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.

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!!

The Three R’s Booklet – 2/21/14

Today was the last day of our Earth Science unit. After our Daily Math Quiz, students were able to color/decorate a booklet. Some students chose to take their booklets home, and some volunteered for their booklets to be hung in the hallway.

I thought this booklet was a cute way to review our Three R’s!! The link is located here.

Water Cycle 12/5/13

We are currently studying Chapter 6 Water Cycle and Weather. We are learning so much in Science this year!! Today in Science we added two new pages to our Science Notebook. I LOVED that graphic organizer at the top of this picture! I was surfing Teachers Pay Teachers over Thanksgiving, and I found it for free!! I’ve included the link here for anyone interested. We finished class by illustrating the Water Cycle. I’ve included my illustration from my notebook — don’t judge me too harshly .. I’m not an artist!! 🙂 I will be snapping pictures tomorrow of the kiddos illustrations — they will have time to complete the page at the beginning of class tomorrow. Stay tuned — FUN lab coming up tomorrow!! 🙂

Blinking — Voluntary or Involuntary? 11/13/13

Today in Science we kicked off our Human Body unit with a Science Lab!! Our lesson today was about The Skeletal System and the Muscular System. For any interested teachers, the link to our lab is here. I love TPT!

In this picture students are counting the number of times they blinked in a minute!! 🙂  Don’t you love this timer on the Smart Board??  I think I will be using this LOTS!!

First, students had to count the number of times they blinked in a minute. Next, students timed themselves to see how long they went without blinking. I lasted 12 seconds — my eyes were dry!! 🙂 Finally, students got a plastic sheet protector and a cotton ball. Students held the plastic sheet in front of their face, while the other student tossed the cotton ball at the sheet. As they threw, they tallied if the person blinked. After all the labs were completed, we analyzed our data to see if we thought blinking was voluntary or involuntary.

Coming up tomorrow — students should bring water bottles to class. We are making a model of how our lungs work!!

Science 10/16/13

Today in Science we completed a graphic organizer on page 42 in our Science Notebook. This organizer was to help us see how ecosystem, community, and population all connect. On page 43 in our notebook we illustrated the definitions for herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and consumers. I had to snap a pic of these notebooks!! Great job, 4th graders!

Pollination Lab 10/4/13

Today was Fun Friday Science Style — Pollination Lab Day!!! Each student got a brown bag with a paper flower on the front. Each bag contained Cheese Puffs which represented pollen. The students visited each bag at their table and removed cheese puffs. After we returned to our seats and had ate our snack, we pollinated the flowers. I had several students comment on how much they loved their lab. Thank goodness for Pinterest — I’m finding such great ideas for activities and labs!!