Here’s another list of students that have volunteered to do extra work without teacher prompting. Some of the students did wonderful work in class and also needed to be acknowledged.  I am very proud of these children.

Jagger “Teacher”: He gave the class a brain teaser that involved using listening comprehension skills.  It was a great lesson.

Griff  “Teacher”: Griff asked his peers to use their critical thinking skills to determine the solution to a brain teaser.  Everyone enjoyed stretching their brains.

Zoe: Zoe has sent me TWO interesting items.  The first was a wonderful collage of the moon that related to our topic, “Did The Earth Have Two Moons?”  The other was an article about the weather on one of the planets that we had studied. Super work.

Becca (gr.5) Becca did a great job creating a collage of the photos from the Hubble telescope, which related to our study of space.  It is displayed on our “Kids Can Do, So Can You” wall.  Great effort.  Becca also shared an optical illusion with the class and let the kids try an illusion.  Becca certainly knew how to hold the attention of her peers.  Congrats to Becca,

Jamie and Evie: These two students participated in partner work and wrote a super sci-fi story using specific science words from our lesson pertaining to the movements of the Earth and the Sun. They really showed their creative and critical thinking skills in a fun way.

Ben D. and Jake L. While discussing a current science experiment, these two boys were able to relate the experiment to a prior experiment and explain new insights to the class.  Each child presented his ideas independently and were excellent role models for critical thinking skills. Each student was super-duper!

Allie: Allie always offers good ideas to her peers and sometimes her ideas are just so cute that they need to be shared.  Here’s one of her quips. While we were discussing matter and making candles from wax, I asked the class what type of wax we used and why that wax was chosen.  Allie replied that we didn’t use ear wax because it is too yucky!  She then added that we used non-polluting soy wax.

 Ben A. “Teacher” in TWO ways.  Ben always gives me computer hints and tricks to simplify or increase my skills.  He even made a 5 page list of computer codes for me.  That’s a great teacher!  Ben also did a lesson for the class about making paper air planes.  He helped each child create one of the four models and then we went down stairs to see how each plane flew.  Ben was really wonderful. He  was kind  and instructive with each student.  Also, at a big scientific event called the “Ig  Noble Awards,” scientists from Harvard and other famous fields, choose to make paper airplanes!  Ben is on his way to great things too.

Jack: Jack always has something interesting to say and asks great questions.  In fact, one of his questions about matter inspired me to create a new lesson to deal with his topic of “What happens to the wax as it melt?”  Thanks to Jack, the class discussed evaporation and vapor. Jack is a super example of brain power at work.

ELLIE: Ellie did THREE things to get into this group.  She’s just a real hard worker and enjoys research. First, Ellie gave me a newspaper article about how toys manufactures are now creating toys for girls to stimulate math and science skills.  Isn’t that great?  Then Ellie decided to make a science board game.  She even asked me if she could take home some books for research.  I can’t wait to see the finished game.  Then Ellie brought to school an article about space flight.   Is there anything that ELLie can’t do?  She’s just wonderful.

Ayden: “Teacher” Ayden did  a quickie brain teaser with the class that involved using a thinking skill called “closure” combined with critical thinking.  The class was challenged. With helpful hints from Ayden, the class was able to solve the riddle. Ayden did a great job.

Becca gr.4 Becca was a “presenter” and shard with the class info about how the stars were named by the Greek-Roman myths about people with super powers.  I think that Becca is the one with super powers!  Her presentation were full of info and she made learning fun.

Josh: Josh found a video about the planets and shared it with his class.  Then Josh answered questions from his peers pertaining to the info in the video.  Josh did a great job.  He was able to hold the interest of the class and was a good “teacher.”

Ayden ans Arin: They did cooperative learning and created a sci-fi story that followed all the criteria given and  they used all the science terms in a meaningful way.  The story was interesting, gave great details, and was fun to read.  I think we may have two author’s in our class.

Ben C: Ben presented his extra credit work to the class and showed his peers how an A+ research paper should look and be done.  Ben found a newspaper article that combined his history study of Jamestown with new scientific info about cannibalism.  Some kids thought it was gross, but it was just so interesting.  Very cool.

In our discussion of matter in grade 3, we illustrated the three forms in our candle experiment.  We noted the temperature, measured, weighed, and observed the process of changing matter.  Safety, was the first concern, so I choose soy wax because it doesn’t smoke or pollute.  Since wax is flammable, we used a double-boiler.  The class then made a hypothesis about if we should use shredded wax or a solid bar of wax.  Everyone tested both ideas and we concluded that the block of wax took 8 minutes longer to melt than the shredded wax.  The temperature of the wax was 120 degrees, but when I did the experiment at home; my wax was 190 degrees.  The children were curious as to the reason for the difference, and we used logical deduction to draw a sound conclusion based on the fact that I only melted 2 cups of wax at home.  A hypothesis was made as to how long it might take for our wax to melt, and we were right!  Thank you Sage for calculating the answer.  The kids discussed when would be the proper time to add the crayons (for color), and saw the results when we mixed the crayons into the hot liquid.  Our next hypothesis concerned how long it would take for the liquid to solidify to its former state of matter.  All the class had a great time peeling the milk containers to reveal their candles, and finding a surprise!  We actually saw how the crayons melted by the various shades created in the candles.

So where’s the next form of matter?  We saw a solid turn into a liquid and then revert back to a solid.  The class used more in depth critical thinking skills to conclude what happens to the wax as it melts.  Where does it go?  Why?  Thank you Jack for leading the class in this part of our chat about evaporation, vapor, and gas.  We followed the 5 steps of the Scientific Method, but weren’t finished yet.  Thank you to  Ben for taking our class to the next level of the SM by relating our current experiment to a prior experiment with ice-cubes and the 3 forms of matter.

Nothing helps a concept to be internalized as using a tactile and reality-bases approach; complimented by fun!

Einstein’s Kids

Here’s a new entry for this great group of students that have gone “where no one has gone before.” (Star Trek)

The assignment was to incorporate specific science terms into a sci-fi story by using the terms in a meaningful way.  Here’s one example of super work written by Ben C. and Zoe in grade 5.

