Saturday, November 9, 2013

Forces, electrcity and five senses


Below is a brief summary of what happened in science during the last two weeks:

Owls

Thanks to David Wittman (Linus’ dad), the owls were able to play with hover pucks to further their understanding of friction. Most kids had already grasped the concept while playing with cars on different surfaces, but they absolutely loved playing with the hover pucks! We also used these exciting new toys to explore what happens when things collide.
Teacher Juliette and I agreed that the kids have mastered the first part (forces and motion) of the set of science standards that we had planned to cover this year. So, on Friday, we had a final activity: the kids created their own obstacle course using pushes, pulls, friction and collision. It was great to hear the students using the vocabulary they learned while designing their obstacle course.
Next week we are starting a new science unit. The focus will be on a part of the life science standards - Energy flow in organisms and structures & functions.

Magpies

            The Magpies spent the last two weeks learning about electricity. We slowly built on the information they had learned during the flashlight activity. After reviewing the definition of electricity, the kids built their own circuits using battery packs, alligator clips and small LED lamps. Students were able to build a simple electric circuit in small groups – we just gave them the materials and asked them to try to make the light turn on. The kids were not only able to build a simple circuit, but they could also explain what was going on.
We continued our investigation of electricity by talking about conductors (materials that conduct electricity). The magpies tried to add different materials (straw, aluminum foil and pipe cleaners) to their circuits to see which would conduct electricity.  We finished this unit by building squishy circuits (http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/buildingCircuits.htm). The kids had a lot of fun making their LED lights light up with play dough. They were able to light multiple light bulbs (simultaneously) with the conductive dough. 

Crows

            The crows started their study of the five senses by learning about the eye. After learning about the structures and functions of the eye, and successfully completing a worksheet about it, the kids had a chance to dissect a sheep eye. They had a lot of fun, and definitely learned a lot with this particular dissection. I think their favorite structures were the lens and the tapetum lucidum
            The crows have also learned about the structures and functions of the ear, the nose and tongue. We finished the week with some fun activities that reinforced some of the concepts they had learned. You should ask your child about the role of smell and saliva in tasting. They had to taste a jelly bean with their noses plugged, and distinguish between salt and sugar after completely drying their tongues with paper towel. 


                                                                  Owls colliding hover pucks:

                                                              Owls building obstacle course: 


                                                              Magpies building circuits:








                                                                     Crows dissecting eye:





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