St. Patrick's Day

Staying true to tradition, our class capitalized on the celebration of St. Patrick's Day to connect it to our learning. The past few days we read informational text about the Irish Potato Famine of the 1800s, and how it brought the first wave of poor emigrants to the USA. Perhaps without the famine, we may not be dressed in green today! Students selected the top 6 events from the seven page article to create a cartoon strip. Math and science involved calculating the percent of a potato that is the pulp, after it is peeled. Our class determined that 87.1% of a Russet potato from Idaho is the pulp. This afternoon we will use science to turn copper pennies to gold! Actually, we will learn about alloys and create a brass penny that looks gold.

Pre Pi Day Celebration

With March 14th occurring on a Saturday this year, the 5th graders at Jessie Beck celebrated the day one day early. Beginning with a story book which relates characters to the geometric terms of diameter, radius, and circumference, students now how something to help them remember the differences between the three. We moved on to reading a short paper on the history of the number pi. Measuring circumference and the diameter of pies, they realized that the circumference in about 3 times that of the diameter. In fact, compiling all of our class data, we realized it is quite close to 3.14 times the diameter. Once we realized this, we could then use pi in formulas to calculate circumference and area of circles. The goal here is not to be 100% proficient, but instead to instill in each student that pi relates to circles and that it is 3.14. We then, of course, ate some pie. Next, in PE we worked off the calories of the pie! The day concluded with a optional pi memorization challenge. Each student was given the first 500 digits of pi on Monday. All four classes met outside to cheer on each participant who recited as many digits of pi as they could. This year, we had the all time record at our school of pi broken, by Alyssa, who recited the first 208 digits. Grace from our room placed fourth with 53 digits.

Sun Dials and Bridges

We have been focusing on observing shadows in science lately. Each week we are measuring our shadow and observing how the length is changing. Eventually, we will plot this on a line graph and predict how long it will be after spring break. Today we used chalk to draw our shadow 4 times throughout the day. Many students believed the shadow would only get smaller, not necessarily change direction. The activity takes us right into building a sun dial next week. Our last College of Engineering lab took place today, led by a UNR student. The focus was on different types of bridges, with the lab directed on building a suspension bridge.

pH of Water Treatment

As part of our ongoing collaborative efforts between our classroom and the UNR College of Engineering, our second lab taught by a UNR student occurred today. Focusing on environmental engineering, the lab taught the basics of how our drinking water is cleaned. Students then applied one concept by testing water's pH and trying to get it neutral. This occurred by balancing out a basic solution with more acid. Not to worry, the acid was vinegar. In the end, teams of scientists had to identify the acid, base, and neutral water from 3 different cups.

Kids Court

Kids Court was a success. Ten students practiced their "secret" skit for two weeks before the event. They pulled it off beautifully and everyone had fun. The pig ended up losing the court case! Educational value of how our court system works and the difference between criminal and civil courts were learned.

Engineering

The College of Engineering visiting our class today, their first of three visits. An introduction to the University was followed up by teaching about the different types of engineers. Students then became engineers and developed a wind turbine to test with a fan. In this photo you can see students doing initial tests before putting it by the fan.

What is that Star Made of?

We borrowed some high tech equipment to learn about how light can be separated into its spectrum. First we made spectroscopes and then analyzed different gases, similar to how space scientists learn what different stars are made out of.