It is the year 2018, the new space shuttle called “Mars” is ready for launch. The whole country is in anticipation and everyone is watching on NBC News. The three brave men and woman are all getting their suits on. Space Captain, Katniss Catnip, is all ready and straightening her hair in her private dressing room. She wants to look spectacular for the cameras. Katniss walks out of the room with her crew in slowmotion. Then one of the reporters says, “You are not going to make it to the shuttle in time if you keep walking like that.” In response, Katniss snaps her fingers and the slow motion stops. They get in the space shuttle. The countdown begins. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… BLAST OFF.

The spaceship blasts off, moving at half the speed of light headed up towards the sun. The space shuttle moves so fast after you blink it has disappeared into the atmosphere. The plan is to go around the sun and do a slingshot to the dwarf planet, Pluto. After that, they plan to go to Mars. From there it will take 5 hours to get to Venus. After that to Mercury. And finally, the sun. It is going to be very dangerous and everyone has their eyes glued to the TV. When in the atmosphere, the men and women will watch the earth orbit and make calculations which they will send to the scientists back on earth at NASA using the latest messenger spaceship robot. That robot moves at the speed of light and is programed to only go to a certain destination in NASA and back to the space shuttle in space with the reply from the scientists on earth.

On the space shuttle pod, it is not like a beach house in the Bahamas, it has very hard conditions. There is one good thing, you can float like when you slingshot yourself through a tunnel. The negative things about the trip are they also have to breath oxygen that is created on board from water and carbon dioxide exhaled from their own breaths, eat dehydrated food and drink water purified from their urine.The astronauts rotate jobs and responsibilities. From the space shuttle, they will measure the axis and measure where it is pointing. The scientist’s space shuttle will revolve around the sun so they can do the slingshot method.

When the scientists go to the sun, they will attach an object to it that will change the heat of the equator. That will be the most dangerous part of the long, hard journey. The scientists must wear special suits to avoid being burnt. The design for those suits was found in an old chest hidden somewhere and the design came from none other than Benjamin Franklin. Archaeologists also found many other inventions that were never shared with the public. Another thing that was found was a letter that was from Albert Einstein. The letter said the directions and calculations to make a time machine. For this to be possible, Einstein must have used the time machine himself and given the directions to Franklin who he had recognised as another genius and inventor like himself. In the letter, another surprising thing was found. Franklin and Einstein were related. They were both part of the Cahill family heirloom. The Cahill family is by far the largest and most important family in the world. They are about half way through the building of the time machine.

It is the year 2018, the new space shuttle called “Mars” is ready for launch. The whole country is in anticipation and everyone is watching on NBC News. The three brave men and woman are all getting their suits on. Space Captain, Katniss Catnip, is all ready and straightening her hair in her private dressing room. She wants to look spectacular for the cameras. Katniss walks out of the room with her crew in slowmotion. Then one of the reporters says, “You are not going to make it to the shuttle in time if you keep walking like that.” In response, Katniss snaps her fingers and the slow motion stops. They get in the space shuttle. The countdown begins. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… BLAST OFF.

The spaceship blasts off, moving at half the speed of light headed up towards the sun. The space shuttle moves so fast after you blink it has disappeared into the atmosphere. The plan is to go around the sun and do a slingshot to the dwarf planet, Pluto. After that, they plan to go to Mars. From there it will take 5 hours to get to Venus. After that to Mercury. And finally, the sun. It is going to be very dangerous and everyone has their eyes glued to the TV. When in the atmosphere, the men and women will watch the earth orbit and make calculations which they will send to the scientists back on earth at NASA using the latest messenger spaceship robot. That robot moves at the speed of light and is programed to only go to a certain destination in NASA and back to the space shuttle in space with the reply from the scientists on earth.

On the space shuttle pod, it is not like a beach house in the Bahamas, it has very hard conditions. There is one good thing, you can float like when you slingshot yourself through a tunnel. The negative things about the trip are they also have to breath oxygen that is created on board from water and carbon dioxide exhaled from their own breaths, eat dehydrated food and drink water purified from their urine.The astronauts rotate jobs and responsibilities. From the space shuttle, they will measure the axis and measure where it is pointing. The scientist’s space shuttle will revolve around the sun so they can do the slingshot method.

When the scientists go to the sun, they will attach an object to it that will change the heat of the equator. That will be the most dangerous part of the long, hard journey. The scientists must wear special suits to avoid being burnt. The design for those suits was found in an old chest hidden somewhere and the design came from none other than Benjamin Franklin. Archaeologists also found many other inventions that were never shared with the public. Another thing that was found was a letter that was from Albert Einstein. The letter said the directions and calculations to make a time machine. For this to be possible, Einstein must have used the time machine himself and given the directions to Franklin who he had recognised as another genius and inventor like himself. In the letter, another surprising thing was found. Franklin and Einstein were related. They were both part of the Cahill family heirloom. The Cahill family is by far the largest and most important family in the world. They are about half way through the building of the time machine.

It is the year 2018, the new space shuttle called “Mars” is ready for launch. The whole country is in anticipation and everyone is watching on NBC News. The three brave men and woman are all getting their suits on. Space Captain, Katniss Catnip, is all ready and straightening her hair in her private dressing room. She wants to look spectacular for the cameras. Katniss walks out of the room with her crew in slowmotion. Then one of the reporters says, “You are not going to make it to the shuttle in time if you keep walking like that.” In response, Katniss snaps her fingers and the slow motion stops. They get in the space shuttle. The countdown begins. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… BLAST OFF.

The spaceship blasts off, moving at half the speed of light headed up towards the sun. The space shuttle moves so fast after you blink it has disappeared into the atmosphere. The plan is to go around the sun and do a slingshot to the dwarf planet, Pluto. After that, they plan to go to Mars. From there it will take 5 hours to get to Venus. After that to Mercury. And finally, the sun. It is going to be very dangerous and everyone has their eyes glued to the TV. When in the atmosphere, the men and women will watch the earth orbit and make calculations which they will send to the scientists back on earth at NASA using the latest messenger spaceship robot. That robot moves at the speed of light and is programed to only go to a certain destination in NASA and back to the space shuttle in space with the reply from the scientists on earth.

