What are we Doing Now?

Recently in science, we finished our dehydration of apples lab.  Students discovered which method of dehydration dried apples the fastest.  They also learned which method they prefer in terms of qualitative data, that of tastiest.  Ask your child which method he/she prefer.

In social studies we are learning about interactions between Native Americans and early explorers/colonists.  It is being connected to literacy, as we are reading the novel The Sign of the Beaver.  This novel brings up many topics that are standards in our social studies curriculum.

In math we have been learning about division, going beyond the simple computation into understanding what division is all about.  It has been challenging for many students, but they are beginning to understand WHAT division is in addition to HOW to divide.

Journeys Outdoor School is just around the corner.  Our class is excited to attend Sept. 25-28th!

Food Preservation

In connecting reading, math, science and writing together, we have been spending the last week reading informational text about food preservation.  Today we read part of a manual about a food dehydrator, and tomorrow we begin our experiment comparing different dehydration methods (solar oven, food dehydrator, and air drying apples).  Math will be connected through science as we weigh the apple slices for each method to the hundredth of a gram before, during, and at the end of each method of experiment.  Tables and graphs will be developed as well as we collect and analyze data.  A brainstorming session took place today regarding their writing topic, where they have to choose which mission to Mars they want to be on and which method of food packaging, as each as advantages and disadvantages.  Writing will officially begin on this topic Thursday.

Science Rocks!

Well, we have begun a new year of science labs.  For the first lab, students honed in their scientific observational skills by recording observations of a small rock.  After adding more observations after class discussions (such as diagrams, measuring the rock in mm, and doing a scaled drawing of it), students then turned their rock in and had to find it among the other 25 rocks.

Another class discussion took place on how science lab books are often used, leading us to understand that other people often use lab books of other scientists (think of Da Vinci's notebooks).  We added more observations, such as measurements in grams (to the hundredth of a gram) using a digital scale, and then the rocks were collected once again.  Finally, students switched notebooks and had to use the other student's observations to find the other child's rock.  This class did it very quickly.  We are off to a great year!

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.