Milk, Minecraft, and Money

Moo Moo Farms Visit - A Trip to the Farm

The other week, we visited a dairy farm on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Children had read and researched about milk production and it was interesting for them to see how this happens first hand. The grade two students reported on their experience on ISPP TV.

All of our class wrote personal recounts about our experience. Here is an example.

A Trip to the Dairy Farm

A personal recount by: Anton

Yesterday we went on a field trip. We never ever go on a fieldtrip... but to day today we went on one to Moo Mooo farms! It was so we knew about the milk process. I was so excited I couldn't sit still. It was like I had ants in my pants. I jumped up and down. I couldn't wait. When I entered the bus it felt like my digestion system turned upside down I kept on asking “Are we there yet”. Finally we were there.

It was not a farm... it was a shed! Not like I had a imagined it! It was more gigantic than a elephant . It was blue and Gray, sticking out from  in the middle of nowhere. It was stinky. Stinky, stinky, stinky!

We met a worker whose name was Kenny. He  told us to face  some weird looking cows taking showers! Who would have thought that? He explained us that there were fans that blew on them and that the water cooled them down. They were Holstine cows.

They were eating while showering. They ate grass, rye and hay. They had a funny machine to cut the grass quickly and had grass drying all around the place.

Next we saw the calves. They had funny patterns on their foreheads. One had a heart shape on on it. Later, Mr Kenny showed us a machine. It looked like a metallic spider. It was to milk the cows with. I tried to milk a cow. It felt funny.

Finally we went on the bus again and saw the pasteurisation room where we saw the pasteurisation machine. It heats the milk to kill the bacteria.

Managing Money
In mathematics we consolidated our understanding of money. We enjoyed solving word problems and playing games to aid our learning. 

Minecraft
We have also been enjoying our Minecraft sessions. Our farms are starting to look better and are becoming more diverse as we start to make use of opportunities in the marketplace. 

Unit of Inquiry - Staple Crops Presentations

We confidently presented our research on a staple crop to the class this week. All students spoke...taking turns to share their understanding of a specific important food group. They planned in pairs using a google doc. They could present their findings any way they desired. They presented their work on the projector, wrote notes,  made posters, or used book creator of google slides. Here are some images of children sharing their work...and an example of some group notes.

Here are Co Co and Signes research notes. They used these to help them present their learning to the class.

The Staple Crop we researched was:

Rice

For this task we worked with a buddy. Our pair was:

Coco and Signe

What is a staple crop?

Staple crop is a food that is eaten everyday or every meal. It makes up big part of countries diet.

How is our staple crop grown? (produced) Take notes here.

Fields rice grows in are called paddy fields. You Plant the seeds Rice grow up like grass It turn brown The big machine pick up the rice. It takes the stem and grain and put apart. Machine takes off husk It is washed They dry it Send it to the market You cook it to eat it

Where is it grown?

Most Rice grows in Asia. Most is grown in China

What sort of climate does it need to grow?

Needs to be 20 to 40 degrees It  need a lots of Rain Needs soil hold water

Which countries is it mainly eaten?

Cambodia,China,India,

How is it distributed to other countries?

Put rice in packages then put in the truck, boat and train to go to other places.

Is it made into any other sorts of food? List some.

Spring Rolls wrapper Fried Rice Sushi sticky Rice black rice and Rice noodles Rice crackers Cereal

Happy Birthday

We had three birthdays in class this week! Cake overdose!

Community Development

This week we opened the grade 2 classrooms and children played and reflected on a variety of board games. As we wrap up our unit of inquiry, we will be designing our own board games to reflect our understanding of the challenges and opportunities of food production. Playing the games helped give us ideas about what might work in our own designs.

Writing
We imagined we were seed this week...and wrote some poetry from the seeds perspective. Children published these in google docs.

I am a Seed

Poem By: Dita

It was black inside my home

I was excited to see the light

I grew out of the ground

The wind blew in my face

It rained so hard

that night

I drank the water

I grew bigger and bigger every day

I grew to a little pea pod

Soon they grew bigger

They grew high towards the sky

Then they stopped growing

They fell to the ground

I was a seed

I am a Seed

Poem By: Adam

I am a seed

I am buried in a really dark cave.

I feel something strange

Suddenly I start growing roots under me.

I feel something like it's raining.

Someone was watering on top of my house.

I drink up the water and I grow.

Now I look up in the sky.

The sky whispers

That now I am lemongrass.

I look at my body

I smell sweet and delicious.

I was a seed.

  I am a Seed

By Christopher

I am a seed

It is dark as space

My body is as small as an ant

Soon I stretch out

I grow higher and higher

Till I am a tree

Flowers started to burst

Insects suck nectar

My flowers start fading

Fruit starts growing

My fruit turns red.

I am a apple.