Science & Social Studies

This week we are concluding our study of matter with a visit from High Touch High Tech! Take a peek at the High Touch website to see a preview of what we’ll do in class on Monday.

 

If you click on the link that says, “Kids Try it During Class” you will get to explore different games and science experiments you could try at home. Be sure to ask an adult before you try any of these fascinating experiments and leave a comment to let me know how they turned out.

Our next topic in Social Studies and Science will be a unit on Landforms.  We will learn about many different types of landforms like: volcanoes, islands, valleys, hills, plateaus, and more.

Click on this image to explore some landform links and games. What types of landforms have you traveled to?

 

More Science Experiments

During the last few weeks we have experimented with three different states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. Which experiment was your favorite and why?

Was it working together to devise a plan in The Melting Race?

Could it be our coffee filter chromatography experiment?

Did you try this one at home with your families? Follow these simple directions and you can recreate our demonstration. http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/black_magic.html 

Maybe you enjoyed the Alka Seltzer experiment or comparing hot and cold liquids. No matter which experience you liked best, the important part would be, what did you learn?

How can you change a solid into a liquid?

How can you change a liquid into a gas?

What state of matter has it’s own shape?

What questions do you still have about matter?

Happy learning, exploring, and investigating Team 21A scientists!

What’s the matter? Science demonstration

In our very short week back from winter vacation, students participated in a science demonstration to mix a solid with a liquid. We used 4 out of our 5 senses to record and observe what we noticed.

First we observed a white chalky tablet. We discovered it was Alka Seltzer.

Next, we observed a clear liquid. We discovered it was plain old tap water.

Third, we dropped the Alka Seltzer tablet into the water and voila, magic!

Students loved looking, listening, touching, and smelling the reaction.

How could you have changed this demonstration? What other solids would dissolve in a liquid?

Build your own Bottle Rocket

Third graders are invited to participate in a Bottle Rocket launch next Thursday, June 20th at 1:30 PM. If you’re interested in building this optional project, please watch the instructional video below. All students will be able to watch rockets launch, your mission is to make the rocket that can launch the highest. Good luck engineers!

Walk to School Day and C.A.S.T.

On a gorgeous Wednesday morning we got the pleasure of walking from Surf Drive Beach to Mullen Hall to start our day. In honor of National Walk to School Day students who normally take buses to school or get dropped off in a car changed routines and walked to school. This day helps promote exercise and decreasing the amount of pollution we create by motorized vehicles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we arrived at school we were greeted by our fabulous eighth grade science student teachers. We made our own circuit boards and learned a lot on our final lesson with C.A.S.T. students from Lawrence.

N.O.A.A. Visits

We were lucky to have a very informative visit from our friends at N.O.A.A. who taught us about Food Chains and Webs. Students got to pretend to be two different types of whales. They learned how difficult it can be just to get a simple meal.

 

You can check out the link to a website that tells you more about N.O.A.A under the Science links on the right hand side of our blog.

Cross Age Student Teaching (C.A.S.T)

Students talking to other students, hand on learning, and science demonstrations all filled the walls of Team 203 last week when Cross Age Student Teachers visited from Lawrence Junior High. Five students taught our third graders about circuits, insulators, and conductors to help culminate a science unit on energy.

Third graders love interacting with older students and got to learn about some interesting science topics.

These junior high students will visit two more times before the year is through. What a great experience

for everyone involved!

Third graders, do you remember your volunteer’s name? Try to remember it for our second visit on Friday. What was the most interesting fact you learned? Think about what you could include in a thank you letter for these volunteers . . .  hint, hint, we’ll be writing thank you letters next week to give to these deserving students!

Energy Swap

This week, students in Team 203 will do many new things for the first time. Everyone will take the M.C.A.S. for the first time on Wednesday and Thursday, all students will prepare for book talks this week, and all third graders will take part in a Grade Three Energy Swap!

Students will travel to four other third grade classrooms where they will learn about different forms of energy. In room 203, we will learn about thermal, or heat energy. Check out the catchy video we watched today to kick off our adventure.

Stay tuned for pictures of our solar mitts and to hear how they worked with a light source!

 

On a separate note, you will notice homework is a lot lighter this week. It’s important for children to get a good night’s sleep and eat a hearty breakfast to help them do his/her best on our M.C.A.S test. Please encourage your child to play outside, read a great book, or practice multiplication facts instead of regular homework this week. Enjoy the break and some extra family time!

Farewell Solar System

As we say goodbye to our Solar System unit, students had fun making constellation tubes to explore the Big Dipper.

Dark Classroom = More Stars

 

An Icy Antarctic Adventure

Hello Team 203 families,

Here is a link to a blog that was forwarded to me by a parent. It is tracking the progress of a team of scientists who will explore Antarctica! I thought you might enjoy following the blog to see what real scientists do on a daily basis and what they will discover!

http://www.auburn.edu/cosam/departments/research/antarctica/2013/blog/set_2/index.htm