Monday, February 25, 2013

New Units Coming Your Way

We are in the middle of the 3rd quarter and I thought it would be nice to update you on where we are in our units.

First graders have just started a new balance and motion unit. We learned about gravity and Sir Isaac Newton. Tell you a cute story... after learning about gravity (what goes up must come down), I was reviewing what we learned about Newton's law of gravity. I asked them who was the great scientist who taught us about gravity and their answer... "You Mrs. Heinrich!!!" Here are some great answers from our latest test. I think you will enjoy them.
The question, what do you have to know about balance in order to balance the crayfish or the arch?
1. it spst to eckwell.
2. it has to be dobm wate.
3. you have to put it in the sentr.
4. you ned to pot the kowntrwats on the sids.

All great answers!!!! Can you figure out what it says?

Second graders are finishing up their unit on Solids and Liquids. We are studying for our test this week that includes our liquid and solid words. We also did some fun lessons on Mr. Snowman. We entitled our lesson, What's the Matter, Mr. Snowman. We watched Mr. Snowman all day long. We took notes and observations as he melted away. We are now watching to see how much he evaporates, showing us that Mr. Snowman is all three states of matter. We also learned about Newtonian fluids through our activities with Oobleck and toothpaste. Our next unit will be a mini unit on Vermicomposting and worms. We received a grant to purchase supplies to create a community garden at Jefferson which helps Stettin learn about worms too.

Third graders are continuing their unit on water. We are finishing the water cycle by learning about ground water and erosion. We will follow up with a unit test. To wrap up the water unit we are learning about how we use water in our lives. We will be creating a water wheel and look at water use. We rely so heavily on water. Our review of the water cycle will conclude with a water wonder party. Our next unit is a mini worm unit to start our vermicomposting activities.

Fourth graders continue to learn about the human body. So far they have learned about bones, joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. We are starting to focus on the nervous system and reaction and stimulus. We are conduction experiments to help us understand muscle memory and how our brain helps us send messages quickly. We will focus on the circulatory and respiratory systems, and digestive systems. We will learn how they all work together to do an important job. We will finish up before spring break, taking us to the solar system unit.

Fifth graders just finished up on their mixtures and solutions unit. The learned about how to separate mixtures and certain solutions. We learned the difference between the two. We also learned about diluting solutions and understanding saturated solutions. We created solutions that also created chemical reactions. We even made polymers and lemonade to connect our thinking and use of our vocabulary. Fifth graders will learn about the six simple machines after their mini vermicomposting unit.

Science is out of this world!!!!