Science

Science lessons & assignments: (please be aware, science is taught every other day to each class: B Days with Mr. Miller's HR and A days with Mrs. Brace's HR.)

Unit One: Earth Systems-  Beginning with identifying Static and Dynamic systems. 

HYDROSPHERE- Do you know how much fresh water there is on our planet?  Our students are mapping the Earth to find out..

If you were exploring the Midwest looking to settle a new homestead,  where could you find water?  Ask your child, they should be able to explain to you how an aquifer can help.  

We made it rain in school this week (10/9).   Wondering how?  Ask your child to explain.  

What if a Hurricane was heading for your town?  How would you protect it?  This week (10/16), our classroom engineers have been planning for such an event.  

As we prepared for another dust bowl by purchasing a drought protection kit to save our Kansas farm, we are bringing our Earth Systems unit to an end.  Our Unit tests will be Friday, 11/3 for Miller's HR and Monday, 11/6 for Braces HR.  Students are completing a study guide this week and should review it nightly to pre pare for the test.  

**A completed study guide for the Science test has been posted in Google Classroom.

With the start of the holiday season, we are starting our next unit of study- Space!

We will begin with our anchoring phenomenon- Star Trails.  Not sure what they are, we will be finding out together.  

Do you know what time it is?  Hopefully your child has demonstrated their Shadow Clock to you.  They had a lot of fun making them and the clocks can be left at home for them to use and show others! 

During the week of 12/11, students will be building a model of our universe to help explain why we see certain constellations during specific seasons- they are expected to demonstrate the model to someone at home.  

We are continuing to explore our solar system as we enter the new year.  Did your child demonstrate the phases of the Moon?  If not, ask them to.  

We are closing out our Space Unit the week of 2/5.  Students will be competing their study guides on 2/5 & 2/6.  The unit assessment will be on the following dates:  Miller's HR on 2/7 & Brace's HR on 2/8.  

As we return from space, we begin our next unit- Physical Science.  Our first lab experiment was trying to create Oobleck.  Was your child successful?  Ask them.    

Our students have been in the lab a couple of times and they have been doing a great job working as a Scientist- I have been stressing proper lab procedures.   Most recently, we have been figuring out how to identify acids.  

As we conducted some 'small' explosions in the lab, we bring our physical science unit to an end.  Students will be completing a study guide in preparation for the unit assessment.  Students also completed a lab assessment sheet after each experiment.  These should also be used to review for the test.  

Mrs. Brace's HR will test on Tuesday, March 26th, Mr. Miller's HR will test on Thursday, March 28th.   

With the start of Spring, it is perfect timing to begin our final science unit- Life Science.  We will be sorting and classifying organisms, investigating ecosystems and taking a walking trip to Morales Park to get our hands ( and feet) a little dirty looking for critters which will help us determine the water quality.  

Our first activity had us exploring Biosphere-2, a self contained human research facility in Arizona which was created to learn how people would cope with being isolated for 2 years (now its also a tourist stop).  Our students planned their perfect meals and then designed a 'dome' that would grow the food and sustain them while living on Mars.  This is a classroom activity that was to be turned in and their score is recorded in Genesis.  

Why would a hawk live in NYC? Ask your child, they should know why.  

As we continue with our Life Science Unit, we are investigating decomposers by creating mold terrariums...ask your scientist for updates.