May: Students are working on their Tech Expo projects. The Tech Expo will take place on May 18th and 19th from 2:00 - 2:50.
LEGO ROBOTICS
Ms. Clayton joined our classes to teach the students about Lego Robotics and gears. She challenged the students to create a fan that would rotate as slowly as possible. One group was able to figure out how to stack gears so the fan rotated less than 1 time per minute.
IT'S ELECTRIC!
Students started our electricity unit trying to figure out how an energy ball worked. They learned that they were human conductors and if all of them linked they could create one giant circuit to light up the energy ball. They also learned how to use a switch to open and close a circuit and will end the unit creating a quiz board that lights up when they choose the correct answer.
WHAT'S THE MATTER?
4th graders spent the past 2 months exploring matter. We started by making Oobleck and students had to decide whether it was a solid or a liquid. They watched a Myth Busters episode where the guys tried to walk on Oobleck. The kids thought it was great! Through a series of stations, students taught themselves about the physical properties of matter. We then moved on to chemical and physical changes where students performed several experiments. It has been a messy unit but I think the students' favorite so far!
THE JOURNEY NORTH
Students became citizen scientists when they joined the Journey North project. Schools from around the world plant tulip bulbs in the fall to help scientists gather data about climate change and the seasons. Before planting the bulbs we learned about the life cycle of a bulb and dissected bulbs to learn the parts. The week of Halloween was the perfect time to plant so we grabbed our tulips and shovels and headed outside. Bulbs were planted outside the science class, around the gazebo, and in the LS garden. Students have field journals where they will record weather observations, temperature, and make predictions throughout the next few months.
SAVE SAM
Our friend Sam, the worm loved to canoe on the James river. Most days the river was calm and Sam did not wear a life preserver. This was not safe and one day he ran into trouble. The river was rough that day and Sam lost control of the boat. It capsized and he was stuck on top! Our young scientists had to use engineering design and teamwork to figure out how to get the life preserver from under the boat and onto Sam just using paperclips. It was a daunting task but many were successful.
PAC MAN CONTROLLERS
Students used Makey Makey to turn everyday objects into a game controller. They used what they had learned about open and closed circuits to design a game controller that would allow them to play PacMan. It was a lot of fun to watch students use bananas and gummy worms to play video games.
ROCKS AND MINERALS
In between snow days the students learned all about the rock cycle and how rocks are formed. By the end of the unit students had to identify several rocks based on their properties.
READERS THEATER
While working on the Journey North project students learned about photosynthesis and the important role plants play in our lives. We ended our unit with a Readers Theater skit about photosynthesis.
MEASUREMENT MANIA
How many jumping jacks can you do in 30 seconds? What happens to the water level in a graduated cylinder when a marble is placed in it? 4th grade scientists explored these questions and more as they reviewed the metric system and measurement tools in the science lab.