5th - 6th Grade Combo-Class 2011-2012

Fantastic news!  I will have the pleasure of combining elements of 5th and 6th grade into an immense learning experience for students next school year.  This is so very exciting. 

The following are the recommended supplies for students in my class next year:
-1-2 black dry erase markers
-box of Kleenex
-bottle of glue
-1 box of colored pencils
-1 three-ring binder (1 1/2 inch wide)
-at least 8 tabs
-red correcting pen
-pencils
-at least a 4 GB USB drive
-one package of lined paper (please don't open it)
-1 GREAT attitude and an excitement to learn

Items not needed, which the classroom has plenty of include: scissors, markers, crayons.  Also, please don't bring a pencil box for your desk, as they simply don't fit.

Thank you and I look forward to meeting everyone next fall!

The Milky Way Galaxy

In beginning to wrap up space science for the year, today we advanced into looking at the galaxy that we live in.  Students built a model of the Milky Way Galaxy using paper and analyzed it from two perspectives.  With some coaching, students began to understand how we use such a model to see our solar system's place within our galaxy.

Our space science unit will conclude next Wednesday with a field experience at the Planetarium (combined with the Keck Museum and Seismology Lab).  We will learn how our galaxy fits into the larger picture of the universe.

Volume

For the past few weeks we have been diving into understanding what volume is all about in math.  After learning how to calculate volume for rectangular prisms, triangular prisms, and three dimensional parallelograms, students advanced to cylinders.  This is where our celebration of Pi Day came in.  We reviewed the concepts learned during Pi Day and applied them to calculating the area of a circle (pi times radius squared).  The only new concept was then multiplying this by the cylinder's height. 

After learning the formula and trying it out on a few written examples, students were given the challenge of calculating the volume of an empty can of soup (in cm).  After they applied the math, they filled the can with water and then measured it in a graduated cylinder, all in the hopes of truly understanding volume at a deeper mathematical level.

Nature Club- Written by a student

After school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, part of fifth and sixth graders went to Nature Club. Nature Club is where you learn about wildlife. Some of the activities we did are made duck, crow, deer and owl calls. We also made elk prints. First thing we did was wet the sand on the playground. Next, we put an elk foot print in the sand. Then we put a paper ring around the track and poured plaster inside the paper ring. Last, we let the plaster dry overnight. The next day they looked so cool! Nature Club was very fun and I hope this club is available next year.

Annular Solar Eclipse

After learning about eclipses, both solar and lunar, students were given a pair of solar glasses to borrow of the weekend to view the annular solar eclipse.  This is what they had to say upon returning to class on Monday:

-"The solar eclipse looked like a crescent sun. It was so awesome."- Collin
-"I really enjoyed the solar eclipse. It gives you a chance to see what happens when the sun and the moon align."- Jakob
-"What I enjoyed about the eclipse was when I started seeing the glowing ring around the moon."-unknown
-"I learned that an annular eclipse doesn't happen a lot." -Mason
-"It was cool how it happens. I liked getting to see the ring of fire!"- Unknown
-"When the moon covered 90% of the sun, it didn't effect it. It looked like a normal day."- RJ
-"It looked like a black spot with a ring around it."-Brisa
-"It looked like you were in space looking at the sun"- Keziah
-"Until now, I didn't know there were three types of solar eclipses: annular, total, and partial." -Claire
-"At the end of the eclipse, it looked like a mouse ate a little bit of the sun!"- Regan

Jessie Beck Nature Club

The Jessie Beck Nature Club began yesterday and was filled with eager 5th and 6th grade students.  With the goal of connecting children to nature while having fun with the natural sciences, the first session involved students putting together game call kits.  In all, four calls were made: deer, duck, crow, and owl.