On the space shuttle pod, it is not like a beach house in the Bahamas, it has very hard conditions. There is one good thing, you can float like when you slingshot yourself through a tunnel. The negative things about the trip are they also have to breath oxygen that is created on board from water and carbon dioxide exhaled from their own breaths, eat dehydrated food and drink water purified from their urine.The astronauts rotate jobs and responsibilities. From the space shuttle, they will measure the axis and measure where it is pointing. The scientist’s space shuttle will revolve around the sun so they can do the slingshot method.

When the scientists go to the sun, they will attach an object to it that will change the heat of the equator. That will be the most dangerous part of the long, hard journey. The scientists must wear special suits to avoid being burnt. The design for those suits was found in an old chest hidden somewhere and the design came from none other than Benjamin Franklin. Archaeologists also found many other inventions that were never shared with the public. Another thing that was found was a letter that was from Albert Einstein. The letter said the directions and calculations to make a time machine. For this to be possible, Einstein must have used the time machine himself and given the directions to Franklin who he had recognised as another genius and inventor like himself. In the letter, another surprising thing was found. Franklin and Einstein were related. They were both part of the Cahill family heirloom. The Cahill family is by far the largest and most important family in the world. They are about half way through the building of the time machine.

It is the year 2018, the new space shuttle called “Mars” is ready for launch. The whole country is in anticipation and everyone is watching on NBC News. The three brave men and woman are all getting their suits on. Space Captain, Katniss Catnip, is all ready and straightening her hair in her private dressing room. She wants to look spectacular for the cameras. Katniss walks out of the room with her crew in slowmotion. Then one of the reporters says, “You are not going to make it to the shuttle in time if you keep walking like that.” In response, Katniss snaps her fingers and the slow motion stops. They get in the space shuttle. The countdown begins. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… BLAST OFF.

The spaceship blasts off, moving at half the speed of light headed up towards the sun. The space shuttle moves so fast after you blink it has disappeared into the atmosphere. The plan is to go around the sun and do a slingshot to the dwarf planet, Pluto. After that, they plan to go to Mars. From there it will take 5 hours to get to Venus. After that to Mercury. And finally, the sun. It is going to be very dangerous and everyone has their eyes glued to the TV. When in the atmosphere, the men and women will watch the earth orbit and make calculations which they will send to the scientists back on earth at NASA using the latest messenger spaceship robot. That robot moves at the speed of light and is programed to only go to a certain destination in NASA and back to the space shuttle in space with the reply from the scientists on earth.

On the space shuttle pod, it is not like a beach house in the Bahamas, it has very hard conditions. There is one good thing, you can float like when you slingshot yourself through a tunnel. The negative things about the trip are they also have to breath oxygen that is created on board from water and carbon dioxide exhaled from their own breaths, eat dehydrated food and drink water purified from their urine.The astronauts rotate jobs and responsibilities. From the space shuttle, they will measure the axis and measure where it is pointing. The scientist’s space shuttle will revolve around the sun so they can do the slingshot method.

When the scientists go to the sun, they will attach an object to it that will change the heat of the equator. That will be the most dangerous part of the long, hard journey. The scientists must wear special suits to avoid being burnt. The design for those suits was found in an old chest hidden somewhere and the design came from none other than Benjamin Franklin. Archaeologists also found many other inventions that were never shared with the public. Another thing that was found was a letter that was from Albert Einstein. The letter said the directions and calculations to make a time machine. For this to be possible, Einstein must have used the time machine himself and given the directions to Franklin who he had recognised as another genius and inventor like himself. In the letter, another surprising thing was found. Franklin and Einstein were related. They were both part of the Cahill family heirloom. The Cahill family is by far the largest and most important family in the world. They are about half way through the building of the time machine.

It is the year 2018, the new space shuttle called “Mars” is ready for launch. The whole country is in anticipation and everyone is watching on NBC News. The three brave men and woman are all getting their suits on. Space Captain, Katniss Catnip, is all ready and straightening her hair in her private dressing room. She wants to look spectacular for the cameras. Katniss walks out of the room with her crew in slowmotion. Then one of the reporters says, “You are not going to make it to the shuttle in time if you keep walking like that.” In response, Katniss snaps her fingers and the slow motion stops. They get in the space shuttle. The countdown begins. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… BLAST OFF.

The spaceship blasts off, moving at half the speed of light headed up towards the sun. The space shuttle moves so fast after you blink it has disappeared into the atmosphere. The plan is to go around the sun and do a slingshot to the dwarf planet, Pluto. After that, they plan to go to Mars. From there it will take 5 hours to get to Venus. After that to Mercury. And finally, the sun. It is going to be very dangerous and everyone has their eyes glued to the TV. When in the atmosphere, the men and women will watch the earth orbit and make calculations which they will send to the scientists back on earth at NASA using the latest messenger spaceship robot. That robot moves at the speed of light and is programed to only go to a certain destination in NASA and back to the space shuttle in space with the reply from the scientists on earth.

On the space shuttle pod, it is not like a beach house in the Bahamas, it has very hard conditions. There is one good thing, you can float like when you slingshot yourself through a tunnel. The negative things about the trip are they also have to breath oxygen that is created on board from water and carbon dioxide exhaled from their own breaths, eat dehydrated food and drink water purified from their urine.The astronauts rotate jobs and responsibilities. From the space shuttle, they will measure the axis and measure where it is pointing. The scientist’s space shuttle will revolve around the sun so they can do the slingshot method.

When the scientists go to the sun, they will attach an object to it that will change the heat of the equator. That will be the most dangerous part of the long, hard journey. The scientists must wear special suits to avoid being burnt. The design for those suits was found in an old chest hidden somewhere and the design came from none other than Benjamin Franklin. Archaeologists also found many other inventions that were never shared with the public. Another thing that was found was a letter that was from Albert Einstein. The letter said the directions and calculations to make a time machine. For this to be possible, Einstein must have used the time machine himself and given the directions to Franklin who he had recognised as another genius and inventor like himself. In the letter, another surprising thing was found. Franklin and Einstein were related. They were both part of the Cahill family heirloom. The Cahill family is by far the largest and most important family in the world. They are about half way through the building of the time machine.

