Science Fair

We are participating in the 2nd Annual Waterleaf Science Fair!! Each 5th grade must a project by May 24th. Information was handed out Friday, April 19. Students should have already come up with their question (must be testable) and have completed their hypothesis (after some research :)). I am excited to see all of them!! On another note, this will be taken for a grade! I don't mind if students come in early or want to take working lunches to work on their projects.

They do listen!!!

So I was taking pictures of our plants this morning and one of my students, Alex, made an EXCELLENT observation. He said, look they are growing towards the light!! (We did a science camp lesson where I discussed how plants react to stimuli...and grow towards light...one of our benchmarks). I said, "Wow....you guys do listen to what I say!" Sometimes I think they aren't listening and he told me he always does, even if it seems he doesn't. It was a proud moment!!!

I changed the direction....at 8:10...and we will look at it later to see if Alex's prediction is right!

Which plant will grow the tallest in 10 days, bean, green bean, or tomato?

We started an experiment last week. As a class, we came up with a testable question, wrote the materials and procedures down. We then set-up our experiment where each friend at each table could select either a green bean, pea, or tomato seed. We decided how much water and how often we watered it. We also created a data table where we record the daily growth. I think when we are done and have made our conclusion, we will make a line graph to show the growth over 10 days (continuous data...data we measure....use line graph to represent....one of our math benchmarks...lol).

The students are in charge of their plant; they water it and record it's growth without prompting. They have been doing so well!! They come in each morning and measure it and record the data. Here are some of our plants after 6 days:

Natalie's data table :)

Science Fun

We have been testing for the past 2 weeks and it has been exhausting!! I can say, that our kids worked so hard!! I couldn't be more proud!

To pass time and have some fun, we did science experiments. Here is one of the science projects we did. I found it on Steve Spangler's website. I had the kids make a shape out of pipe cleaners, they then tied it to a string and tied the string to a Popsicle stick. They filled a cup with about 1/4 cup of borax. I boiled water and poured it in their cup for them. They stirred it to speed up the dissolving process. We added some food coloring and then placed their shape into the cup and made sure the Popsicle stick stayed on top. We left it alone for about a day. Squeeze the cup gently to break up the crystals a little. This is what we got:

Halfway done!

So we have finished FCAT for reading and science!! They worked so hard, we could not be more proud!!! We still have math next week...so lets keep up the good work!!

Science

Today after FCAT, we planted some pea seeds, green beans, and tomato seeds. We cam up with a testable question, a plan, and a hypothesis. I let them create their own data tables and they did so awesome!! So proud of the scientists they have become!

FCAT 2013

FCAT starts Monday and will end for our 5th graders next Thursday! We will take the reading Monday and Tuesday, Science- Wednesday and Thursday, and then the math will be all next week (my homeroom will go a different day than Ms. Kirton's because we are doing the math on the computer).

Please make sure they are here for the next 2 weeks!! If they need to get dropped off early, I get to school early and I will be there. Please make sure they get a good night's rest and a good breakfast.

I know our students will do AWESOME!!! They have worked so hard this year :)

Superhero Day!!

Today was superhero day! I was the protector of Pi! It was fun. Tomorrow is bad hair day...we will see what that brings!!

Weathering and Erosion

Sooo...our students have been struggling with the concept of weathering and erosion. We did this last year and a couple of times at the beginning of the year. Per our schedule, we are revisiting this benchmark now. I selected an exploration where the students would make a model of a hill. For the hill, they used a sand and soil mixture. They placed it on one side of a pan. Students then placed a math underneath one side of the pan To prop it up. They poured water into a cup that yet had poked 3 holes in the bottom. This represented the rain. After they made it rain, they made their observations. This was repeated twice. After that, they re-built their hill and added vegetation (used mulch and grass...my husband was not happy I pulled grass from our front yard...lol). They made it rain twice and recorded their observations.

They loved it! There was some really good discussion going on! Must have worked because I have them an exit ticket (I use questions from the FCAT Item Specs) the next day on weathering and erosion....and most of them got it right!!

It's been awhile.....

Sorry I haven't blogged in a few, we had spring break and then this short week! I hope everyone had a nice break! Can you believe we have 43 days left??? It's hard to believe.

Few things--we are doing a reading/math camp next week to review for FCAT! It will be fun! Make sure our students are there :)