November 1 & 2, 2011 Days 53 & 54
Ecosystem Mad
Lib
*Using Ecosystem Vocabulary words below, write fun Pond
Observation Mad Lib for your Almanac!
Write at least 15 good sentences using the vocabulary and
telling the stories of Summer & fall Pond Observations for all three ponds.
Mad Lib “blanks” should include: pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, nouns, &
verbs!
1. Energy: usually derived from sunlight, but rarely and in
small quantities derived from other sources, this energy then moves through the
ecosystem
2. Abiotic factors: including water, soil minerals, and
atmospheric gases the abiotic environment is made up of many objects and forces
that influence one another
3. biotic factors: including producer organisms, consumer
organisms, and reducer organisms; an organism’s survival and well being depend largely on getting the
food it requires on associates with other living things
4. Producer organisms: usually green plants are capable of
capturing sunlight energy through the process of photosynthesis
5. consumer organisms: include some plants and all animals
in the community
6. reducer organisms: are mainly bacteria and fungi that
decay and decompose the bodies of dead plants and animals
7. Nitrogen: a colorless, odorless, gaseous element that
constitutes about four-fifths of the volume of the atmosphere and is present in
combined form in animal and vegetable tissues,
8. Biome: a complex biotic community
characterized by distinctive plant and animal species and maintained under the
climatic conditions of the region,
9. Rain forest: A tropical forest, usually tall, and densely
growing,
10. Desert: a region
so arid because of little rainfall that it supports only sparse and widely
spaced vegetation or no vegetation at all
11. Coniferous forest: a type of forest characterized by
cone-bearing, needle-leaved trees
12. Tundra: one of the vast, nearly level, treeless plains
of the arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America.
*Using Ecosystem Vocabulary words below, write fun Pond
Observation Mad Lib for your Almanac!
Write at least 15 good sentences using the vocabulary and
telling the stories of Summer & fall Pond Observations for all three ponds.
Mad Lib “blanks” should include: pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, nouns, &
verbs!
*First draft with a few mistakes to fix/ edit
The pond at the farm is a perfect
example for* an ecosystem. The abiotic factors (*def) of the pond at the farm
make it very functional as an ecosystem. An ecosystem is a *system of a biome*
where the food cycle goes on. There are ecosystems all over the world. There
are some located in the tundra, the amazing rain forests, the deserts, and the
coniferous forests (forest filled with pine trees*). Climates and environments
outside *effect the ecosystem as well, such as solar energy. Producer
organisms, consumer organisms, and reducer organisms are mainly involved with
the ecosystem as well. They are the plants and animals associated with the
ecosystem. These organisms combined together are called biotic factors. There
is one more important detail that you need to know to complete an ecosystem,
which is nitrogen. Nitrogen is a gaseous element of an ecosystem that both
abiotic and biotic factors need to survive. *One or two more “fun” sentences
about the farm pond as an ecosystem.
**Second draft with mistakes
fixed & extra added sentences**
The pond at the farm is a perfect
example of an ecosystem. The abiotic factors (including water, soil minerals,
and atmospheric gases such as Nitrogen) of the pond at the farm make it very
functional as an ecosystem. An ecosystem is a biome system where the food cycle
goes on. There are ecosystems all over the world. There are some located in the
tundra, the amazing rain forests, the deserts, and the coniferous forests
(forest filled with pine trees, like the state of Maine). Climates and
environments outside affect the ecosystem as well, such as solar energy.
Producer organisms, consumer organisms, and reducer organisms are mainly
involved with the ecosystem as well. They are the plants and animals associated
with the ecosystem. These organisms combined together are called biotic
factors. There is one more important detail that you need to know to complete
an ecosystem, which is nitrogen. Nitrogen is a gaseous element of an ecosystem
that both abiotic and biotic factors need to survive. The pond ecosystem at the
farm has all of these elements which makes a wonderful food chain and
ecosystem. If something disturbs the ecosystem such as rain, snow, a leaf, or
even a plastic bag, the plants and animals learn to create a new ecosystem with
the new environment. If an animal or plant is taken away from the eco system
the animals remaining in the ecosystem have to adapt and learn to survive in
the new ecosystem. In the winter, when the fish are taken out of the pond, it
disrupts the ecosystem and the plants and animals remaining such as the lily
pads, the frogs, the rocks, and even the algae have to work together to create
a whole new ecosystem. This ecosystem process is same with the ocean, the
desert, and even a flower. If the community in the ecosystem works together
after a disruption, everything in the ecosystem is all right.
**Final Mad Lib! (for almanac)
The pond at the farm is a
_____________example of an ecosystem. The abiotic __________(including
(adjective) (noun
pl.)
water, soil minerals, and
_____________gases such as nitrogen) of the pond at the farm ________it
(adjective) (verb)
very functional as an ecosystem. An ecosystem is a biome ________where the food
cycle________ on.
(noun) (verbs)
There are
ecosystems all over______________. There are some ___________in the tundra, the
amazing
(adjective
+ noun) (verb)
rain forests,
the deserts, and the coniferous forests (forests____________ filled with pine
trees, like the
(adverb)
state of Maine). Climates and environments
outside __________________the ecosystem as well, such
(adverb
+ verb)
as solar energy.
Producer organisms, _______________organisms, and reducer organisms are
________
(adjective) (adverb)
involved with the ecosystem as well.
