I’ve been trying to figure our how to upload my own videos here for a while and think I finally figured it all out... So now, I’m so happy to share with you a video I’ve been really excited about. A parent here at New Hope recognized how much our kids are influenced by the music they listen to and wanted to provide new hope students with an outlet to get their dance on to songs that are full of truth. This translated into a hip-hop dance team that became a HUGE hit within its first few months here. I’m so proud of all their hard work and so happy to see these young ladies filling their minds with music worth dancing to...

And now, the latest performance from New Hope’s very own hip-hop dance team:

{Song: High by Lecrae}

As of this week, the all first grade classes have completed their swimming lessons! We had so much fun and it was truly amazing to watch so many children overcome their fears and become more and more confident in the water as the days went by. Here are pictures of 1A from last week...

{I’m so proud of this sweet girl... she wasn’t so comfortable with the water on day 1, but by the end of the week she braved the 12 foot side of the pool!}

{Practicing their form... by the way, we had some incredible coaches! So impressed by their gentle, patient, encouragement.} 

{Fresh out of the pool and happy as could be!}

We’ve been learning about something a little magical in science lately... Surface Tension! This incredible phenomenon enables certain animals to run, even walk on water! First I’d like to you to meet Mr. Basilisk - a lizard that runs so fast that the surface of water is able to support its body weight...

Up next it Mr. Water Strider... an animal designed so uniquely that it’s able to walk - even stand - on water! You won’t believe it until you see it...

After watching these short clips in the classroom and talking about why such an incredible thing is possible, we recorded all our newly acquired knowledge in our science journals. Here are a few...

{love how this person even included the snake from the video in their illustration... attention to detail!}

{this person wrote: A Water Strider can walk on water. Sometimes it runs too. It might have long legs, it might not. It might be brown. Did you know it can fly too?}

{this person wrote: Water Striders can walk on water. Did you know they are less heavy than the water, that’s why they can walk on water. The reason they can walk on water is because there’s a surface tension on the top of the water.}

{this person wrote: Surface tension is a whole lot of particles real dense and they can only hold up things as light as a tissue.}

{this person wrote: The surface tension is like magic. I really like the Jesus Christ Lizard [he] is like a car speeder and a police will probably give him a ticket. About the surface tension - that is magic.}

{And now, I leave you with a highly impressive, albeit accurate, drawing of the Basilisk from a first grader... love it.}

We had a very special guest come to New Hope last week from Lichterman Nature Center . If you haven’t had a chance to go visit and like the outdoors, I certainly recommend it... Memphis is so lucky to have such a wonderful place to explore and learn. Well, instead of taking a field trip to Lichterman last week, Lichterman came to us! The presentation we experienced was called “Poking in the Pond” and we loved every minute... you won’t believe the awesome animals we got  to see and even touch!  

{Mr. Bullfrog... he was definitely the star of the show. Did you know that he can jump over 5 feet!}

{Mr. Red-Eared Slider... check out those claws... and that face in the background. Love it! =) }

{Mr. Beaver... we learned that beavers’ teeth never stop growing so they have to gnaw on wood to keep them from getting to long}

{a turtle shell that was found at Lichterman}

{a preserved beaver paw}

{a preserved beaver tail

How cool is that!? And don’t worry... we thoroughly washed our hands before lunch! ;)

You will never guess what amazing thing we’ve been learning about in science lately! Before I spill the beans, I must remind you that this the first grade. And our science topic is... (drum roll please)....

Matter and Density! 

No kidding. I don’t remember learning about science this advanced until about 3rd grade at least! And you know what, these kiddos have not missed a beat! Just check out their science journals to see for yourself:

Just to catch you up to speed, we started with an experiment using a hard boiled egg, fresh water, and salt water. We found that the egg sank in the fresh water, but when we added salt to the water - making the particles in the liquid more dense - the egg could float. 

{This one says, “We learned that salt water is stronger than fresh water”... that’s one way to put it!}

{This one says, “What happened was the particles were not dense enough, they could not hold the egg. But when the particles were together they could hold it up.”}

{I was told that these dots in the water are the particles - less dense on the left, more dense on the right}

{This one says, “When we put the water it sank. The dense particles were stronger”}

. . .

Believe it not, our learning didn’t stop here! 

We discovered that if any object has particles that are less dense than the liquid it’s in, then it will float. 

If the object has particles that are more dense than the liquid it’s in, then it will sink.

In the process, we totally busted the myth that something sinks because it is heavy and floats because it is light. Up next in science: surface tension and a curious animal that can walk on water! Stay tuned... =)