Three R's!

Reduce!  Reuse! Recycle!

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen." --John Wooden

The Lunchers were excited! Today they were visiting the Montgomery County Recycling Center. They are ready to learn how to recycle.

What can be recycled? The Lunchers learned that paper,cardboard, plastic, metal cans, and glass are recycled by Montgomery County. Yard waste can also be recycled and turned into mulch.

All number 1,2,3,4,5 and 7 plastics should be put into the blue bins. 

What's doesn't go in? Number 6!

The Recycling Center has many machines. There are shakers and conveyor belts as well as strong magnets. Each machine has a special separating job to do.

 One belt has holes this big! 

Keep the tops on all bottles so the lids do not fall into those holes!

Yes or No? Should we recycle this?

There is free mulch for your yard, too!

Wear green ear plugs and climb the cat walk to check out all the "moving parts" as the materials get sorted and packed.

Unsorted materials arrive by truck and travel conveyor belts to sorting stations. No plastic bags allowed! (Take those back to the grocery store!)

After sorting, materials are separated by groups--plastic, glass or metal.

The plastics are sorted and baled.

Magnets snatch the steel cans right off the belts!

Aluminum cans are sorted and baled.

Front loaders stack all the paper and cardboard.

Recycling trucks  deliver more and more materials. This is a busy place!

Even paper is baled!

All the machines are moving! They are noisy!

It is an amazing production! 

Recycling is important. Many things we use can be saved and reused in different ways. Recycling helps us take care of our Planet Earth. We need to have clean air and water to live healthy lives--and so do all people. After seeing so many things being recycling, we decided we should also work on reducing how much and what we use. We can buy products that use less packaging. We can use both sides of our papers. Montessori celebrates Earth Day every day! What else can you do?

"I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art anybody could ever want."

                                                                                                  --Andy Warhol

Birding with the Owls

The Owls participated in an Audubon program called "Birds of a Feather" on April 6th.

All birds have feathers.

Flight feathers come in all sizes. They are stiff, but hollow.

Birds also have down feathers to help them stay warm.

Birds lay eggs.

Eggs are different sizes and colors. We found a robin egg!

This is a robin's nest. It is made with twigs, grass, mud, and even a piece of plastic bag!

Try to make a nest using only your beak!

Our nest is finished--but it is not as warm and cozy as a robin's. You could call a nest a crib since it is the place where birds care for their eggs and fledglings.

Can you flap your wings like a crow--20 flaps per 10 seconds?

Can you flap like a hummingbird--700 flaps per 10 seconds? That's a challenge!

Can you fly in a flock?  It takes teamwork!

Here is our perch. In the fall birds migrate to find warmer weather and more food. They come back to Bethesda each spring.

Migration Headache! Sometimes habitats are destroyed to build malls, parking garages, and houses. That means not every bird will find a home!

Off to look for new forest homes!

Thanks for teaching us about birds, Audubon!

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn."  --Benjamin Franklin

Water and Friends

Long ago--in December-- the Montessori children purchased backpacks and filled them with colored pencils, crayons, pencil sharpeners, and small notebooks along with a carefully drawn "note" for their rafikis (friends) in Kenya. Our hope was that these backpacks would help our friends attend school regularly.

With the help of Lloydie Zaiser and her organization, KEST, our backpacks were delivered to Nymbani Village in January just as the new school term began.

Mrs. Zaiser visited Montessori to share some pictures of her delivery. While the Kenyan children were very excited to receive new backpacks--and maybe the only backpacks they will ever have--she had to actually teach them to wear it on their backs!

Our rafiki sent thank you notes to us! They practiced their third language--English-- to write to us!

When Mrs. Zaiser visited the PCDA Maasai village school she brought 91 new pairs of shoes for the children.

We were very interested to see the children dressed in their uniforms and wearing their new shoes. Each child kept the box as a treasure chest!

Happy children!

Happy feet!

Look carefully at this picture. Next to school kitchen there is a new cistern as well as new gutters and pipes! The Woods water management project is now providing water for cooking and washing.

Our "Pennies for Water" collected $127.00 for this water management project.

Thank you Montessori Families!

Our seventh grade leaders are teaching us more about the importance of water, especially in African villages.

and asking if we will join them to finish the project by working to raise money to provide a generator, more pipes, and a system of water troughs. We said, "yes!" It fills our buckets to help others!

Montessori is going to collect pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Our jars are ready!

"Let there be joy in our laughter, love in our thoughts, hope in our lives, and peace in our hearts."

Faces and Places

The Lunchers visited The National Gallery of Art for a long anticipated tour of "Faces and Places."

Landscapes allowed them to look at places. 

They looked "west" at Green River Cliffs by Thomas Moran

and found Native Americans traveling home at sunset.

They found Claude Monet's Japanese Bridge!

What lines and shapes did Monet use for his water lilies?

The Impressionists broke the rules! 

They painted outdoors, trying to capture the light and colors of nature.

Sketch books helped the Lunchers record what they saw.

Look!

Look closely!

Can you find color, line and shape?

Meet the Washington Family!

What does the artist teach us about George Washington?

Picasso used shades of blue to show feelings in Le Gourmet.

We can sketch vertical lines like van Gogh!

He used thick lines of paint for the background in Lady in White.

Draw a background and foreground in your sketch book!

Then, add the details.

There is so much to see in a painting!

Use your senses like an artist!

Fall in love with art!

Be an artist yourself!

We say, "Love what you do" in Montessori!

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist when you grow up."

                                                    --Pablo Picasso