CRESCENT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Griffin Spalding County School System
Crescent Students Investigate
At Crescent Elementary, students problem solve, think critically, create, reflect and share. Staff, students, parents and community partners work to provide deeper learning experiences so students acquire the ability to apply their knowledge to new situations.
Observation Hive for Honey Bee Project
Crescent school will be receiving an observation hive of honey bees in the Spring of 2016. The hive will be located on the school campus in a protected area for observation. Students in grades K to 5th will learn about the importance of saving the honey bee population. Honey Bees provide our community and world with a food source that is decline due to the use of pesticides. The students will participate in researching honey bees and the need to assist these wonderful insects from disappearing. Students will also have an opportunity to observe a working honey bee hive and learn how to care for the bees, as well as cupped the honey from the hive. We are "Buzzing" with excitement.
KINDERGARTEN
Bee Project-POLLINATOR GARDEN
Our Crescent Nature Explorers will take part in the school wide project-Honey Bees. The explorers will begin by doing research on plants and herbs that will provide a food source for the honey bees. The students will work together on a design for the garden as well as participate in the garden set up. Students will conduct research on what would be the best soil to ensure plentiful and beautiful plants and herbs to attract the honey bees. The students will keep a journal on the progress of the growing garden by writing and drawing the changes noticed in the garden.
UGA-Griffin
Students will work with students at UGA in researching plants and herbs for the pollinator garden.
Southern Crescent Technical College
Students will visit the campus of Southern Crescent and observe the horticultural department to research ideas for building the pollinator garden.
Plant Life Cycle
Kindergarten Explorers will learn about the life cycle of plants when they participate in creating the pollinator garden.
FIRST GRADE
BUTTERFLY RESEARCH
In Spring of 2016 first graders will participate in an ongoing research project being conducted at the University of Georgia Griffin campus. Students will monitor and collect data on the effects of various milkweed on butterflies. This study will be led by UGA grad students. Our students will raise monarch butterflies and tag and release them. They will also tag and identify butterflies that visit the garden and track progress over time. This project is part of current research being collected. The data will be collected and used for true scientific purposes and eventual publication.
Butterflies and Milkweed Plants
Students will tag, release and observe monarch butterflies and study the effect milkweed plants have on the butterfly population.
UGA Griffin Campus
Students from the UGA Campus will lead the research project students will be participating in.
Butterfly Life Cycle
As students raise the butterflies they will observe the various stages of the life cycle of the butterfly.
SECOND GRADE
VEGGIE MATH PROJECT
HYDROPONICS
THIRD GRADE
Third Grade Aborists
In the 2016-2017 school year, the third grade students will research, design, and plant a habitat area for the front of our school. Our beautiful oak trees have to be cut down because of disease and age. The students will study the various regions of Georgia and create a small area representing the trees and plants that grow across the state. Students will consider the aesthetics of their design as well as the needs of the trees and plants they choose and the ability of the Piedmont region to meet these needs. Our partners from the UGA Experiment Station as well as various community members will assist our students on this endeavor.
Water Oaks
Our beautiful Water Oaks have done a wonderful job providing shade and beauty for our school. However, their life span is only around seventy-five years and has reached it's end. The trees will need to be cut down and replaced before they fall.
Representing the different regions
Along with researching and choosing various trees for the front of the school, students will also choose plants and wildflowers that live in each region to complete the ecosystem.
NATURE TRACKERS
Though the use of trail cameras and print boxes, students will gather evidence of the various types of wildlife that lives in the wooded area behind the school. Students will work with various botanists within the community to identify the various types of trees and plants in the woods and create nature trails. Students will design and build bird and bat houses and track the migration of birds throughout our region in conjunction with studies being completed at the Georgia Experiment Station.
Track boxes
Through the use of track boxes, students will identify the animals in the area behind the school.
Footprints tell a story
Through identifying the wildlife in our forest habitat, students will be able to define the ecosystem and its health.
Bird and Bat Houses
Students will design and create bird and bat houses for our wildlife study.
FOURTH GRADE
ADOPT-A-STREAM
Students go to the Ison Branch Tributary once per month and conduct the chemical testing recommended by the University of Georgia extension office. Water and air, temperature, PH, conductivity are the tests currently conducted by the students. Later, the students will test for e coli colonies and microorganisms . Students are also working to create a solution for the health of the stream and present the project to improve the stream quality for wildlife.
Adopt-a-Stream
Students are taking air temperature readings during our stream testing on the Ison Branch Tributary
Adopt-a-Stream
Students are conducting conductivity measurements on the stream water from Ison Branch Tributary.
Adopt-a-Stream
Students are gathering their water samples from Ison Branch Tributary.
METEOROLOGY
FIFTH GRADE
EROSION
Erosion on Our Campus
Fifth grade students at Crescent are studying areas on our campus that are prone to erosion. We have many areas to choose from, but we have decided to focus on an area near our playground that has an existing retaining wall that has not solved all the erosion problems.
Experimenting with Ground Cover
We are planning an experiment using ground cover plants to control erosion. We are visualizing a section with no changes to its structure and three areas that will feature different species of ground cover plants.
Partnership with UGA Griffin Campus
Crescent fifth graders have formed a partnership with UGA Griffin (Go Dawgs!!) to explore different options in our experiment.