It is the year 2018, the new space shuttle called “Mars” is ready for launch. The whole country is in anticipation and everyone is watching on NBC News. The three brave men and woman are all getting their suits on. Space Captain, Katniss Catnip, is all ready and straightening her hair in her private dressing room. She wants to look spectacular for the cameras. Katniss walks out of the room with her crew in slowmotion. Then one of the reporters says, “You are not going to make it to the shuttle in time if you keep walking like that.” In response, Katniss snaps her fingers and the slow motion stops. They get in the space shuttle. The countdown begins. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… BLAST OFF.

The spaceship blasts off, moving at half the speed of light headed up towards the sun. The space shuttle moves so fast after you blink it has disappeared into the atmosphere. The plan is to go around the sun and do a slingshot to the dwarf planet, Pluto. After that, they plan to go to Mars. From there it will take 5 hours to get to Venus. After that to Mercury. And finally, the sun. It is going to be very dangerous and everyone has their eyes glued to the TV. When in the atmosphere, the men and women will watch the earth orbit and make calculations which they will send to the scientists back on earth at NASA using the latest messenger spaceship robot. That robot moves at the speed of light and is programed to only go to a certain destination in NASA and back to the space shuttle in space with the reply from the scientists on earth.

On the space shuttle pod, it is not like a beach house in the Bahamas, it has very hard conditions. There is one good thing, you can float like when you slingshot yourself through a tunnel. The negative things about the trip are they also have to breath oxygen that is created on board from water and carbon dioxide exhaled from their own breaths, eat dehydrated food and drink water purified from their urine.The astronauts rotate jobs and responsibilities. From the space shuttle, they will measure the axis and measure where it is pointing. The scientist’s space shuttle will revolve around the sun so they can do the slingshot method.

When the scientists go to the sun, they will attach an object to it that will change the heat of the equator. That will be the most dangerous part of the long, hard journey. The scientists must wear special suits to avoid being burnt. The design for those suits was found in an old chest hidden somewhere and the design came from none other than Benjamin Franklin. Archaeologists also found many other inventions that were never shared with the public. Another thing that was found was a letter that was from Albert Einstein. The letter said the directions and calculations to make a time machine. For this to be possible, Einstein must have used the time machine himself and given the directions to Franklin who he had recognised as another genius and inventor like himself. In the letter, another surprising thing was found. Franklin and Einstein were related. They were both part of the Cahill family heirloom. The Cahill family is by far the largest and most important family in the world. They are about half way through the building of the time machine.

It is the year 2018, the new space shuttle called “Mars” is ready for launch. The whole country is in anticipation and everyone is watching on NBC News. The three brave men and woman are all getting their suits on. Space Captain, Katniss Catnip, is all ready and straightening her hair in her private dressing room. She wants to look spectacular for the cameras. Katniss walks out of the room with her crew in slowmotion. Then one of the reporters says, “You are not going to make it to the shuttle in time if you keep walking like that.” In response, Katniss snaps her fingers and the slow motion stops. They get in the space shuttle. The countdown begins. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… BLAST OFF.

The spaceship blasts off, moving at half the speed of light headed up towards the sun. The space shuttle moves so fast after you blink it has disappeared into the atmosphere. The plan is to go around the sun and do a slingshot to the dwarf planet, Pluto. After that, they plan to go to Mars. From there it will take 5 hours to get to Venus. After that to Mercury. And finally, the sun. It is going to be very dangerous and everyone has their eyes glued to the TV. When in the atmosphere, the men and women will watch the earth orbit and make calculations which they will send to the scientists back on earth at NASA using the latest messenger spaceship robot. That robot moves at the speed of light and is programed to only go to a certain destination in NASA and back to the space shuttle in space with the reply from the scientists on earth.

On the space shuttle pod, it is not like a beach house in the Bahamas, it has very hard conditions. There is one good thing, you can float like when you slingshot yourself through a tunnel. The negative things about the trip are they also have to breath oxygen that is created on board from water and carbon dioxide exhaled from their own breaths, eat dehydrated food and drink water purified from their urine.The astronauts rotate jobs and responsibilities. From the space shuttle, they will measure the axis and measure where it is pointing. The scientist’s space shuttle will revolve around the sun so they can do the slingshot method.

When the scientists go to the sun, they will attach an object to it that will change the heat of the equator. That will be the most dangerous part of the long, hard journey. The scientists must wear special suits to avoid being burnt. The design for those suits was found in an old chest hidden somewhere and the design came from none other than Benjamin Franklin. Archaeologists also found many other inventions that were never shared with the public. Another thing that was found was a letter that was from Albert Einstein. The letter said the directions and calculations to make a time machine. For this to be possible, Einstein must have used the time machine himself and given the directions to Franklin who he had recognised as another genius and inventor like himself. In the letter, another surprising thing was found. Franklin and Einstein were related. They were both part of the Cahill family heirloom. The Cahill family is by far the largest and most important family in the world. They are about half way through the building of the time machine.

It is the year 2018, the new space shuttle called “Mars” is ready for launch. The whole country is in anticipation and everyone is watching on NBC News. The three brave men and woman are all getting their suits on. Space Captain, Katniss Catnip, is all ready and straightening her hair in her private dressing room. She wants to look spectacular for the cameras. Katniss walks out of the room with her crew in slowmotion. Then one of the reporters says, “You are not going to make it to the shuttle in time if you keep walking like that.” In response, Katniss snaps her fingers and the slow motion stops. They get in the space shuttle. The countdown begins. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… BLAST OFF.

The spaceship blasts off, moving at half the speed of light headed up towards the sun. The space shuttle moves so fast after you blink it has disappeared into the atmosphere. The plan is to go around the sun and do a slingshot to the dwarf planet, Pluto. After that, they plan to go to Mars. From there it will take 5 hours to get to Venus. After that to Mercury. And finally, the sun. It is going to be very dangerous and everyone has their eyes glued to the TV. When in the atmosphere, the men and women will watch the earth orbit and make calculations which they will send to the scientists back on earth at NASA using the latest messenger spaceship robot. That robot moves at the speed of light and is programed to only go to a certain destination in NASA and back to the space shuttle in space with the reply from the scientists on earth.

On the space shuttle pod, it is not like a beach house in the Bahamas, it has very hard conditions. There is one good thing, you can float like when you slingshot yourself through a tunnel. The negative things about the trip are they also have to breath oxygen that is created on board from water and carbon dioxide exhaled from their own breaths, eat dehydrated food and drink water purified from their urine.The astronauts rotate jobs and responsibilities. From the space shuttle, they will measure the axis and measure where it is pointing. The scientist’s space shuttle will revolve around the sun so they can do the slingshot method.

