Tall Cup Challenge — 8/22/14

Today in Science, I passed out our Science test from yesterday. We looked at our Bananas from our experiment, and then we split up into groups for our Tall Cup Challenge. My homeroom had already done this — and it was so much fun! Each group got 48 small plastic cups. They were given the instructions that the tallest tower would win at the end of the specified time. It was very interesting to see these kiddos work together!!

2nd Period winners!! Look at those proud faces!!

5th Period 2nd place winners 🙂 .. Only 2nd place group ALL day! They worked so very hard!!

4th Period winners — Loved this group!! They built their structure and it tumbled at about three minutes before the timer went. They built it back — and won!!

5th Period 1st Place winners!!

6th Period — LOVE these girls!

My 8th Period bunch!! 🙂

What’s Happening in Science – 8/18 – 8/22

This week in Science we are starting our Weekly Newsletters. We are on week 1, and our focus will be on the Scientific Method and Science Tools. As we read our newsletter in class, we will highlight important information. We will take an Open Newsletter Quiz on Thursday in class. Students will be able to use their Newsletters to help them answer questions. Students have the newsletter in their Science pocket.

Monday – Students got their newsletters. I introduced their 4 vocabulary words for this week – investigation, prediction, hypothesis, and experiment. We read page 1 and completed page 4 on Science Tools.

Tuesday – We will learn about the Scientific Method today.

Wednesday – In class today we will begin ‘The Great Banana Experiment.’ More information to come .. Isn’t it cute though?! We will also learn about thermometers.

Thursday – We will take our Week 1 Science Quiz.

Friday — All classes will participate in The Tallest Cup Challenge. I will post pictures on Friday!!

Marshmallow Challenge — 8/11/14

On Monday we did a fun STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) Challenge that I found on Pinterest over the summer. I’m wanting the kids to learn to work together in a variety of groups to solve problems. Students were shown these instructions and given their supplies.

The kids jumped right into their teamwork, and I loved hearing their comments to each other about the challenge!! I’m posting my first and second place group from my homeroom. To place they had to place their marshmallow at the top, and their tower had to be able to stand on it’s own. I was SO impressed with my 4th graders eagerness to try this AND their ability to make it work! Great job, guys!!

** We are currently getting our school information packets back. With that and the switching of teachers in 4th, I’m not sure of what students have turned in their media release forms besides my homeroom students. As soon as I get that info, I’ll be posting all classes pictures on lab days. Thanks for understanding — I want to make sure we are all safe. Also, I never name names on my blog — and I never post pictures on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) For someone to see these pictures, they’ll have to search for my blog and/or website.

The Tallest Cup Challenge — 8/8/14

Today we practiced our schedule and finding our classes. All the kids seemed to enjoy it — and I loved meeting all my new 4th graders. Next week we will start an introduction to our Science class, and I am excited to get to know them all better.

I had promised the kids yesterday that we would do the tallest cup challenge, but we ran out of time. So it was a great way to kick off our morning. Each group got a set of 48 plastic cups. I found the smallest plastic cups that Dollar Tree had to offer for us to use. The instructions were that they had 25 minutes to create a structure with all their cups. The tallest structure at the end of the time would be declared the winner. All the kids worked SO well together!! This assignment sounds very easy — but each group would build their structure only to watch it tumble as more cups were stacked. Below are the pictures of my homeroom winners.   This was a fun challenge — I promised my AO class that I would let them try it next week.

 

This group won first place. I hate that this picture is so blurry — I didn’t realize it until the structure had been demolished. 🙂

This picture is of our second place winners. This structure is taller than the first group — but a few cups had not been placed on the structure. They worked SO very hard — they did a fabulous job!!

Have a great weekend!! Let’s rest up and do this again next week!!

First Day of School — 8/7/14

It’s hard to believe that it is already the start of a new school year!! The first day of school in 4th is very busy — we give out our books, workbooks, and put our binders together. This class is so sweet — I can’t wait until we get into a routine and start learning our Science!!

After the chaos of putting our binders together, I divided the class up and we had a puzzle race. I got this idea off of Pinterest over the summer!! I found the perfect animal 100 piece puzzles from Dollar Tree and knew they would love it!! The kids were very competitive, and I loved watching them all work together!! Below are the pictures of our winners.  Good job to all involved!! Tomorrow we will begin switching classes and learning our new routine!!

