What do you wonder?

The Rieke Elementary School student have a lot of questions as they explore, interact, and learn about the world around them. When they have a wonder, they can submit it to the Wonder Tree and earn a bud with their name on it. These questions are then added to the Wonder Wall for students to pick and conduct research to try to find an answer to the question. When they return their research sheet, they earn a leaf for the tree.

Let's watch the Wonder Tree bloom and grow!


Wednesday, September 25, 2013

How many space stations are there in the world?
Kindergarten
What are stars made of?
5th grade

Wonder Quest - returned 10/2/13
Guess:  I think they are made of gas
Method of research:  I am going to interview people
Researched answer:  My research told me that stars of made of gas and light
5th grade
Who came up with Halloween?
4th grade
How does a peel stick to an orange?
1st grade

Thursday, September 19, 2013

What my dad is thinking
2nd grade
Who invented the world
2nd grade
How did water come to exist
1st grade
Why does the Earth rotate
5th grade
Why did we put up the wonder tree
3rd grade
How can a baby breath in a mom's belly
1st grade
When everybody dies will the new world be different

How many girls are in the school and how many boys
5th grade
Why do people need casts
5th grade
Why do people cry
5th grade
How many 12s go into 100,000,000,000,001
5th grade
I wonder how long I will live.
4th grade
What I'll get for my birthday
2nd grade
What makes the wheels on a car spin
4th grade
I wonder when I am going to die
2nd grade
I wonder what my mom is thinking
3rd grade

Monday, September 16, 2013

Why don't we have a longer lunch?
5th grade
How does a car start?
2nd grade
Why can people be so rude?
5th grade
Why do trees grow?
5th grade
Who invented school?
5th grade

Wonder Quest - returned 9/29/13
Guess:  I don't know 
Method of research:  online search, google
Researched answer: There are a few different answers but Horace Mann was the one who came up with the idea of organized school.
5th grade
Who invented TV?
2nd grade
How can a dam make electricity?
2nd grade
Why are sunflowers tall?
3rd grade
When will a tree die?
4th grade
How tall will a tree get?
1st grade
When will the tree be happy?
2nd grade
How many planets are there in the galaxy?
3rd grade
I wonder what water is made of.
5th grade
Who invented popcorn?
5th grade
Why do people see colors?
5th grade
I wonder if there is a machine that can destroy the world.
2nd grade
Why do we wonder?
5th grade
Why is the Earth so hot sometimes?
5th grade
Why is the Earth round?
5th grade
Why does a car key start a car?
2nd grade

Wonder Quest - returned 9/29/13
Guess:  I don't know yet but I think from the car key to the engine is a long rod that turns a part of the engine on
Method of research:  online search
Researched answer:  I found out that the car key turns in the ignition and starter relay.  The starter relay is a tiny magnetic switch that collects and electric jolt from the battery when the key is turned.  Then a small gear with teeth interlocks with the car's fly wheel.  The spinning fly wheel turns the crank shaft which turns the engine on.
5th grade
How are pencils made?
4th grade
Why was the Earth made and how did it happen.
5th grade
Is Candyland real?
2nd grade
What is in Jello?
2nd grade
Why is the sky blue?
3rd grade
Why are stems green?
4th grade

Wonder Quest - returned 9/28/13
Guess:  Because nutrients from the Earth are brown and sunlight is yellow and they go through the plant stems.  Brown and yellow = green
Method of research:  online search of an encyclopedia
Researched answer:  Like leaves, plant stems can contain chloroplasts which look like flat green disks under a microscope.  So stems that are green are converting sunlight into energy for the plant.
1st grade
Why does my dog lie near the door?
1st grade
How long does it take for a sapling to grow?
5th grade
I wonder how I was born.
1st grade
How big is a cell?
1st grade

Wonder Quest - returned 9/20/13
Guess:  I don't know 
Method of research:  online search
Researched answer: A red blood cell is so small that you would need 1250 to make a centimeter
1st grade
How many friends do I have at school?
5th grade
How many tree are there in the USA?
1st grade

Wonder Quest - returned 9/20/13
Guess:  1 million
Method of research:  internet
Researched answer:  There are more than 1 billion trees in the US including Hawaii and Alaska
1st grade