Fourth Grade Videos TEMPLATE
I hope you enjoy these videos from our school year.
On this page are videos from some of this year's science lessons. Students will be reflecting on inquiry-based observations, activities, investigations and experiments in order to increase their understanding of science instruction. Interpreting, analyzing, and interacting with science is a critical aspect in the classroom and can be seen in these videos. It is my intention that these videos spark conversations at home about science and what we are learning in the classroom.
*FYI - THIS WEB PAGE IS BEST VIEWED FROM A LAPTOP OR DESKTOP - WHEN VIEWING FROM A MOBILE DEVICE SOME IMAGES MAY APPEAR TO BE CUT OFF. Some formats that I use to create these videos give me control over the music volume when students are talking and some do not. I apologize if some students are harder to hear.
Science Topic: ECOSYSTEMS
LEARNING GOAL: After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to: Identify the fundamental structure and function of an ecosystem, identify biomes, compare and contrast ecosystems, connect their learning to real-world ecosystem challenges, and create a board game that reflects a significant understanding of essential concepts of the lessons.
Dissecting Owl Pellets
We have been learning about owls in science class. This week we are dissecting owl pellets to learn about the food chain. The girls examined the bones they found and used referencing guides to determine what kind of food it ate. We will continue to work in our owl pellet journals in the days to come.
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Stop Motion - Clay Animation - ECOSYSTEMS
The girls worked in groups and made background images for their stop motion, clay animation, ecosystem project. They then created animals and plants that live in that environment and demonstrated the food chain (or food web) for that ecosystem. The girls could have used several more days but they did an AMAZING job with the time that they had.
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Science Topic: CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL CHANGES
LEARNING GOAL: Throughout these lessons, students will learn about and be able to identify properties of and changes in matter as physical or chemical. Students will be able to compare and contrast the chemical behavior and physical properties of common substances. Students will be able to record and interpret data obtained from experimentation.
Exploring Mystery Powders
Over the course of several lab periods, the girls explored the properties of different powders. They compared and contrasted characteristics of salt, cornstarch, baking soda, and alum. They tested for solubility, as well as for interactions with vinegar, iodine, and cabbage juice. We also used cabbage juice as an indicator for acids, bases, or neutrals. We tested vinegar, soda, water, baking soda, milk, soapy water, lemon juice, and hand sanitizer. The girls loved seeing the rainbow of colors and recording their findings in their lab journals.
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Learning Stations: Physical and Chemical Changes
The girls worked at rotating stations to to experiment and explore some chemical and physical properties.
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Changing States of Matter:
(Soda and Mentos)
Many people have heard of the Mentos in soda experiment. Today we took a very quick trip outside (to minimize the mess) to do this experiment. We were determining if this reaction was a physical or chemical change. Although there were carbon dioxide gas bubbles that were overflowing out of the soda bottle, we did not create a NEW substance so the girls determined that this was a PHYSICAL CHANGE. (By accident I have one short video clip of the other experiment from today in this video...sorry for the mistake.)
(Balloons- Solid, Liquid, & Gas)
Groups were given 3 balloons. You could not see what was inside the balloons but the girls quickly predicted that one was solid, one was liquid, and one was gas. We needed to open them up to test their hypotheses.
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Chemical vs. Physical Reactions
Soda and Mentos
Many people have heard of the Mentos in soda experiment. Today we took a very quick trip outside (to minimize the mess) to do this experiment. We were determining if this reaction was a physical or chemical change. Although there were carbon dioxide gas bubbles that were overflowing out of the soda bottle, we did not create a NEW substance so the girls determined that this was a PHYSICAL CHANGE.
Making Goo
When we mixed glue (and food coloring) with a Borax solution we created a NEW substance (GOO). The girls determined that this was a CHEMICAL CHANGE.
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Solid, Liquid, & Gas - (Root-Beer Float)
We are learning about the states of matter. Our experiment today shows how you can have a solid, a liquid, and a gas all at the same time in one drink. (Ice cream - SOLID, root-beer - LIQUID, carbonated bubbles - GAS) The girls loved sampling all three forms of matter in science class today. :)
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Invisible Ink - (Chemical Reaction)
The girls wrote a message for a friend in invisible ink (baking soda and water). Each student gave a message and each student received one. When the student received her invisible message, she rubbed blackberries on her paper to reveal her message. The chemical reaction between the baking soda and the blackberries turned the message a different color.
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Science Topic: METRIC MEASUREMENT
LEARNING GOAL: Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to: explain what the metric system is and identify the appropriate metric units of measurement for distance, weight, volume, and time.
Measurement Mania
In connection with the 4th grade math curriculum, the 4th grade scientists are experimenting with different types of measurements. The girls measured and recorded the temperature of hot and cold liquids, the volume of liquids, the length of objects, the amount of time it takes to do tasks, the volume of solids, and the weight of several objects. They also classified objects and made detailed observations using a hand lens and a flip-top magnifier. I am so proud of their hard work and their diligence following directions. Well done!
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Science Topic: AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN IN S.T.E.A.M.
LEARNING GOAL: Throughout these lessons during the month of February (African American History Month) and leading into March (Women's History Month), 4th grade students will learn about some African American Women in the S.T.E.A.M. fields. The girls will be assigned a person, conduct research, and create a digital presentation. They will present their work to the class. Students have the option to work on an additional project about a woman of their choice (see details at the bottom of this page).