When the scientists go to the sun, they will attach an object to it that will change the heat of the equator. That will be the most dangerous part of the long, hard journey. The scientists must wear special suits to avoid being burnt. The design for those suits was found in an old chest hidden somewhere and the design came from none other than Benjamin Franklin. Archaeologists also found many other inventions that were never shared with the public. Another thing that was found was a letter that was from Albert Einstein. The letter said the directions and calculations to make a time machine. For this to be possible, Einstein must have used the time machine himself and given the directions to Franklin who he had recognised as another genius and inventor like himself. In the letter, another surprising thing was found. Franklin and Einstein were related. They were both part of the Cahill family heirloom. The Cahill family is by far the largest and most important family in the world. They are about half way through the building of the time machine.

It is the year 2018, the new space shuttle called “Mars” is ready for launch. The whole country is in anticipation and everyone is watching on NBC News. The three brave men and woman are all getting their suits on. Space Captain, Katniss Catnip, is all ready and straightening her hair in her private dressing room. She wants to look spectacular for the cameras. Katniss walks out of the room with her crew in slowmotion. Then one of the reporters says, “You are not going to make it to the shuttle in time if you keep walking like that.” In response, Katniss snaps her fingers and the slow motion stops. They get in the space shuttle. The countdown begins. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… BLAST OFF.

The spaceship blasts off, moving at half the speed of light headed up towards the sun. The space shuttle moves so fast after you blink it has disappeared into the atmosphere. The plan is to go around the sun and do a slingshot to the dwarf planet, Pluto. After that, they plan to go to Mars. From there it will take 5 hours to get to Venus. After that to Mercury. And finally, the sun. It is going to be very dangerous and everyone has their eyes glued to the TV. When in the atmosphere, the men and women will watch the earth orbit and make calculations which they will send to the scientists back on earth at NASA using the latest messenger spaceship robot. That robot moves at the speed of light and is programed to only go to a certain destination in NASA and back to the space shuttle in space with the reply from the scientists on earth.

On the space shuttle pod, it is not like a beach house in the Bahamas, it has very hard conditions. There is one good thing, you can float like when you slingshot yourself through a tunnel. The negative things about the trip are they also have to breath oxygen that is created on board from water and carbon dioxide exhaled from their own breaths, eat dehydrated food and drink water purified from their urine.The astronauts rotate jobs and responsibilities. From the space shuttle, they will measure the axis and measure where it is pointing. The scientist’s space shuttle will revolve around the sun so they can do the slingshot method.

When the scientists go to the sun, they will attach an object to it that will change the heat of the equator. That will be the most dangerous part of the long, hard journey. The scientists must wear special suits to avoid being burnt. The design for those suits was found in an old chest hidden somewhere and the design came from none other than Benjamin Franklin. Archaeologists also found many other inventions that were never shared with the public. Another thing that was found was a letter that was from Albert Einstein. The letter said the directions and calculations to make a time machine. For this to be possible, Einstein must have used the time machine himself and given the directions to Franklin who he had recognised as another genius and inventor like himself. In the letter, another surprising thing was found. Franklin and Einstein were related. They were both part of the Cahill family heirloom. The Cahill family is by far the largest and most important family in the world. They are about half way through the building of the time machine.

It is the year 2018, the new space shuttle called “Mars” is ready for launch. The whole country is in anticipation and everyone is watching on NBC News. The three brave men and woman are all getting their suits on. Space Captain, Katniss Catnip, is all ready and straightening her hair in her private dressing room. She wants to look spectacular for the cameras. Katniss walks out of the room with her crew in slowmotion. Then one of the reporters says, “You are not going to make it to the shuttle in time if you keep walking like that.” In response, Katniss snaps her fingers and the slow motion stops. They get in the space shuttle. The countdown begins. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… BLAST OFF.

The spaceship blasts off, moving at half the speed of light headed up towards the sun. The space shuttle moves so fast after you blink it has disappeared into the atmosphere. The plan is to go around the sun and do a slingshot to the dwarf planet, Pluto. After that, they plan to go to Mars. From there it will take 5 hours to get to Venus. After that to Mercury. And finally, the sun. It is going to be very dangerous and everyone has their eyes glued to the TV. When in the atmosphere, the men and women will watch the earth orbit and make calculations which they will send to the scientists back on earth at NASA using the latest messenger spaceship robot. That robot moves at the speed of light and is programed to only go to a certain destination in NASA and back to the space shuttle in space with the reply from the scientists on earth.

On the space shuttle pod, it is not like a beach house in the Bahamas, it has very hard conditions. There is one good thing, you can float like when you slingshot yourself through a tunnel. The negative things about the trip are they also have to breath oxygen that is created on board from water and carbon dioxide exhaled from their own breaths, eat dehydrated food and drink water purified from their urine.The astronauts rotate jobs and responsibilities. From the space shuttle, they will measure the axis and measure where it is pointing. The scientist’s space shuttle will revolve around the sun so they can do the slingshot method.

When the scientists go to the sun, they will attach an object to it that will change the heat of the equator. That will be the most dangerous part of the long, hard journey. The scientists must wear special suits to avoid being burnt. The design for those suits was found in an old chest hidden somewhere and the design came from none other than Benjamin Franklin. Archaeologists also found many other inventions that were never shared with the public. Another thing that was found was a letter that was from Albert Einstein. The letter said the directions and calculations to make a time machine. For this to be possible, Einstein must have used the time machine himself and given the directions to Franklin who he had recognised as another genius and inventor like himself. In the letter, another surprising thing was found. Franklin and Einstein were related. They were both part of the Cahill family heirloom. The Cahill family is by far the largest and most important family in the world. They are about half way through the building of the time machine.

I am very proud of all my students.  Some kids did very well for the third report card  session, and I like to give credit to these children who worked so hard  in Science.  I’m calling this group “Einstein’s Kids” and another  group will be posted in the future.

1- The children who earned the most stars and were our prize winners from this term are:

Grade 3       SAGE

Grade 4       ZACH  M.

