Our current science unit is an exploration of the structure and function of the human body.  In this unit we have examined various structures of the body and how their structure is suited to their purpose.  Recently we explored bones, focusing specifically on the bones in our hand.  Using an x-ray image we noticed that our hands are made up of many bones, which allow for a much broader range of movement than if they were made of just a few bones.  To help deepen our understanding of this we did an activity in which students had 30 seconds to put pegs into a peg board.  We recorded the number of pegs each student was able to place and then students had an opportunity to have their thumb and first two fingers taped, simulating what it might be like if our fingers were made of just one bone.  We repeated the peg activity and recorded our data.  We noticed that while individual children were able to place a varying number of pegs in 30 seconds, every child placed fewer pegs when their fingers were taped, because it was much more challenging to pick up the pegs and maneuver them.  We came to the conclusion that their are many things we might not be able to do if our hands weren't made of so many bones and able to bend the way they can.

In conjunction with this and as a follow up to our becoming birds lesson during ECO  we also explored structure and function of bird beaks.  We looked at pictures of a variety of birds noting characteristics of their beaks.  Some were long and pointy, while others were not as pointy and had more of a scoop shape.  We then used various tools to simulate different bird beaks trying to answer the question "Which beak works best for different foods?"  Perhaps the best part was eating the gummy worm at the end!