Science Stations (Light Theme) — 4/25/14

Today in Science we rotated between 4 different stations. Our theme was Light. This activity was planned to wrap up our Light Unit. We will begin Friction on Monday.

Station 1 — How Does Light Pass Through?

Materials — White Paper, Plastic Wrap, Wax Paper, Aluminum Foil, and Colored Tissue Paper

At each station, students had to complete a lab sheet. During this lab, students were looking at each item and discovering — does light pass through it? Does it make a shadow? Is it opaque, transparent, or translucent?

** I found this lab at Teachers Pay Teachers. It is available for purchase here.

I loved this picture I snapped of these kiddos working together during our station. They all worked very hard today!!

This is the sheet students were responsible for completing during this station. The link is located above.

Station 2 — Shadows Observation

Materials — I laid out on our lab table random objects found in my desk. Two toy cars, pennies, glue, bracelet, leggos, etc. I found flashlights from our Science Kits that still worked — Yay!!

Students chose an object and drew it. Next,  they shined the flashlight over the object and drew its shadow.

** I also found this activity on Teachers Pay Teachers. The link is located here.

Station 3 –Bending Pencil Experiment

Materials – Plastic clear cups, Pencils, Water

Students placed a pencil in a cup with no water and drew what they saw. Next, students placed the pencil in a cup with water, and drew what they saw now. This lab was super cute, and many students said it was their favorite of all four. I found this lab and the next one at this great teacher blog that is located here. Thanks for the idea! It was a favorite!

This was the lab sheet students had to fill out.

Station 4 –Turning Arrow Experiment

Materials – Plastic clear cups, Water, Index Cards

Students got an index card and drew an arrow. They placed the card behind a clear cup filled with water. They then had to observe what happened next.

The lab sheet and the idea came from the same teacher blog from above that is located here. My 4th graders adored this — and many said they were going home to show their family. It’s not magic – It’s Science!!

Our lab sheet — big thanks to the above teacher blog. The kids LOVED these 2 activities! 🙂

 

I have promised our 4th graders that we will do stations again this year — and I see using this  idea LOTS next year!! As students worked and chatted about their stations — I was such a proud Science teacher!! 🙂

 

Solar System Lab and Ch 18 Test Review — 4/7/14

Who knew Space Science was so yummy? First, Moon Phases with Oreo cookies, and today we completed a Solar System Candy Lab. I saw this over at Pinterest, and thought it was just too cute. Our 4th graders loved it!! This also worked well as a test review of our planets. Tomorrow students will have to write the planets in order from the Sun.

On Wednesday, we will start our last Science Unit for the year — Physical Science. We will spend four quick days on Sound. I am super excited for our lab — stay tuned!! More information to come on Wednesday/Thursday of this week.

For fellow teachers, this is the link to the information about the Solar System lab and the printout. It is located here.

Rotate vs. Revolve 3/4/14

Today in Science we reviewed our Study Guide for our Ch 17 Lesson Quiz 1 on Thursday. After reviewing, we illustrated the differences between Rotate and Revolution. This is a harder concept for the students — and I wanted to help them “see” the differences. The bottom picture is my notebook example, and the student at the top showing his notebook was celebrating his birthday today!! 🙂

Tomorrow kicks off Lesson 2 of Chapter 17. We will be focusing on the moon, moon phases, and the sun. Our Lesson 2 Quiz is planned for next Thursday. More information to come!! 🙂

W.E.D. NB 80

I found this cute illustration on Pinterest over the summer, and I knew that I would have to include it in our Science class this year. Weathering, erosion, and deposition are hard concepts to understand, and I thought this illustration would help our 4th graders learn the material.

I’ve included these key words on our vocabulary definitions on our test so students can easily recognize the definitions.
Weathering — “breaks it”
Erosion — “carries it”
Deposition — “drops it”

Tornado in a Bottle Projects 1/24/14

Today our Tornado in a Bottle projects were due, and I was amazed at all of the great work done by the students!! We had a great time showing off our tornadoes in small groups. I videoed a few of the projects .. I’ll add the link so you can click to watch.

FYI – I’ve downloaded the You Tube Capture app (free), and I’ve uploaded these three videos to my personal You Tube account. These 3 videos are private — they can’t be searched for on You Tube or recommended to other viewers. The only way they can be viewed is from my account (I’m the only one who has that information) OR thru the link I’ve posted.