Grade 5        BECCA

2- The children who helped their peers by setting a good example and displayed critical thinking/ creative thinking skills, and “went the extra mile” in attitude and work are:

Gr. 5  BEN C. always types his EC work and offers good insights into discussions concerning new topics

Gr.4 JAGGER: created a  wonderful research lesson for grades 4 and 5 and was “Teacher for a Day”

Gr.4 JASMINE: led the class in discussing the results of her  two “Quickie” lessons on brain teasers

Gr. 4 SAMANTHA Z:  started her class to get interested in “brain teasers” and inspired other students to look for quickies to share in class

Gr.4 ELAD: always displays a high interest in all topics and offers excellent insights into discussions

Gr. 3 ALLIE: always helpful by adding her own ideas about class room topics and presentation ideas

Gr. 3  JACK: sets a good role model for his peers through his knowledge and shared ideas that stimulate the rest of the class

Gr.4 EVAN: always completes his work and asks intelligent, important  questions that  show his comprehension of the topic and will continue to explain his thoughts to the class

Gr.4 AYDEN: offers super ideas to the classroom discussions and can debate his point of view

Gr.4 BECCA: displays a high interest in new topics, and shows her comprehension through constant participation

Gr.4 EMILY: shows an interest in her work and asks questions that help to clarify ideas for her peers

Gr.4  JULIA: has displayed super insights into the classwork/experiments and helps her peers to better understand an idea by expressing her own thoughts about a particular topic

Gr. 4 NOAH: takes his work seriously and  has good ideas to share with his peers

GR.5 BECCA: shared  a video with the class about nature VS. nurture

Gr. 5 BEN A: always has valuable ideas to share that can inspire deeper conversations

Gr. 5 ZACH S: began the new term with a “Bang” by participating and showing positive behavior

CONGRATS TO EVERYONE!

Since I don’t give tests or homework, I thought that you might want to know how the grades are determined.  The main items are: optional extra credit work, class work, attitude, effort, and participation.  The children earn stars for these areas, and the extra credit can help to raise the grade. It is important to note that stars are given for creative thinking, ideas that stimulate one’s peers, debating skills, as well as being able to explain and prove one’s thoughts.  The child’s current status is compared to the previous grades to note the rate of progress, and then the final grade for the report card is determined.

Grade three gets only a letter grade.  Grade four and five, gets a letter grade and a numerical grade, as well as two additional grades for “understanding concepts” and “applying concepts.”

If you have any question, please feel free to contact me.

I had an accident and had stitches in my dominant hand, and I was never great at typing before the accident.  With this new problem (like I needed another issue with typing !), I am not able to type without it taking a v-e-r-y l-o-n-g time and creating considerable pain.  I am having the stitches removed at the end of this week, and expect to be able to write to you by next week.

Thank you very much for your understanding.

Last week, we began using our text books.  Our first experiment involved pouring water into containers and discussing the amounts of water in each. To up-grade the content and to coordinate it more with the scientific method, I changed the format. When the children entered the room, there were 4 containers on the table.  Each container already had water inside.  One was tall and thin (like a test tube), the others 3 were round  with different heights and widths.  The class was given a work sheet with the word Hypothesis next to a blank space and the sentence “Conclusion: Jean Piaget’s theory of conservation.” followed by the sentence “Each  container has _____ounces of water.”

The students were asked to pretend that their favorite drink was in the containers and to write the number of the container they would prefer. Most picked the tall container.  Some picked the one that appeared to have the next largest amount of water.  Then I poured each amount of water into a measuring cup to prove that each container had 2 oz. of water.  The kids were amazed.

The students were then given a study sheet explaining Piaget’s theory and how it relates to our main topic (matter) and the current topic (mass, volume).  It was fun to see the different ways the kid’s pronounced “Piaget.” The really cool part, was how quickly the class understood this complex theory after actually seeing it and proving it via the scientific method. To conclude, each child wrote Piaget’s theory in her/his own words (and used scientific language) as it related to our experiment.  It was great!  This just goes to prove that a tactile “hands-on” method greatly improves one’s understanding  and memory.

I want to keep science new, fun and interesting; so I am continually  changing my room and the outside wall.

The outside wall, is my “grabber.”   Many kids (even ones who aren’t technically “my current students”) stop and look for new optical illusions and science oddities.  I get a kick, when I hear a child say, “Wow” and “You gotta take a look at this one!”

Since we are a Jewish school, I also incorporate Hebrew themes on my outside walls, as well as inside my classroom.  In keeping with our slogan of “A community of Kindness” I have a “loshon hora”  section  on the outside wall.  Inside the room, Hebrew words are being incorporated into our science fair projects.  By connecting science to other areas of study, science becomes more meaningful and relevant.  Since the power of observation is step #4 on the Scientific Method, it seems silly not to use this skill as a learning experience in the daily lessons.  Whoever, spots something new, gets a star.  Stars are used to improve ones grade by performing extra credit work, using critical thinking skills, or saying something that stimulates peers.

Another trick I use to get my students and their parent to look at my blog is by showing photos and/or listing names of kids who did specific tasks.  For example, last week I put the photos of two students on my blog because of the exceptional work displayed by these kids. I  emailed the parents and announced to all of the classes the display of the photos.  The title with the kid’s photos said, “Working the the A.”  The kids who did the optional  Extra Credit work (although they were told that it would “behoove” them to do it), also got their names listed as a reward.

So, what’s new in class that can stimulate conversation?  I have a mobile of some of the pics taken  by the Hubble, and the photos are like works of art.  The stars, planets, etc. are beautiful and amazing to view.

I also made my Scientific Method sign into a puzzle, and I am waiting for a student to notice the connection between the Critical Thinking  skills needed for the  SM and for the puzzle.  I keep current on scientific news and share items of interest with the kids, such as the discovery of a new planet called gliese 581g.  We shared photos and discussed how some planets are discovered mathematically before they are ever seen, and how some are discovered visually.  So far, we have noted connections between  math and art to science.

