We have had a SPECTACULAR science week! The 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade scientists were focused, industrious, and enthusiastic. We learned many new concepts, finished projects, conducted mini-investigations, wrote poetry, played a game, and had insightful discussions.
Third Grade:
The third graders are studying changes to Earth's surface. We identified and compared various landforms, including mountains, hills, valleys, canyons, plains, and plateaus. We described and made colorful diagrams of the main features of the Earth's core, mantle, and crust. The students created diamante poems about landforms. Our diamante poems followed this pattern: noun, 2 verbs, 3 adjectives, a 4 word phrase, and an antonym for the first noun. Some of the students extended this activity by writing a paragraph about a landform on which they'd like to live, and a landform that they would not choose to be their home. We've started to study how the Earth's surface slowly changes through weathering and erosion. We defined and explained the terms weathering and erosion, described and explained the effects of weathering and erosion, and discussed examples of weathering and erosion. Next week we will model erosion.
Fourth Grade:
The fourth graders are studying properties of matter. We explained how physical properties can be used to describe matter, defined matter, mass, density, and volume, and compared objects by their physical properties. We conducted 2 mini-investigations: Using a pan balance to find the mass of a pencil, eraser, scissors, and a marker and describing 5 other physical properties of each object, and using physical properties to sort a box filled with 3 different sizes of rubber bands, straws, pencils, beads, markers and crayons. Each group of students had the same materials to sort, and each group came up with different criteria for sorting the materials: by color, length, type, shape, and function. We discussed many other possibilities: by number, mass, density, and volume. We played a game: PROPERTIES. This game is a science version of "I Spy". One person describes an object by its physical properties; the others guess the name of the object. It is a fun game that you can play at home. We also put finishing touches on our 3-D food web projects. Next week we will conduct an investigation of how physical properties are observed, define conservation of mass, and explore the states of water.
Fifth Grade:
The fifth graders are studying forces and motion. We identified some common forces: gravity and friction, described how varying the strength of a force affects the motion of an object, described how objects of varying mass are each affected by a similar force, and compared and contrasted balanced and unbalanced forces. We will put this knowledge to the test next week as we conduct experiments to determine how forces affect motion, and create examples of balanced and unbalanced forces. We will also study Newton's Laws of Motion.
The 5th graders had a bonus science lesson: The How's and Whys of Personal Hygiene. We watched a power point presentation about the basics of good hygiene, how and why sweat stinks, how deodorant and antiperspirant can prevent smelly sweat, the importance of showering, washing face and hair, brushing teeth, and how bacteria and hormones work together to create body odor. Sometimes people stink...but you don't have to. If you would like a copy of this power point, please email me and I will send it to you.
NEWS:
We are nearing the end of our school year. We have many magnificent science lessons to learn. We will showcase our spectacular science projects at the Lower School Achievement Fair, Wednesday, May 20. Please stop by the Room 8 Spectacular Science Museum during the Achievement Fair!
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