School Science Teacher Comes to a Close

This year has been amazing, being able to teach science in grades K-6 all year long. However, things change and next year I will be teaching a standard 5th grade class. Lots of great things to look forward to!

The First Weeks of School

The first quarter of the year science labs have taken place in sixth, fifth, second and kindergarten. Sixth grade has focused on light and sound waves. Labs have included a variety of experiences with seeing, feeling and hearing waves. Today was the final lab where students attempted to dart an escaped dinosaur that had been recently cloned with a laser dart gun (laser pointer). Students learned concepts of angle of incidence, angle of reflection, incidence ray and reflected ray using mirrors to reflect the laser beam to "dart" their dinosaur. Fifth grade is finishing up their unit on gravitational forces. Labs have included ones on pendulums, falling objects, paper rockets, and measuring friction in Newtons. They are currently wrapping all their knowledge up in a final project by supporting an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down. They have to reference three of their for labs in supporting evidence. Second grade has focused on making observations related to a problem with sinking and floating sodas. Through observations, they learned that diet soda sinks and regular soda floats. After understanding why, due to the ingredients in Pepsi, students began designing and invention to keep Pepsi cans afloat. Their goal is to analyze a few of these designs, once built, to see which would best for using when out on a canoe trip, as canoes are known to flip and no one wants to lose their refreshing drink for lunch! Kindergarten has been working on observing the sun's impact on earth. Labs dealt with setting up different cups of "Earth", which included different soils, sands, and rocks as well as cups of water representing the oceans and rivers on the planet. Using digital thermometers, students witnessed the change in temperatures based on the sun hitting it. Students also learned the term evaporation for what they observed when water "dried up" from the sun. Fading was another concept seen, as colored paper placed in the sunlight quickly (over one week) faded into the designs of the shape placed on top of it. The first quarter is well on its way into learning about key concepts within the Next Generation Science Standards!

Science Teacher for School

This year I will be dedicated science teacher for the school, K-6.  To fit in high quality lessons, I will teach in half the grades the first quarter and the other half the second quarter.  Beginning the school year, I will be in 6th grade, 5th grade, kindergarten, and 2nd grade.  Third quarter will see me back in the grades I started in during the first quarter.  Fourth quarter will be the same as second quarter.  Let's go explore some science!

What Causes the Seasons?

One of the greatest misconceptions in science is the cause of the seasons here on Earth.  In an attempt to "crack" this misconception this year, students wrote down their theory as to the cause of seasons before beginning the lab.  Most students had at least one part mentioning that Earth is closer to the sun in summer and farther away in winter.  After analyzing graphs and charts of average temperatures across the globe in different seasons, interpreting charts on amount of daylight across globe, and using blow dryers to create direct and indirect heat on cardboard, we moved into the science of the seasons.  Students learned that seasons are caused by the tilt of the axis and the direct or indirect light this produces in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.  Many students also were not aware that when it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere it is winter in the Southern Hemisphere.  We still have more to go, but by the end of day one's lab, at least no one was saying the seasons are caused by being closer to the sun based on its orbit.

Living History Museum

The class did amazing at memoring and becoming their person in history.  Students "came to life" as their button activated them to hundreds of students from the school as well as parents.  Great job historians!

Greek Mythology

We have finished up our Greek Mythology and our reader's theatre of self-created plays with our final performances this Thursday and Friday.  It was great to see the unique styles in which the class merged the classic Greek myths with today's social experiences (Facebook, KFC, etc.).

Fly Fishing and Star Lab

Although we have been working very hard to review all we have learned for the CRT tests next week, we have still been able to create high quality, inspiring instruction.  In PE, we have been learning the sport of fly fishing.  Last week we learned the basic knots associated with fly fishing and this week we learned the 11 basic steps to a casting.

In science today we blew up the Star Lab in our classroom and had private star shows. The focus was on some basic astronomy, but we also learned about our galaxy and universe and basic identification of some major constellations.  The Greek and Roman mythology always seems to entertain as well.