African American Women in S.T.E.A.M.
During the month of February (Black History Month), we took some time to research African American Women in the S.T.E.A.M. field. The girls worked well in groups to research an assigned woman. Each group created a poster sharing the information they learned, and presented their findings to their class. The posters are hanging on a bulletin board outside the science hallway through the month of March which is Women’s History Month. Here is a video with pictures of each group's presentation.
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Science Topic: CHANGING EARTH
LEARNING GOAL: Throughout these lessons, students will discover that the surface of the Earth is constantly changing. Earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, and flooding can make changes quickly while other changes, like weathering and erosion happen over longer periods of time. Students will learn how these "forces of nature" affect their lives.
Excavating Gems
As we continue to learn about the rock cycle, we pretended to be gemologists - a person who studies gems. The girls were each given a larger stone to excavate their gems. They each had a pick to dig deeper and a brush to uncover the gems more carefully. We used a chart in class to determine which gems were uncovered. Since Mrs. Hicke's class did this activity on Pajama Dress Down Day - we called it Jammies and Gemstones. :)
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Plate Tectonics Lab
After learning about plate tectonics, the girls simulated a variety of interactions at the plate boundaries. Plates may CONVERGE (collide), DIVERGE (separate), or slide past each other (TRANSFORM BOUNDARY).
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Starburst Lab
(The Rock Cycle)
The girls used Starburst candies to demonstrate the stages of the rock cycle. We started by weathering the "rock" (Starburst) into smaller pieces. We used that sediment and applied pressure to create sedimentary rocks that shows the different layers of sediment. We then added some heat and more pressure to mold the sedimentary rock into metamorphic rock. We then heated the metamorphic rock to create "magma" which cooled and became igneous rock. We could then break the igneous rock into sediment pieces and continue the rock cycle. The science classroom smelled great today and we had a great time!
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Learning about Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition from Overview
My cousin, Benjamin Grant, published a book called Overview and today we used images from his book and Daily Overview Instagram site to show the effects of weathering, erosion, and deposition. The visuals help the students to understand the information with a different perspective. Today he posted before and after photos of the same location to see the effects of an earthquake and tsunami. It was PERFECT for our deposition lesson. The girls recorded this message for my cousin Ben.
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Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition Demonstration.
This video is significantly longer than my usual videos. You may scroll through the video to watch your daughter's response without watching the entire video. The beginning of the video shows our group demonstration. I hope you enjoy a peek at our classroom experience.
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Making a Shield Volcano
Fourth graders learned how a shield volcano is formed by creating our own models. We began with flat land (a tin tray) and a volcanic creator (bottle cap). We added baking soda and vinegar to create the first eruption. The girls traced the outline of the lava eruption and replaced it with play-dough to simulate how lava turns into new land. We repeated these steps several times simulating multiple eruptions in the same place over time. After each eruption, the lava flow is replaced with a different color play-dough. After several eruptions a shield volcano is formed. At the end we cut into the shield volcano to see the layers beneath the surface. I also took a small sample out of each slice as scientists often do to see how it is possible for one volcano to have different layers in different locations...no two samples are exactly the same.
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Making a Shield Volcano
(and Cone Volcano)
Fourth graders learned how a shield volcano is formed by creating our own models. We began with flat land (a tin tray) and a volcanic creator (bottle cap). We added baking soda and vinegar to create the first eruption. The girls traced the outline of the lava eruption and replaced it with play-dough to simulate how lava turns into new land. We repeated these steps several times simulating multiple eruptions in the same place over time. After each eruption, the lava flow is replaced with a different color play-dough. After several eruptions a shield volcano is formed. At the end we cut into the shield volcano to see the layers beneath the surface. I also took a small sample out of each slice as scientists often do to see how it is possible for one volcano to have different layers in different locations...no two samples are exactly the same. The second video is our cone volcano eruption.
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Cornmeal Erosion
Throughout this week, the girls are experimenting with cornmeal landforms to demonstrate erosion and design ways to protect the land from erosion. The girls are using the knowledge they have been learning about in class to create a structure to protect their cornmeal landforms from erosion. The two different videos are from two different experiments. This was really great work, girls!
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Chemical Weathering
Questions: How does acid rain weather rocks? The girls etched their name in the side of a piece of chalk. We then submerged it in vinegar over night. We used both regular chalk and sidewalk chalk. We then observed how the chalk changed after being submerged in the acid for 24 hours.
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Ice Weathering
Questions: How does ice weather rock? We used plaster of paris to act as our rock. We placed some in an empty milk container as our comparison. Then we put water in a balloon and placed the balloon in a separate milk carton and covered it with plaster of paris. When that hardened, we placed them in the freezer to see if when the water became ice (and expanded) it would weather (or crack) the plaster of paris.
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Sugar Shake
To study weathering, students used sugar cubes to represent rocks. We colored all 12 edges to see what the "rock" looked like to start and then we shook the sugar cubes in a container. We paused after every 40 shakes to observe any physical changes. Did the color on any of the edges wear off? We shook 200 times total and recorded our observations.
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Water Weathering
Students explored the concept of water weathering. The students used sugar cubes to simulate rocks that are weathered by water. They put drops of colored water on their "rocks" and observed the changes.
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Water Weathering.pdf