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:
