Day 25, Lauren Blum-4th Grade Science

Awesome Science!!!

Today, in 4^th Grade, we saw what happened when different liquids and solids mixed together. We ventured outside to explore what happened when we mixed Baking Soda and Vinegar together.

 We knew immediately that something happened to make the balloon inflate. After some searching through our brain for the memory of what we had read from the book recently, we remembered that a chemical change occurred. This chemical change created a new substance called Carbon Dioxide that inflated our balloon. 

Our next experiment was even better.  A mixture of 20 volume (6%) Hydrogen Peroxide and dish soap were put in a bottle. Yeast that had been mixed with warm water was added to the bottle. 

WE GOT FOAM!!!!!

LOTS OF FOAM!! 

We learned that once the yeast was added in, it drew out the oxygen from the Hydrogen Peroxide causing it to foam up. The foam was the oxygen escaping from the bottle. The extra bubbles on the right were created when (after someone wanted to investigate further) we poured vinegar and baking soda (from the previous experiment) on the foam. We had even more chemical changes happening right in front of us!

A few student responses were…

WHOA!!

COOL!!!

OH MY GOSH, ITS GOING TO EXPLODE!

Science is AWESOME!

Day 24, Steve Baker-4th Grade Math

21st Century Test Review

Reviewing for tests is pretty commonplace in most classrooms.  The teacher usually asks the students questions and a few of them answer the questions and share with the whole class.  While those students are answering, most other students are partially listening but usually not very involved. 

In 4^th grade we decided to try and make it more engaging for everyone.  We had a QR Code Scavenger Hunt to review for our science test.  Different QR codes were hung around the room.  Once scanned on a student’s personal device, it took them  to an information source.  These included websites, pictures, articles, and videos.  The students used the information gathered to answer questions on their study guide.  The students worked in cooperative groups to discuss the best way to answer each question.  When complete, they shared what they learned with the rest of the class to make sure everyone had the best, complete answer and understanding of the material.

Here are some responses from the some of the students:

What I liked: I liked how we got to go around the room and scan QR codes to find facts, pictures, and songs!- Trevor

On number four they played a song that helped you answer one of the questions! This was the best scavenger hunt ever!-Reese

It was so awesome and I hope we do it for every review we do!-Maddie

In Mr. Baker’s class we scanned QR codes that gave us information about science and learning about molecules and measurement.  I LOVE the cool things we did in our class!- Kylie

That was LEGIT!- Robert

Day 22, Pam Brissee- 5th Grade Science

It's Melting, It's Melting!

Fifth grade science classes have been studying physical properties, including states of matter.  One activity included The Great Melt the Ice Cube Race, in which partners tried to be the first to completely melt an ice cube.  Students could use themselves and a paper towel, but no other tools.  After the ice cubes were melted, students discussed what each team did to melt the cube and WHY they chose that strategy. 

This table includes the strategy that students chose and why. 

Strategy	Student Reasoning
Rubbed hands together	Rubbing creates friction and that creates heat
Rubbed hands on the carpet	Rubbing on a rough surface creates more friction and more heat
Took turns holding the ice cube	This allows one partner’s hands to warm up while the other partner holds it
Put the ice cube inside a shoe	The heat trapped in the shoe would help melt the cube
Pressed down on the ice cube	Pressure creates heat
Blew on the ice cube	Breath is warm
Broke ice into smaller pieces	Smaller pieces allow the heat from hands to reach more of the ice cube

Day 21, Amanda Fait-Kindergarten Teacher

Ewww! Germs!

Today in the wonderful world of Kindergarten we explored germs. 

We started by watching what happened to the germs (confetti) when Miss Fait didn't cover her nose (balloon) to sneeze and then watched what happened to the germs (confetti) when Miss did cover her nose (balloon) with a tissue.

Miss Fait shook hands with students. Unfortunately she didn't wash her hands because she spread germs (glitter) everywhere she touched. Students who touched other things spread the germs as well.

Those germs made us sad because germs can make us sick but don't worry, our class came up with a way to turn our frowns upside down! We washed our hands and were then germ free!

 



















Our little scientists are excited to see the long term effects of germs so we set up an experiment to monitor them over the next couple weeks. We will watch our "control" bread, our bread touched with clean hands, and our bread touched with dirty hands. We will see if our predictions are correct!

From the mouths of Kindergartners...

"When you get your hands dirty, you have to wash them." – Zoey

"Sneeze in your elbow." – Luke

"Don’t touch your food when your hands our dirty because they will get into your mouth and you will get sick." – Lee

"Don’t touch your eyes, your mouth, your nose, and your ears when you have dirty hands or have germs on your hands." – Sam

"There are different germs." – Yaneliz

"Germs are everywhere." – Luke

"Germs are small. No one sees them because they are too tiny. You see them with a magnifying glass."  – William