They are story's about how the world began or how people were made.

Today we had music with liz and played "hot cross buns". And learned about Hernando Cortes and Ferdinand Magellan.            We can't wait to come back on Monday!       

Today we had our first P.E. class with Jason.We started reading a North Carolina Weekly news paper for kids with a very confusing but well challenged crossword puzzle.

Today was the first day back from our luxurious  three week brake. We started to write personal narratives and began learning about North Carolina for books that are in the making. 

Matilda and I went to the North Carolina Zoo in Ashboro . When we were in the giraffe section we saw this one scratching an itch.

This is a photo of the newest baby giraffe Juma . When she was born she was six feet tall and weighed 150 lbs. Her eyes are as big as baseballs ! And her eyelashes are four inches long ! When Matilda saw her eyelashes, she said, " I can't believe her mother lets her wear mascara." 

This is the zoo's welcome sign for Juma. 

This is the first baby gorilla at the NC Zoo  in 28 years. His name is Bomasa. There is another baby gorilla that does not have a name yet. If someone donates  $100,000, they will be able to choose the second gorilla's name. It is 3 weeks younger than  Bomasa. There is one female gorilla who is not getting any attention because she does not have a baby and is left out and pitiful. The baby is not separated from the mother for two years! The Silver Back father gorilla is the father of both babes and when it tries to touch the baby right here in the photo the mom just moves his hand away very slowly, but when he tries to touch the other baby that is not in the photo the mother shows her canines and will fight! We all thought that the baby Bomasa had a heart shaped nose! 

This is an alligator looking at a frog, but he's not interested in eating the frog.  Right now, all cold-blooded animals will not eat anything until April!

This is a male cougar. When he saw me he licked his lips, that freaked me out. 

Next, we went to Washington, NC to the NC Estuarium. http://www.partnershipforthesounds.org/theestuary.aspx  
We took a trip to where the rivers meet the sea, they call it the sound. On the coast of NC, there are seven sounds that meet the sea.  The only other place in the US where this happens is the Chesapeake Bay. This is a stuffed river otter, we could touch and pet it which was very fun. Look  at it's sharp claws! 

 This is a stuffed snow goose. Snow geese are common on the sound. In November and December, the geese migrate from the north to make their home on the North Carolina coast.  Here is a link that discusses  the migrating birds, including the birds of Pea Island. http://www.kadamsphoto.com/nature_recreation/overwintering_birds.ht

This is a Loggerhead turtle shell.  The sea turtles are found in the inshore waters from April through December.  The sea turtles are protected in North Carolina. Some injured turtles are taken to the Karen Beasley Rehabilitation Center. http://www.seaturtlehospital.org

This is a photo of me running in the sprinklers with my sister. We went to Washington, NC on a very rainy day. So, it was crazy that some sprinklers were programed on. We where soaking wet,  and I got sprayed in the face by the sprinklers a lot.

Here is an update on last year's class chicks.  Can you believe that little chick turned into a big rooster? Soon, this rooster along with two others will go live on another farm. I am so sad that they have to go, but according to mom and dad they do. I have cried already because I love them so much. 

We drove to Greensboro to the Guilford Courthouse; a battle site of the Revolutionary War. The Revolutionary War was about this. The people in England had a King.  And, some people thought that the King's rules were unfair; those people were called Patriots or Rebels. And, the people who thought the King's rules were fair were called Loyalist, because they were loyal to the King. So those two sides had a war and the side that killed the most people would either live in the kings rules or would not.  The Patriots won and declared their independence from England.  This is a photo of me and Matilda wearing bonnets from this era.

We passed a Krispy Kreme.  This was not just your ordinary Krispy Kreme, but a donut factory.  We were able to watch the donuts being made before we tried a delicious one of our own.  I bought a powdered donut.

Many Quakers settled in Greensboro when they moved from Pennsylvania.  The Quakers believe in peace and did not fight on either side. During the Revolutionary War, they set up tents as hospitals and nursed the wounded soldiers from both sides. We went to a  Quaker Meeting house that has been meeting since 1754.  On a table outside the Meeting door, we found paper cranes. This reminded me of our class.

This is a funny sign we saw in the Meeting House parking lot.

The Quakers also helped with the Underground Railroad.  They used symbols on quilts as signs for slaves to know they could find help here. This reminded me of the hobo symbols that we worked on this quarter.