To share in their experiences with the kids, I decided to partake in a science project.  Some weeks ago, I began an experiment following Prof. Emoto’s ideas of how humans can effect social behavior and the environment by being “nice ” or “evil” to water.  Emoto’s theory is the water reacts to positive and negative emotions.  I really expected this experiment to be “hokey” and I titled it “Fact or Theory.”  However, I am beginning to see a difference in the two rice containers.  The “bad” rice has mean words written on it, and I yell at it.  The kids enjoy yelling at the rice too.  The “good” rice has nice words written on it and I sing to it, Ben A gave it two presents, and it has its own toy that sings it a happy song.   Well, the bad rice is starting to have an unpleasant order, the water and the rice are separating, and the color looks a bit funky.  The good rice smells OK, the water and rice haven’t separated, and its color looks pretty white instead of brown.  The outcome, still remains to be seen.

I’m also encouraging the kids in grade 5 to produce a video on specific tools needed for certain science fair projects.  Everyone likes to see themselves on film!

GRADE 5

GIL: Complete board.  Here are some ideas from your classmates; add directions for an observer to to your experiment, given a tin plate and 4 balls of clay the observer can re-create your experiment, decorate background

Itamar, Zach, Elior: decorate board. Adding some of the colored words from the test at random spots on the board

BECCA & ZOE: complete Hebrew key by Thursday

GRADE 4

NOAH: attach metal a nd paper airplanes to your board

JAGGER: no HW

ARIELLA & SAM: Would you advise next year’s grade 4 class to do your experiment?  Why? What did you like or dislike and why? What would you add or change and why? Is there a follow-up experiment that you would suggest that is related to your topic? Please look at last week’s blog for more ideas and suggestions for this paragraph.  Each  student will write her own paragraph.  Then we will compare and contrast your work.  Perhaps we could put both of your  ideas into one article.  We’ll chat more tomorrow.

AYDEN, GRIFF: Optional work – bar graph showing your data.  It’s your choice. Required work:”My Opinion”.  Would you advise next year’s grade 5 class to do this experiment?  Explain the reasons for your statements.  This should be a paragraph (10 sentences).

EM, JAZ, & BECCA: Each student will write her own conclusion.  Then we will compare and contrast all of your ideas.  Is it possible to move the Evaporation article under the Hypothesis?

Hebrew words: water, cup, sugar, salt, plastic, wire, balloon, stick (noun, not verb), pencil. I have the following pictures and Hebrew words for you:knot, yarn, paper clip, glass and beaker, string, write, water,cup.  I can look for more words tomorrow.

ZACH R: Would you advise next year’s grade 4 students to do this experiment? Explain your thinking. Look at Ariella’s and Sam’s directions on this page and on the old blog for additional ideas.

You did a super job today with ma=F.  I am so proud of you.

ELLIE & ARIN: ideas for decorations – question marks cut from colored paper, pictures of mind readers (Gypsy), I have a picture of a girl “thinking” written in Hebrew.

Zach M: What did grade 3 do that you also wanted to do on your poster board?

ELAD & ZACH R: Does your hypothesis match your conclusion?  Explain why or why not. Title: “Comparing my hypothesis to my conclusion”

GRADE 3

BEN: Trim the picture of the frog and glue to the colored paper.  You do not have to do any written work. It was a mistake to  give it to you.  Sorry If I got you confused.

LIAL: See the science blog from last week.  Use “The Fix” (I circled it for you) to explain why each experiment did not work.  Please use the phrase “center of gravity” as it relates to balance and the body’s ability to move or not move.

JULIA: no HW

SAM: Type a title for each item that was underlined  in the directions.

JAKE: I didn’t get a copy of today’s work.  Please email it to me ASAP.  Thanks.

NAHILA: decorate poster

JACK: no HW

ALLIE & GABE: Where is the photo of a child being tested? It needs to be on your poster.

ISA & SAGE: Put today’s work on colored and mount on board.

ABIGAIL: no HW

Friday is my day off, so the blog is usually posted on Friday before the kids leave school.  However; this Friday was our professional teacher meeting  day, and I was not able to post the HW  before Shabbos.  I just wanted you to know the reason for the late posting.

Also, some children may have a double HW assignment  due to the fact that they didn’t complete the prior task given last week.  Therefore, they need to finish last week’s HW as well as the HW due on Tuesday.  HW is assigned when the classwork is not completed or self-corrected as requested. This is the reason why some children have HW and others don’t.  Please check last week’s blog, and see if that  work was done.

For grade 4, it is imperative that all work is done as required and in a timely fashion.  It’s time to move in to another topic, but the poster boards need to be completed before that can happen.

Even though the middle school was required to complete their projects over the winter break, I was more lenient with my classes due to their ages and the fact that this was their first time using the Scientific  Method.  I would greatly appreciate it if each parent would monitor  her/his child’s work and make sure that your child’s work is completed as scheduled.  All the experimentation and discussions were completed some time ago, and all that remains is the work for the poster boards.  I would like this to be finished by the end of the week.  Thank you very much for your cooperation and understanding.  As always, if you have any questions; please feel free to contact me by phone or email.

GRADE 3

JACK: Your application was wonderful.  There are just a few minor correction in grammar: 1- The first sentence should end with the word “sweat.” 2- The second sentence begins with the word “It” and needs a comma after the word “sweat.”  3- After the second sentence please add this sentence ” Our bodies would over-heat.”  4- Sentence # 4 begins with “The pores in our bodies….  and should have a period after the word “die.”  5-Sentence #5 should be written as “You know how good it feels when you take a warm bath or shower, and our pores absorb that warm water.”  The last sentence should be written as “They let water (or you may write H20 because I know that you like to use the science terms; it’s your choice) into our bodies to make us healthy and to make us feel good.”

type, save, email to me

SAM: Thank you for putting your pictures on the paper and please remember to thank Morah Mazal for helping you.  Please type  the following titles  as directed and  glue each one above its picture.  You can use a large font , such as 20. 1- Type a title for each picture on the pink paper. Title  #1 is ” The Raw Egg Weighs One Gram” (it’s the white egg) and title #2 is “The Boiled Egg Weighs Ten Grams.” 2-  Type a title for the picture of the chicken with its egg such as “Without Pores This Chicken Would Have Died”  3- Title for the scale, “We weighed the egg twice”  4- The procedure and the key go in the middle section under “How Does a Chicken….  ”  First glue the procedure and next to it, glue the key. 5- The 2 egg photos go under the procedure and the key.  6- The chicken picture goes above the egg diagram on the right side of the board. 7- The picture of the scale goes under the hypothesis.

