Calculating Tree Height

A challenge was presented to the class this week, to calculate the height of the trees on the playground to the nearest centimeter safely and using math.  After analyzing the situation on the playground yesterday, eventually the class realized that if they used ratios and proportions they could complete the challenge.

After a day of posed practice problems in the classroom, student groups set out today to find several tree heights.  First, they measured the height of one of their members, as well as the person's shadow.  They then set this ratio up into a proportion against the tree's height (a variable) and the length of the tree's shadow.  Returning to the classroom and using calculators and a team effort, students successfully (we imagine, as it will be hard to actually calculate without climbing) found the heights of the trees.

It was fantastic to see the excitement of everyone as they raced against time as well as the sun coming and going out from behind the clouds.

Inventions!

We have began our journey of inventing something new to help solve a problem for society, both serious problems and recreational ones.  This week we spent three days developing our invention ideas.  Many students surveyed other people on their top three ideas to even further narrow down to the best concept that people "need".  Time was spent doing research on the United States Patent and Trademark website and Google Patents.  The goal here was to have hard evidence that it is a new invention and not something that has already been invented.

All about Rocks

For the past week, the class has been learning about how soils help to purify water and connecting this to the larger concept of the water cycle.  First, students brought in a rock and became very familiar with it.  They recorded observations, created detailed diagrams and more in their science lab book.  The rocks were then put into our rock tumbler.  Tomorrow we get to see how the past 9 days of "weathering" has impacted the rocks.  This moved the class into learning about soils, since they are what is created through weathering.  Students learned the basics behind diatomaceous earth and how its unique properties enable it to stick to tongues.  Incorporating this idea, students planned out a water filter using soils, rocks and organic matter and executed their plan.  Two filters in class it was determined that they had more impermeable soils, as theirs took over the weekend to actually allow the water to permeate through.  Yesterday, the concepts were all connected as students diagramed a high-level water cycle.

Alfie the Rabbit

This week Alfie, a rabbit, will be a guest in our classroom.  To build off of the excitement of having another mammel in the room, our informational text in reading this week will focus on rabbits, hares, and bunnies.  At the end of each day we will journal "as the rabbit" in first person point of view about what was learned in our class that day.  Later this week our science will connect rabbits to our learning on ecosystems, where students will apply what they learned about ecosystems to design the ideal ecosystem for a rabbit.

Next week, we will be once again connecting our reading to what we are learning about in other subjects.  For reading the week of December 10-14th, we will connect our science of weathering our reading.  As we bring in rocks to put into a rock tumbler we will first use our skills are understanding in depth the instructions for using the new tumbler.  Our science book will become the informational text on the topic that we will read for a few other days during the week.  The goal is to build upon our reading skills while applying it to what we are learning about in other subjects. As for the science, students will carefully observe and record observations about their rock they place into the tumbler on a weekly basis until the natural rock becomes a polished stone.

The Declaration of Independence

Recently in class we've been learning about the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary war. Both John Adams and George Washington visited our class and taught about specifics on these topics.

As for science, we will be advancing our concepts on earth science as we actually create our own fossils after Thanksgiving break.

In math, we have moved past exponents and are currently learning about algebraic expressions. Soon, students will be using the foundational algebraic skills to solve various algebraic expressions.

In reading, we will soon change from reading literature and go back to reading informational text. Writing has combined topics from social studies to allow students the opportunity to not just polish up their writing skills, but also reinforce the concepts learned about American history.

The Rock Cycle

This week in science we are reviewing the rock cycle.  Students made sedimentary rock sandwiches, drew diagrams of them in their notebook and labeled youngest and oldest layers.  Next, they combined their group "rock" into one large sedimentary rock.  This was wrapped with plastic wrap (to keep things clean) and then heat and pressure (sitting on the sandwich and a microwave) were applied to make the sedimentary rock into something new...metamorphic rock.  This was then opened and analyzed.  Again, students drew a diagram of this "new" rock.  It is funny, as although every student wanted so much to eat their sedimentary rock, hardly any wanted anything to do with the metamorphic rock.

Dry Ice Lab

To further capitalize on the big day of October 31st, students made their own drink for our Nevada Day party, using both math and science.  After reading about the history of rootbeer and how to make a 5 gallon recipe, students used their math skills to convert the recipe so that we only made 2/3 of it.  Since it was carbonated using dry ice, we saved some and incorporated teh dry ice into a lab before lunch.  Students learned about sublimation (going straight from a solid to gas) and other unique properties of dry ice. 

The rootbeer turned out great, but due to the -103 degree dry ice, which did a fantastic job of carbonating the beverage, it also froze the bottom half of our drink.  This didn't seem to matter to many students, as they soon learned that "slushy rootbeer" tasted great!