__________are the plants and animals _______________with the
(Pronoun) (verb)
_______________.
These organisms _____________together are called biotic factors. There is one
more
(noun) (verb)
important
_____________that you need to know to ________________an ecosystem, which is
nitrogen.
(noun) (verb)
Nitrogen is a
gaseous element of an _____________that both abiotic and biotic factors
____________to
(noun) (verb)
survive. The pond
ecosystem at the farm has all of these ________ which makes a
______________food
(noun) (adjective)
a chain an
ecosystem. If something_______________ disturbs the ecosystem such as rain,
snow, a leaf,
(adverb)
or even a
plastic____________, the plants and animals learn to ________a new ecosystem
with the new
(noun) (verb)
environment. If
an animal or plant is taken away from the ______________the animals remaining
in the
(noun)
ecosystem have
to adapt and ____________to survive in the new ecosystem. In the winter, when
the
(verb)
_____________________are
taken out of the pond, it ________________the ecosystem and the plants
(noun) (verb)
and animals
______________such as the lily pads, the frogs, the___________, and even the
algae have
(verb-ing) (noun)
to
_________________together to create a whole new ecosystem. This
________________process is
(verb) (adjective + noun)
same with the
ocean, the desert, and even a flower. If the ________________in the
(noun)
ecosystem______________ works together after a
disruption, everything in the ecosystem is all right.
Reading:
*Sophie will be attending this play that her good friend Emma is acting in this
coming weekend! And she read this novel last year. A classic!
My Accidental Masterpiece: The Phantom
Tollbooth
by Norton Juster
Norton Juster is the author of The Phantom Tollbooth.
"There was once a boy named Milo who
didn't know what to do with himself — not just sometimes but always. When he
was in school he longed to be out, and when he was out he longed to be in ...
Nothing really interested him — least of all the things that should have."
It was, of course, the doldrums — his own
special version of them.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of that
bored child's transformative journey. The Phantom Tollbooth was the
first book I had ever written and my first collaboration with the cartoonist
Jules Feiffer, who provided the marvelous illustrations.
Like most good things that have happened in my
life, The Phantom Tollbooth came about because I was trying to avoid
doing something else. It was 1958, and after three years in the Navy I returned
to New York City to work as an architect. I had also received a grant to do a
book on cities for children. I started with great energy and enthusiasm until I
found myself waist-deep in stacks of 3-by-5 note cards, exhausted and
dispirited. This is not what I wanted to do.
In order to stop thinking about cities, I had
to start thinking about something else.
I had been an odd child: quiet, introverted
and moody. Little was expected from me. Everyone left me alone to wander around
inside my own head. When I grew up I still felt like that puzzled kid —
disconnected, disinterested and confused. There was no rhyme or reason in his
life. My thoughts focused on him, and I began writing about his childhood,
which was really mine.
Coming home from school one day, Milo finds an
unexpected gift: a highway tollbooth, a map and directions to a place called
the Lands Beyond.
So off he goes on his journey of discovery. He
travels to Dictionopolis, the kingdom of words, to Digitopolis, the land of
numbers, escapes from the doldrums, goes astray by jumping to the Island of
Conclusions and at last rescues the two princesses, Rhyme and Reason, from the
Castle in the Air.
Not everyone in the publishing world of the
1960s embraced The Phantom Tollbooth. Many said that it was not a
children's book, the vocabulary was much too difficult, and the ideas were
beyond kids. To top it off, they claimed fantasy was bad for children because
it disorients them.
The prevailing wisdom of the time held that
learning should be more accessible and less discouraging. The aim was that no
child would ever have to confront anything that he or she didn't already know.
But my feeling is that there is no such thing
as a difficult word. There are only words you don't know yet — the kind of
liberating words that Milo encounters on his adventure.
Today's world of texting and tweeting is quite
a different place, but children are still the same as they've always been. They
still get bored and confused, and still struggle to figure out the important
questions of life.
Well, one thing has changed: As many states
eliminate tolls on highways, some children may never encounter a real
tollbooth.
Luckily there are other routes to the Lands
Beyond. And it is possible to seek them, and fun to try.
Math: 2 pages
Guinness book—almost done with workbook
LA Book: 2 pages,
her choice. *this is a great, challenging book and Sophie seems to really like
it & it’s great because she chooses the reading she wants to do and
completes them on her own or we ca work together or with Bo during Farm School.
I really approve of this series:
On Wednesday Sophie did another page in this book about the
Blarney Stone in Ireland. She really likes this book~
Farm School: Almanac
work, crossword puzzle vocabulary (20 words), picture editing
Crossword Vocabulary & Clues: *for Almanac
Expedition
- Lewisand Clarke’s journey.
Tundra - Arcticeco-system surface.
Continental Divide – continent, add,
subtract, multiply...?
Ecology – science of a globe system.
Secretary – occupation: record dates and
events.
Keelboat -
big canoe.
Obtuse – crooked 91 degrees.
Biomes – Nature groups.
Nitrogen – element, fertilizer, gas
Surveyors – They map out land.
Savanna –
Vast surface of grass.
Sagacity – old wise owl trait.
Interpreter – word charade.
Naturalist – one who studies nature.
Auge – extreme hot and cold symptoms,
Goddess of childbirth.
Triangle – 135 degrees, equally divided.
Organisms – Living examples: animal, plant,
fungus.
Inherited –family treasures passED down.
Energy –
sleep + food=
Acute – 89 not an ugly angle
