New Strandbeests from Theo Jansen

This is what he said:

"New Strandbeests are coming. They are called Bruchus. These don't have hinges in their joints. So sand cannot come in there anymore. Classical (leg)beasts always had trouble with that. The new ones are not able to walk on wind yet, but I am working on it."

What are these ants doing?

Leaf-cutter ants live in Central America, South America, and parts of North America. 

What do they do with the leaves?  They don't eat the leaves:  they are farmers!

They grow fungus on the leaves to eat!

Some summer Art ideas

Listening practice

To practice listening, try these sites:

LearnEnglishKids: Listen and Watch  Songs, stories,  and videos for listening practice

Listening A2

Listening B1

Listening memory games  You have to match the picture on the top with the word (listening) on the bottom. It also helps practice vocabulary!

Listen to fill in the gaps.

Dictations.  These help practice listening and also writing.

Dictations online.  Try Level: Elementary  or Pre-Intermediate (a bit more difficult.)  After you choose the dictation, click on it and just listen the first time. Then when you are ready to start writing, follow the directions on the screen.   

Another dictation site.   This one also has the recordings at two speeds:  for listening first, and for writing.

Our Land Art projects

Here is a presentation with our Land Art projects:

Land art 2016 from Kathleen Marcy

It was a lot of fun!  Some of us had to deal with problems with the weather (wind!), just like real land artists who work in nature.

Some of our weaving projects

We tried weaving on a cardboard loom. Some people found it quite easy, and some found it quite difficult, but  it is a good activity for the summer. 

Here are a few examples:

Our products

Here are a few photos of the products we created:

The world's smallest stop-motion animation character:

The world's smallest stop-motion animation character:





CGI:

Stop-Motion Animation

Here are some fun examples of stop-motion animation:

Journey of a plastic bottle

What happens to the plastic we throw away? Here are three possibilities. 




Did you know that by the year 2050, the plastic in our oceans will outweigh (weigh more than) the fish? Yikes!

But, some people are looking for solutions to the problem.






Or, we could just make art!

13 giant sculptures made from beach waste


Video.

More here.

And this artist, Stuart Haygarth




Another artist, Jane Perkins



If you want to make some recycled art this summer, you can send the photo to bilinguismomiguelhernandez@gmail.com  and I will put it in the blog!

Design your own product!

Now that you have learned about advertising. you are going to design your own product!

It could be a cereal:





a drink:



or something else!

Sample cereal box designs

More

Another weaving video

Here is another video by the same artist. It is longer and has more ideas (and things to avoid.)   ****Remember that word from our last units?  Avoid= try not to do something! So there are some common mistakes you should try to avoid.

Advertising vs. Reality

What we see in ads is not always what we get when we buy the product.

Ecosystems Review PowerPoint

Here is a game to help you review. You must also study your notes and your book.

You can check your answers by clicking on the question mark. To choose a new question, click on "Categories" in the bottom left corner.

Have fun!

Cardboard loom weaving

We have done some weaving with paper. Now we are going to weave with yarn on a cardboard loom!

You need to bring some yarn for Thursday, June 9th.

Possessive pronouns

Remember we learned about possessive adjectives? Now it's time for possessive pronouns. 

Games:

Possessive pronouns and adjectives millionaire game

Stop food waste!

You can watch the video in Spanish here.

More videos here.

Lichen: an interspecific relationship

At GREFA we saw a lichen on a tree. Lichen can only live where the air is clean.




A lichen is an example of an interspecific relationship. It is the association between an algae and a fungus (hongo).  It grows mostly on the north side of the tree, because it likes moisture and does not like a lot of direct sunlight.

The algae is a plant, so it performs photosynthesis and provides nutrients.  The fungus provides shape and structure to the organism. This is beneficial to both, so they have a relationship called "symbiosis."


Here is a video:



 

Here is another example of an interspecific relationship we saw at GREFA: a disease in a tree that is a relationship between bacteria and fungus, that is harmful to the tree. This kind of interspecific relationship is called  "parasitism."

World Environment Day!

Sunday, June 5th is World Environment Day, the United Nations’ most important day
for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment. 

 Above all, WED serves as the ‘people’s day’ for doing something to take care of 

the Earth or become an agent of change. That ‘something’ can be focused locally,

nationally or globally; it can be a solo action or involve a crowd – everyone is free to 

choose.

Each year there is a theme, and this year's theme is "Go Wild for Life!"  

From the official website:

This year’s theme for WED – Go Wild for Life – encourages you to celebrate all 

those species under threat and take action of your own to help safeguard them 

for future generations. This can be about animals or plants that are threatened 

within your local area as well as at the national or global level - many local 

extinctions will eventually add up to a global extinction! Whoever you are, and 

 wherever you live, show zero-tolerance for the illegal trade in wildlife in word

 and deed, and make a difference.

Remember the threatened and endangered species we learned about at GREFA?

They are having an "Open Doors" day (Día de Puertas Abiertas) tomorrow, Saturday June 5th. If you want, you can go with your family to learn more.

Here is the link: GREFA Día de Puertas Abiertas

Land Art

Artists like Andy Goldsworthy make art using materials they find in nature. The art they create is temporary, so they take photographs of it.

Andy Goldsworthy from raulgalvez

Videos from another land artist, Dietmar Voorwald, here.

You are going to create your own Land Art!

--Use only materials found in nature: leaves, sticks, stones, dirt, sand, etc.
--You must create your art in a natural space: a garden, a park, etc.
--After you finish your creation, take a photo of it. You can bring the photo to class in a "pincho" (flash drive) or send it to this email: bilinguismomiguelhernandez@gmail.com  (no diéresis over the u). Don't forget to include your name so I know who sent it!

--If you can't take a digital photo, you can bring a regular photo to class.

--If you don't have a camera, bring your materials to school and you can make your art in the pine tree area of the patio, and I will take a photo.

I must have everyone's photos by Monday, 13th of June.

Have fun!

Fewer or less?

Comparatives II / Fewer and Less from Libardo González