Moon Phases

We have been reading about moon phases in science class, and wondering why the moon appears to change shape.  We completed a Mystery Science investigation today.  Check out our video below to see how we modeled the phases of the moon.

Science Centers

Instead of starting a new chapter before spring break, we spent our science time today rotating through some science center activities.  Students worked with a partner to learn about animals, body systems, space, plants, and simple machines, while interacting with fun, game-like activities.

Food Chains Songs

We have been reading about food chains in science.  The students have been working on creating their own food chains, and today they put their food chains to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell.  Check out the links below to watch the videos:

Izzy & Ethan

Makailey & Alexis

Grace & Grace

Max, Kiera, & Chloee

Kaleb, Aidan, & Eli

Brenden, Lilly, Jolene

Food Chains

We made food chains in our groups today, starting with a producer.  We will expand on these tomorrow by making them into food webs.

Bone Burritos

We have been reading about the skeletal system in science class.  Today we built a model of a bone.  The tortilla shell represented the periosteum (or outer membrane of a bone), the cookies represented the compact bone (hard bone), the angel food cake was the spongy bone tissue, and the jelly was the bone marrow.  We topped it off with pull-n-peel licorice as the blood vessels.

Lung Models

We have been reading about the respiratory system in science class.  Today we made models of lungs to demonstrate how they work.

Digestive System

We have been reading about the digestive system in science.  Today we made a model of the stomach, and practiced "digesting" some crackers.

Adaptations

We've been reading and learning about animal adaptations in science.  Today we taped up our dominant hands, and tried writing and eating.  We learned that thumbs are an adaptation that help us meet our basic needs.

Ag in the Classroom

Mrs. Clodfelter visited our classroom today to teach us all about pumpkins!

Plant Cell Diagrams

Mr. Tenboer introduced me to a new app called Quiver.  It can be used at home for coloring, but also has an educational version.  Today we used it to make our plant cell diagrams 3-dimensional.  Students colored and labeled their diagrams, then scanned them.  The app challenges them to identify parts of the cell with labels and quiz questions.  You can learn more at quivervision.com/

Paper Towel Lab

We have been reading about inquiry skills and the scientific method in our books, and decided to put them into practice today.  Over the next few days, we will be testing the strength and absorbency of 3 brands of paper towels while practicing the steps of the scientific method.  Today we made observations and asked questions, made a hypothesis, designed an experiment, and started to conduct an experiment.  We are starting with the strength of the paper towels, which is tested by how many pennies it can hold while wet.  Stay tuned for our results!