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.

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!! 🙂

 

Sound Lab Class Demonstrations — 4/14/14

In Science class today we made duck calls using straws. Is this Science? Yes, it sure is. All sounds come from vibrations. That little triangle the kids cut in the straw forced the two pieces of the point to vibrate very fast against each other when they blew through the straw. The vibrations from their breath going through the straw created the strange duck-like sound that we heard during the lab. I thought this was a fun activity for our 4th graders to conclude our Sound Unit. In the post below, I added the link for this lab. I found it at Teachers pay Teachers for free. That post is located here.

1st Period

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBAr2WNz99I&noredirect=1

 

2nd Period

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXBFAEUfLTc

4th Period

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZwBwtmd99M

5th Period

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1TH8C9AXxM

6th Period

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnnGXGJCOcc

 

** These videos were uploaded to You Tube via the You Tube capture app on my You Tube account. My You Tube account is private (only I have access to it), and it only has school related material on it. An example of this is I upload all of our science videos we watch in class – Bill Nye, Mr. Parr, etc. on it for documentation. These videos I have recorded today are unlisted on You Tube and can only be located via the links above or on my personal school You Tube account. Unfortunately, we live in a time where it is dangerous for personal information to be shared. However, I wanted our parents and visitors to see the fun we had today in Science in a safe way. If you have any comments or concerns, feel free to contact me via email at kristigoggans@gmail.com.

Sound Lab and Important Reminders — 4/14/14

Today in Science we reviewed our Sound Study Guide for our test tomorrow, and then we spent the last 20 minutes of class working in groups on the sound lab pictured above. I saw this Lab on Teachers pay Teachers for free a while back, and I just knew it was perfect for our 4th graders to do during our Sound Unit. Lots of people doubted that this would be a successful lab due to the noise factor (You know who you are!! ) — but it was so much fun and so inexpensive! The lab is posted here. However, parents may not be too happy with me for teaching these little angels how easy it is to make a duck call!! 🙂 Several kiddos mentioned going home and making more this evening!! I videoed each class demonstrating their duck calls — it will be in the post above 🙂

Important Reminders:
Sound Homework due on Tuesday
Sound Quiz on Tuesday

We will start our Light Unit on Wednesday.

What’s Happening in Science/Sound Homework

Today in Science we started our Sound unit. We will be splitting Chapter 14 into two parts — Lesson 1 and 2 will be our Sound unit, and Lesson 3 and 4 will be our Light Unit.

Thursday:
Today we read Lesson 1 of Chapter 14 in our textbook. We also reviewed our 7 items from today’s lesson that is on our NB 103 Study Guide. Students also received their Sound Homework assignment today (pictured above). This assignment will be a fun, easy daily work assignment. This is due on Tuesday.

Friday:
I will be checking students Physical Science Title Page on NB 102. Students have had this assignment since last Friday. We will read Lesson 2 Chapter 14, and then we will review our Study Guide on NB 103.

Monday:
We are reviewing for our quiz on Tuesday. After our review, we are completing a fun lab activity on Sound. Pictures to come!

Tuesday:
We are testing on Chapter 14 Lesson 1 and 2 today. Also, our Sound Homework is due today.

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.

Moon Phase Lab 3/14/14

Big thanks to all the 4th grade parents who donated a pack of oreo cookies to our 4th grade Science room. The students LOVED eating them in the name of Science. I have wound up with several extra packs due to so many parents sending 2 packs. I firmly believe that we have the best students and parents at HES!! I have promised the kids that we will have these one day as a snack — maybe after a Science Test!!

I spotted this fun lab on Pinterest last summer — and I knew that our 4th graders would LOVE it!! I found this moon phase sheet on Teachers Pay Teachers for FREE!! 🙂 TPT is one of my favorite sites to help me find things to use in our Science classroom — fellow teachers you must check it out!! This sheet is located here for anyone interested.

Moon Phase Lab 3/14/14

Fun during our Moon Phase Lab!!

Moon Phase Lab

1st and 2nd Period classes enjoying our Moon Phase Lab!!

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.