Holiday and Half-Way through Fifth Grade Celebrations

We are now officially half-way through 5th grade, exactly! After finishing our addition and subtraction of fractions unit test, we spent the afternoon doing a gift exchange to spread a little holiday cheer. Then we had a celebration at the end of the day with some tasty food and some good 'ol holiday Jeopardy.

Wheat and Worms: Update

Thursday we revisited some science labs that have taken time to progress in order for us to collect data. We analyzed our wheat seeds that were growing in straws without soil, proving soil isn't one of the needed components required for plant growth. Additionally, after 11 weeks (yes, ELEVEN), we opened up our mini-ecosystems that housed the red worms. Many thought they would be dead, however their populations were doing just great. Most had close to the same amount of worms that we put in there on September 19th. Some even had reproduced and included 2-5 more worms. The big lesson of that particular lab was to observe decomposition and decomposers in action.

Adding Electricity

We started hooking up the lamp cord to the lamp base and testing it today, making sure all connections are secure. Through this project, students are understanding better how items such as lamps and light switches work. We will get it all adjusted and then epoxy the base to the antler next. We still need to figure out how to hide all the drill holes in getting the cord through the antler, but that will be in the future, and I'm sure with more lessons attached as well.

\ Today we started to drill the big holes. Pretty scary, as we had to poke out on the sides a few times, but appears to be doing what we want. We could use a starper drill but, but all is going well even with a dull one. Drilling into antler has given us the opportunity to learn about the harder outer part of a bone and the softer inner part of the bone, as we can certainly tell when we are drilling through each.

Fun and Educationally Filled Friday

We continue working each day on our collaborative art project. We have connected three antlers to make one base and even polished up the top with a Dremel. We also started drilling and screwing together part of the second base. We officially wrapped up our guitar coding today and are moving into creating a Dance-Dance Revolution game, which will require a durable dance mat that can officially be danced on and then hooked up to the laptop that carries the code for the game. This will be our final project for awhile with the Makey Makeys. We will move into other computer science tools after the break.

Common Denominators

We spent time on Tuesday in class reinforcing how to find common denominators when looking at two fractions by playing a game. This week's buddies partnered up and challenged each other through a game of chance, strategy, and math. The end goal was being able to find common denominators more efficiently.

Starting our Collaborative Art Project

Our class is attempting to make 2 lamps and shades for the art auction this year. They will be made out of deer antlers that were donated. Monday we discussed as a class the process and looked at a lamp similar to the one we will be making, using it as a model. Tuesday small groups began assembling the antlers that the class selected and organized into the shapes yesterday. Some drilling and some screwing and even a snapped screw! No worries, we got the screw out and drilled the hole larger and made it work. We are on our way!