A Date With Animalia

All hyped up, excited, and ready to go, all in the group are on to the first part of each of our dates!

Similar to how it feels when one finds out who his/her date is going to be is how we felt when the assignment was revealed to us. We were each introduced to our date - animals. So, of course, excitedly, as one would be to find out more information about the 'date', we began to find out more about the assigned animal. What did he look like (structure), what did she like to eat (nutrition), and much more!. we each wrote down the most interesting facts and questions about the date and cooked up a quiz of good quality date journals or hand-outs for each of our fellow Almaciga love bugs. Afterward, we had to share our secrets in front of 18 trusted school friends.  


WHAT A NOVEL WAY TO BE EXPOSED TO THESE DIVERSE FORMS OF LIFE! Challenging as any date may seem, we still strove hard and gave our 100% not only for the first good impression (high grades) but to inspire and make our friends learn new, deep and interesting things about our animal dates.

Now on to each of our experiences. 


Toni's Date: Archean (the Atenean). Don't know what it is? Most of us did not know as well...until Toni shared about it to us with her heart's desire. We learned various of things like they are single-celled organisms divided into four phyla. Did you know that Archeans may be the only organisms that can live in extreme places! 


Caitlin's Date: The Sponge. Could he be related to Spongebob Squarepants? Caitlin quickly clarified as she reported that sponges help maintain the cleanliness of the sea and oceans. Wow now that's a clean date. 


Gabbie's Date: Mr Flat Top or Platyhelminthes. She talked about flat worms with the whole class. The class now knows that not all flat worms are parasitic and harmful. Now we don't have to treat Mr Flat Top with disgust, but maybe start admiring him because he helps the environment. 


Marielle's Date: Fishy-Wishy. The highlight of her presentation was that there are 3 groups of fish. It was a long one but packed with interesting things. Now we can tell that her date lasted REALLY long. Lastly, 


James Date: A Crawler or those round wormies. He shared his gathered information about the round worms with the class. We learned that these are always needed in the environment...and even in your garden!

All of us “Super Duper Junior Scientists” had a similar way of preparing for our dates a.k.a projects. First, we dug up facts about the date and researched on each of our topics. We then looked for detailed information about our assigned organisms to the best we could (including checking google and youtube on secret info). As soon as we each had enough information, we started making a Diary or a handout. All of us tried to summarize what was in the handout and publish it into a best seller DVD. After, we started choosing a few topics to make into a love match quiz. Lastly, after we finished all requirements we needed to do for each of our reports, we all did some re-touches to look our best before sending our photos, diaries, and DVDs to the Love Guru!

Since some of our dates did not have as much available info, some of us had problems which sometimes tormented the mind. For the most of the group, fortunately they did not encounter any problem or difficulty preparing. Maybe you are wondering why? Well, it's simple. They got a head start and prepared the CEO (Crush Experience Output), so naturally, they finished early without those pesky stomach butterflies. As for Gabbie, she faced a couple of hiccups. And she knew she needed solutions...fast. One problem she dealt with was the re-formatting her file, which she eventually fixed.

Along the way, and kidding aside now, the SDJS's learned lessons and values that would definitely help each of them face the more serious problems and challenges in life. Being organized is one very important factor to accomplish projects, homeworks, and many more requirements of school. But this will not only help in situations of school, but also, even more importantly, in our daily lives. When we are organized, we do not easily panic in the face of problems, instead, we are ready and calm so we are able to analyze the problem and think of the best solutions. Another lesson we learned was not to forget important matters. Each should carefully think if anything is missing in any situation. For students of all ages, or even working adults, “cramming” is something that should always be avoided. Cramming will lead a person to rush and submit a project of bad quality- both in appearance and content. 

This CEO is not plainly about making a report, sharing it to the class, and getting a grade. It is a memorable and fun learning experience where the researcher gets the opportunity to discover the many wonders and inner secrets of God's creation.

Stay tuned for more scoops on our dates!