Convection Currents

 This week in science we have been learning about how fluids, both air and water, can move, especially with convection currents.  Monday our lab had students mix blue, cold water with clear room temperature water. They found the molecules in the cold water were closer together, making that water more dense. That explained why the blue water sank to the bottom when added.  However, when we placed 60 degree Celsius water in a bag next to the vial, the blue water moved up on that side to the top. Then cooled, and returned towards the bottom on the opposite side. This lab really demonstrated convection currents in a very visual way. We will continue to learn more about them this week. 

Spooky Story by Firelight

 We worked all week on writing a spooky story, using good adjectives to make the story have great detail.  Today, we read them next to "campfires".  

Dry Ice Lab

 Who doesn't love the fascinating factors of dry ice?  We capitalized on this idea in class Thursday when we used dry ice to carbonate our homemade root beer. After making the drink and allowing it to carbonate the rest of the day, we investigated the concept of sublimation (going from solid directly to a gas) with several experiments in class, learning that dry ice is -109 degrees F. 

Decorating Pumpkins

 This was the first year ever that 5th graders took part in the tradition of decorating pumpkins. It is all due to this being their last year at Beck, as the tradition has always been for the exiting 6th graders.  What amazing pumpkins they did. I heard many comments from students in other classes saying the 5th graders outperformed the 6th graders in their artistic skills and talent. 

October's Archery Shoots

 We had 2 extra-curricular events for October, both involving archery. The first took place last weekend at Wasting Arrows and involved a "Zombie Shoot".  A fun and safe way to learn one of the oldest Olympic sports, that of archery.

Kachina Dolls

 As we continue to learn about past people of the America's, we studied this past week the Hopi.  One feature about them is their Kachina Dolls. After learning about the people we did a mini report on Kachina Dolls and then students investigated several of the different Kachinas. Finally, students selected a Kachina that meant something to each student and built a replica Kachina Doll.

Crazy Hat and Hair Day

 We ROCKED the Apex Challenges and raised so much money this past week for our school.  Because of our hard work, we also earned many fun rewards for ourselves.  Besides playing a short game of War Ball with Energetic Evan from Apex this morning, we also had an assembly where some teachers got pies in their faces. Additionally, our class personally earned the crazy hat/hair day for today.