Digestive System

So yesterday we learned more about the digestive system and all the organs found within. I bought some yarn and told the kiddos that the average adults small intestine was about 20 feet long. They had to measure it out. When they were done, I had them stretch it across the room. They were shocked to see how large it was and curious on how it fits in our body! It was soooo cool! Love science!

Cloud Fortune Tellers

I almost forgot! We learned about 4 cloud types this week (stratus, cumulonimbus, cirrus, and cumulus). I found this fortune teller (like a game but this one had cloud types) print out that had the cloud types and what weather we can expect when we see these clouds. They LOVED it!! I saw some friends playing with them at lunch :)

Different Types of Precipitation

We have been working on weather this week. The beginning of the week we talked about the different factors that determine the weather (humidity, air pressure, wind speed/direction, and temperature). We also discussed the tools scientists use to measure those factors. 

 

We finished up the week with different forms of precipitation. We learned about hail, sleet, snow, and rain. They loved it! We made some awesome foldables and charts! Here is one we made! I will post more pictures on Monday :) 

Have an awesome weekend!

Love our class charts!

So for most of the lessons we do in science, I always make a chart so they can reference back to it. I love my charts! I make 3 (1 for each class) for every lesson. Here are some of the charts for the water cycle:

Water Cycle Bracelets

We started the weather cycle unit last week and I heard from a friend that she made water cycle bracelets when she was in school and I thought it was super cute, so I decided we would make them! The kids loved it! Before we made them, they had to fill out a sheet explaining what each bead represents. Yellow is the sun (sun heats the water on the land), green represents the Earth (all the water on earth), clear represents evaporation (the sun heats the water on earth and then it evaporates), white is the clouds (water vapor cool, condenses, and then forms a cloud), and then blue is precipitation (when the clouds get too full it rains, hails, snows, or sleets). They had a good time making them :)

It's Boosterthon Time!

It's that time of the year again and Boosterthon is back!! Pledges start tonight!! The fun run will be next Thursday the 30th :)

Water Cycle!

We have started our water cycle, weather, and climate unit. I love this unit!! Today we set up an investigation where we are modeling how water moves through the water cycle. After a few hours, some of the kids noticed that there was condensation forming on the outside of the bag. Did I mention this was day 1 and they could already tell me this?? These kiddos are sooooo smart!!

My Goal!

It has been almost a month!! I am so sorry for not keeping this blog up to date!! I promise I will be better and it is my goal to blog at least once a week. I can't believe the 3rd 9 weeks is almost here! We are starting the water cycle which I am super excited about which means lots of good blogging to come!!

It's been too long!

Sorry it has been so long! We have been super busy with the holidays and learning! We wrapped up our space unit and we are now in our energy unit. We did an experiment of how light travels. The kids had a great time with it!

Earth's Rotation!

So I decided to add this lesson within our space unit because this was a benchmark that they were low in. I took them to the science lab (which by the way, they love! They think its some special room!!) I had a light bulb in the center of the table (the sun) and each friend had an apple (Earth) with a toothpick and a raisin stuck on it. The raisin represented where they were. We turned the lights off and they drew what they observed. They then made half a rotation and drew another observation. They did great!!! They were able to quickly determine that earths rotation causes day and night. Their exit tickets proves this!! So proud :)

Our Journals!

I thought my journals last year were good, but this year they are AWESOME!! Here are some entries we have done lately:

Looking at Planets Individual Characteristics

I know I have said it before, but I love this unit!!!! Last week and the beginning of this week, we were researching common characteristics of the 8 planets. Students were assigned a planet and then had to research it. They then put it on a post it and put it on our class chart. They had such a good time and the chart looks great!!

The Planet's Distance from the Sun

Today, students were given a planet's distance from the sun (to scale) and they had to measure it out on the field outside. It was awesome! They really got a chance to see how far they planets really are :)

Planet Brochure Project!!

This is my favorite unit and my favorite project! Each student needs to complete their brochure at home (items were handed out October 30 in class) and it is due December 13, 2013. Students may select any their own planet (NO EARTH AND NO PLUTO!). Below are some examples of what the final product looked like last year:

Inner and Outer Planets

Scientists have put our planets into 2 categories: Inner and Outer. Students determined that the Inner Planets were Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars since they were closest to the sun. Then we determined that the Outer Planets were Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. We made a model of the solar system (see previous posts). Based off of that model, we were able to conclude that the inner planets were warmer (because close to the sun) and smaller. Therefore, the outer planets are colder and larger.

Helping with order of planets

I read this book today to show students what the order of the planets were relative to the sun. I didn't think they would like it since its kind of a primary book, but they loved it!

Space is out of this world!!

Last week we focused on what galaxies were. This week we turned our focus onto our solar system. Today we looked at the planet sizes and compared them. It was so neat to see their faces when we attached the planets to our chart. This chart also helped us compare the inner and outer planets!

Space

We are starting space and I am so excited!! It's my favorite unit!! he first day, I had the students do a representation of they think the solar system looks like. On the right side we did a KWL chart. Their questions for what they want to know were awesome! We did a really cool journal entry yesterday:

The next day, we cut and pasted some paragraphs. We underlined some key parts. The left side were some questions that we answered after we watched a time lapsed of the sky.

Balanced and Unbalanced Forces

It has been so long!! So sorry......we have been busy learning science!!!! We gave wrapped up our force and motion unit (the year is flying by, but the kids are getting it...they rocked their force and motion test!!).

We wrapped up our force and motion unit by learning about balanced and unbalanced forces. Balanced forces are when 2 forces  of equal strength are acting on an object and it results in no change. Unbalanced forces can be when there is no opposing force or when the 2 forces acting on an object are unequal (think tug of war...one side pulls with more force than the other.)

I had the students draw examples of balanced and unbalanced forces in their journals. They did great!!