Science

I believe that your child has the power to change the world, and it is my goal to help each child discover the potential within and show the many paths available to accomplish set goals.

Science is more than facts. It is more than knowing definitions. It is the sense of wonder fueled by a desire to know the whys and hows.

My science philosophy is to engage students in the process of learning by fostering curiosity and allowing students to explore and take risks, and more importantly, take control of their learning. Too often, classrooms foster right answers, but not creative thinking or ingenuity. This is not the case in Room 109. We must learn to accept failure and ensure the students that failure is part of the learning process.

In education, a teacher's perception of mistakes is important. It defines what is a success and failure. I like to use the Dyson vacuum as an example of failure. 5,127. Yes, it took James Dyson 5,127 vacuum prototypes before he was able to engineer one that worked. Edison did not choose the perfect lightbulb filament on the first try. Each failure was essentially a success because there were lessons learned from each attempt. Students must feel safe to make mistakes and to learn from them as they learn.

Units

In this module, students learn how they can use properties of materials to identify them. In the first focus question, they use their senses to compare properties of six solids, including sugar and cornstarch. They read about how sugar and cornstarch are made by plants and used as food by animals. In the second focus question, students learn that dissolving and evaporation can be explained by particles. They compare how six solids behave when mixed with water. In the third focus question, students learn that melting points can be used to identify solids. They look at the effect of heat on six solids. In the fourth focus question, students record what happens when six solids are mixed with either iodine or vinegar. They read about how carbon dioxide and water combine to produce sugar and oxygen in a plant. They weigh cornstarch and iodine before and after mixing and conclude that weight is conserved in any change. In the science challenge, students apply what they have learned about properties to identify four unknown solids.

Upcoming Unit

Students develop an understanding of the idea that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. Using models, students can describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment and that energy in animals’ food was once energy from the sun.By using a model, students are able to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact. They describe and graph data to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth and how humans impact these interactions. Students explore all these phenomenon through an interactive unit called Environmental Detectives.

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