Winter 2016 update

Here is a brief chronological summary of what the kids have been doing in science classes.

The owls started the Winter trimester with a simple research assignment. Their questions were" What happens to a gummy bear in water? and What happens to a gummy bear in sugar?" Students made preconditions and set up the experiment. They collected data 48 hours later, and were surprised to find that the gummy bear in water had almost tripled in size. This is a great first introduction to the concept of osmosis.

Students used pipettes to transfer water.

Writing predictions and conclusions.

Taking a close look at their results.

The crows started the year learning the carbon cycle with a fun, interactive activity. In this activity, the kids are representing carbon atoms in our planet. The class is divided into stations: ocean, soil, atmosphere, plants, animals and fossil fuels. There is a die at each station and kids have to roll it to move to the next place. The game is designed in a way that if the kids play for approximately 15 rounds they will notice that most carbon in our planet is in the ocean. They also learn that it is much easier to get in and out of plants and animals (remember they are carbon atoms) than soil and fossil fuel.

The eagles started the trimester designing an experiment to answer the following question: why did the borax crystals only form on one or two Christmas ornaments? What factors contribute to crystal growth? We had many good discussions about answering questions (when do we really know something), and about experimental design. The kids, teacher Pa and I talked about independent variables and the importance of replication.

The kids were really careful when setting up their experiments. They kept close eyes on everything. The first results were surprising and a few students pointed out that not every group had stirred the borax completely before adding the ornaments. So the kids designed a second experiment, and at the end they concluded that stirring and temperature were the main factors contributing to crystal growth.

The kids were very excited with the news that our native area project was funded by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The eagles started working on the second river (for the CA geology model) - they looked at the map they made and used spray paint to mark the  area that had to be dug. Crows, owls and primaria (ECC) students started to dig. Crows and owls have also added mulch to areas that needed.

The kids built a dam

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On rainy Fridays, when the kids can't work outside, the crows and owls (during buddy time) have been working on engineering activities.

Owls and crows building with spaghetti and marshmallows

How many books can a paper column hold? Does the shape matter? The kids built square, triangular and circular columns and then they tested which one could hold more books.

After finishing the gummy bear experiment, the owls started their space study. The kids shared a lot of information that they already knew and they had to find out more information by using books. We also did an activity to enure that the kids understand the difference between the Earth's atmosphere and space.

Owls sorting things such as planes, moon, birds, space station, rain and clouds into atmosphere/space worksheet

Owls drawing everything they know about space (pre assessment)

As part of the carbon cycle/carbon footprint study, the crows will be making/building things to illustrate some things that people can do to decrease their carbon footprint. In order to raise money for their projects, the kids organized a bake sale. The bake sale was very successful - the kids made $157.50.

Last Wednesday, January 27th, the eagles and crows went to the Exploratorium in SF.  We had a lot of fun.