Type, save, and email to me: Title “My Opinion”   Would you suggest that next year’s third grade class do this experiment?  Explain your thinking.  What did you like and  or dislike?  Why?  Is there anything about the experiment that you would change or add or eliminate and why? What did you learn from this experiment? Is the info useful or important? Explain your thinking.  Any other thought that you want to add would go into this paragraph.

NAHILA: decorate

JULIA: Type, save, email to me: Title “My Opinion” Please follow the same directions that were given to Sam. Also, check last week’s HW and use the questions/ideas to create a 2 paragraph  story for “My Opinion.”  You can eliminate the part about the dogs and the snake unless you find it interesting; it’s your choice.

LIAL: Type, save, email to me.   What was the problem and why couldn’t the kids do the experiments as requested?  See “The Fix” for each experiment on your experiment sheet (it’s in your folder) for helpful ideas.  Tell me what you learned about the center of gravity in your body and how this effected all your experiments.

BEN:  Please re-think and re-type your first paragraph of “My Opinion.”  I believe that you misunderstood the children’s laughter and comments.  Remember when I showed you the photos of yourself testing Nahila and Julia?  Both girls had smiles and were laughing as they were trying to do the experiment. When the other children were laughing, it was because of the unexpected results.  It was hard for the kids to believe that the subjects weren’t able to complete a seemingly simple action. No children were being teased or had their feeling hurt.   The second paragraph is fine except for a correction in grammar. Please type ” I would not think the next third grade class would like to do this experiment because I think that it was not interesting to me.”

type, save, email to me

ALLIE & GABE: no HW.  Do you still want to replace the data with paper that isn’t bumpy?

SAGE: Glue experiment #1 on colored paper. You already typed this. Write the conclusions to both of  your experiments and state your data to support your answers.  Type each conclusion as  separate paragraphs and title them as “Experiment With Ice-cube Trays and Salt” and “Experiment With Salt, String, and an Ice-cube.”

ISA: See last week’s  HW. Type, save, email to me.

ISA & SAGE: See last week’s HW and follow directions.  This is important and must be completed by Tuesday.  Type, save, email to me.

JULIA: Type one more sentence to conclude your paragraph.  If we already did this in class, then you don’t have any HW.  Type, save, email to me.

JAKE: See last week’s  HW.

GRADE 4

GRIFF & AYDEN:  Ayden, you did a fine job in explaining ma=F to Zach.  Now, please see last week’s HW and follow the directions.  Griff, please follow the same directions as Ayden for last week’s HW.  I expect more than a few sentences.  There’s a great deal of data and info to cover, so I expect at least one full paragraph (10 sentences is the least acceptable amount). Please use the title as stated in your HW  directions.

Also,  each of you needs to write an application for ma=F.  How else is this scientific fact illustrated other than in your experiment?  Give your work a title.  We will compare and contrast both of your ideas and in class, we will incorporate your thoughts into one larger paragraph.

Elad: no HW; unless you need to self-correct and  retype.  I don’t have a copy of your current work.  Your writing was wonderful.   Type, save, email to me. If this was already done, glue it to colored paper so it can be mounted on the board.

ZACH: Great writing!  Please type, save, email to  me. Don’y forget the title.  I already  gave it to you.

ELAD, ZACH, AYDEN, GRIFF: In class on Tuesday, I would like all of you to compare your ideas and your work on ma=F.  Then, please see me.

JULIA: Type, save, & email your data sheet to me.  Please do not use the kid’s names;  just write “Subject #1, Subject #2, etc.

Explain the results of your experiment  and why that occurred.  See “The Fix” from your experiment for helpful ideas.  I would like to see Bernoulli’s Principle included in your writing.

ZACH, PARKER: How does Bernoulli’s Principle relate to each of your experiments? Parker, please read my last comments to you and respond.  See “the Fix” for suggestions for both experiments. Type, save, email to me.

Would you advise your experiment to be done by grade 4 next year? Please see Sam’s directions (gr.3) for directions.  Type, save, email to me.

ARIELLA & SAM: mount photos on colored paper and put on board.  Both of you need to look at last week’s HW and make sure that it was completed.  Type, save, email to me: “From this experiment , I learned about…….. (density, salt, carbonation are some of the items to be included in this paragraph).

EVAN: no HW

JOSH: See last week’s HW.  Then do this assignment; Explain why the tin square frisbee flew farther than the paper frisbee. Where was the placement of the clay on each model? Was this a factor in the frisbee’s flight pattern?  What other factors contributed  to the flight? Explain your thinking by stating data from your experiment. Ideas: air flow, air resistance, Bernoulli’s Principle,  weight, balance, see Elad, Zach R, Ayden, or Griff aboput ma=F.

type, save, email to me

JEREMY: Which model flew the best and why?  Which model flew the worst and why? Does balance effect the results?  Explain your thoughts and use data from from experiment to support your ideas.  See ideas stated in Josh’s HW for helpful hints.  See last week’s HW and  include that assignment  into this paragraph.

type, save, email to me

ARIN & ELLIE: See last week’s HW. Each of you have 2 assignments that are due on Tuesday.

EMILY: Type, save, & email your work to me that you wrote in class.

BECCA: Type, save, and email to me your work that was written in class.  I would like to see 2 additions to your paragraph.  After the first sentence, please add “This was fine because as the water evaporated, the crystals attached to the stick.”  After the last sentence, please write ” It was too cold and too humid.”

JAZ: I don’t have a copy of the work that you did on Thursday.  Can you please email it to me?

JAGGER: no HW

ORLI: If you already typed the title for you recommendation, then this part of your work is done.  Please email it to me.

NOAH: You said that you wanted to make some new airplanes for the poster board.  You could also use the old ones that you flew in class.  The choice is yours.

GRADE 5

ITAMAR: Mount “Another Experiment” on your board.

GIL: Glue corrected item on colored paper and mount it on the top right side of your board. Be prepared to give your oral presentation on Tuesday.  If you’re not ready, you can do it on Wednesday.  Please email me your decision.

Every one else: Thank you so much for making super presentations.  I am really impressed with everyone and everything that you have done.  I’m thrilled to be your teacher this year.