Hiking Upstream

By Ilya (grade 7)

On Friday the 14 of April, Black Butte School set on an adventure. They saw flowers, trees, birds, and beasts. They went through meadows and forests until we were back at school. We experienced nest building, drew our findings, and experienced “storms”.

Our hike began with walking, lots of walking. We talked and looked at many plants. We saw birds and rare flowers, like the Trilium. After a while we came to a stop to play a game. We were to build nests with our “beak” (our fingers taped together) it took us a while and there were lots of sticks being rushed around the clearing. After that we looked at each others' nest. During this time Ace found a real nest!

After that we did a silent hike until lunch. It was very fun to hear the birds and look at plants with no distractions. At lunch we ate and were very loud. Some people were running around and yelling while others ate calmly. I even had water spilled on me.

The hike resumed once everyone was done. we walked for a while talking and having fun. Mr.Sharp showed us some “squirrel cafeterias” where they ate pinecones. When we stopped it was to draw plants. Some people drew stuff along the river while other went farther out.

BBS had an educational trip filled with fun and wondrous sights. We traveled for nearly six hours and at the end we were very tired of learning and walking.

Beard Gone!

Mr. Sharp without a beard!

By Rope (grade 4)

Mr. Sharp shaved his mind blowing beard off! On the 1st day, it was weird and some of the kids thought that Mr. Sharp was someone else with his beard gone. “He look different,” Lily said. On the 2nd day, we were excited about it. “I thought it was cool,” Maddie said. Then we knew it was Mr. Sharp without his beard. On the 3rd day, all of us got used to Mr. Sharp without his beard. We also thought that it was really sharp. And that's what we thought of Mr. Sharp with his mind blowing beard off.

Save the Earth!

By Shane (grade 5)

Earth Day gives us a chance to be aware of protecting our planet. We need our planet to survive. Our planet is special and one of a kind and so are we. We can conserve energy by not using our cars and using electric cars instead. We can recycle and reuse items. We can have more recycle bins than trash bins. We can refuse to use plastic straws, utensils or anything plastic for only one time use. What if we banned these one time use items? Our plants and animals are being killed and destroyed and becoming extinct. We need to replant more trees and protect the animals that are becoming extinct. In my lifetime I want to help save the earth by keeping the forests healthy and not letting mankind destroy it. I want to decrease the cities buildings and create more natural habitats. I want to save the wolfs too!

FULL Solar Eclipse This Summer

By Jo Jo (grade 4)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse

This summer in central Oregon we will experience a full solar eclipse in the morning of August 21 2017. A solar eclipse is when the moon directly crosses in front of the sun and makes it completely dark. Even though the sun is farther and bigger than the moon, the moon can still cover its rays sun because it comes between earth and the sun. The last time a solar eclipse happened in the continental US was 38 years ago.

Did you know that earth is the only planet a solar eclipse can happen on? In central Oregon more than ten thousand people are going to attempt to climb up mount Jefferson to get a full view of the solar eclipse. When the solar eclipse happens it will be as dark as night and you will be able to see stars and constellations. Also there will be a ring of light around the sun that is called a diamond ring. The diamond ring effect is caused when the moon crosses in front of the sun and the sun makes a ring around the moon. This will be a fun and a rare experience for us to be in a full solar eclipse.

https://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/why-eclipses-happen

Amazing Constellations

By Scott (grade 5)

astromax.org

This is the story of amazing constellations. There are stars in constellations and they all have names. In the constellation Orion, the star Betelgeuse in his shoulder. Some of these stars have really cool names, like Andromeda, but some have really boring names like m223.

There are 88 constellations in the sky that is a lot of constellations. An easy way to picture them is to think of a normal map, then put it into the sky and add spaces, then you can picture all the constellations easier. All the constellations have a name like Aquarius, Perseus, and Gemini the twins. There are a lot more than that, but I can’t name them all. The constellations are amazing things, and all cultures have different ways of telling stories about them.

Most ancient cultures believed that constellations are a way of telling stories. It seemed natural to them to find patterns and name them. Most of the famous ones we know got their names from the ancient Greeks.

Winter Enrichment Class: "Make"

By Eniat (grade 6)

Here at Black Butte School one of the winter classes is called "Make." It is dedicated to creating and tinkering, and is pretty awesome. Some of the projects we have done so far are making birdhouses, collage, and a 3D cityscape. The first thing the students made was a picture of Thomas Edison but we didn't know what it was when we started. “I think,” said Conner one of the 8th graders at BBS. Scott says, “it's very fun and interesting.”

For the cityscape and moon sketches we did step by step instructions. Also for the cityscape we were allowed to add more buildings and detail after we finished. For the collage we cut pictures out of magazines, but we had to use at least 3 painted papers we made in art class. Our moon sketches aren't finished yet but they look very cool so far.
One of the things about the moon sketches is that we have to do a lot of shading which is hard. All and all I think "Make" class is awesome and fun with collage, cityscapes, and more.

The Fantastic Yearbook Class

By Rope (grade 5)

Last year's yearbook

Black Butte School is creating a fantastic yearbook this year for the school. In the beginning of the year, we all learned how to use Treering. Treering is a computer program where our school can make a yearbook and the families can buy the yearbook. Next, we learned how to make it and we got assigned themed pages. After we got assigned pages we worked on them and put pictures on the pages. We also had to think of a theme for the whole book. We all voted on which theme to choose. The title is keep calm and sign my yearbook. Last but not least, we get to make our own personal pages. On these pages we can put any school pictures on so we can remember our friends. Those pages will only print in our yearbook. When we finish our yearbook we get to sign other people's yearbook. I can't wait to see our yearbook this year and I hope the rest of the school is too.