Catching Up

Here we are, starting a new school year, and I'm just NOW blogging my first post! Shame on me!

To be fair, I did start a little late. My first day was right after Labor Day, which is a little funny since I started late due to some hard labor. :)

She's pretty cute though. Totally worth it.

But now I've been at this school thing for a month and I know you're wondering what we're up to. Allow me to catch you up.

We created math equations using popsicle sticks in PE. Here you see the winning team!

We created a new Text Talk poster- "The better to make connections with, my Dear." (Make a text-to-text connection!!)


We did a Mystery Matter experiment! While studying physical properties, I found some liquids that we could describe without being able to use one of the physical properties- color. Students used toothpicks to help them examine the liquids.

 Here you see students filling out their graphic organizers. 

They had to use their 5 senses, yes, including taste, to be able to describe the liquids. I told students that none of the liquids would hurt them, but not all of them were truly edible. In other words, you can take a lick, but not a drink! I had students dip their toothpicks in the Mystery Matter and put it on their fingers, then they could lick their finger. 

 This was our first Mystery Matter that I modeled for the class. It's clear Karo syrup. 

Here's how we described the Karo Syrup.

 Our chart- ready for our observations!

1. Sprite

2. Vinegar

3. Baby Oil

4. Water

 My new batch of Soldiers had a great time and did some great work. I think they'll be able to do some more experiments in the future. :)

Keep checking back to see what we're up to! I promise to get better at this posting stuff this year! I might just make you look at some cute pics of my baby though.

 

Science: Sound Stations

At the last science professional development of the year, we looked at the science of sound. Here are some of the activities we teachers got to play with. :)

Mystery Egg Shakers

 You know all those Easter eggs that are just sitting around your house right now, just waiting for next year's hunt? Put them to good use! Mystery Egg Shakers!
Each egg is holding different small items and students must guess the item based on the sound of it being shaken in the egg.
Here are some of the ideas for the small items: small barrette, dice, rubber ball, chalk, safety pins, brass brads, shells (or shell noodles), rubber bands, push pins, shelf hooks, Lego block, paper, cotton ball, hard candy
Students will have to describe how object sound when being shaken in the egg. They can also describe the weight of the egg. It was lots of fun to play as an adult, so I know the kids would love it!

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Mini Milk Carton Guitar

 Remember doing this when you were in school? It's still fun today! Using pencils to make sure the rubber bands have vibrating room, use different sized bands to create different sounds. Bonus points of you can play a song!

 This activity was found online, so our presenter couldn't take the credit. Not sure of the website, but love the activity!

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PVC Mouth Pipe

Using PVC pipe cut into 4-8 inch sections, the pipes are first glues together using plumbers glue, then taped together using pretty tape. (to cover the ugly glue)
Our facilitator mentioned that if you're a teacher, and have adorable puppy eyes, places like Ace and Home Depot will usually cut the pipe for a discount- and sometimes for free!

I've seriously enjoyed the science professional developments this year. Can't wait to see what they have in store for us next year!

Science Experiment- Physical Properties

This post is a little late in coming and I apologize! We actually did this experiment a few weeks ago, I just never got around to downloading the pictures.

When we studied physical properties, we also looked at adjectives. How better to describe the physical properties of matter than by using adjectives?! We also had to describe things using our 5 senses: hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch.

For this experiment, I took away one of our major senses: sight. The purpose of the experiment was to describe and guess the identities of the different liquids, using adjectives, based on the rest of their senses.

We actually had 4 liquids, but I couldn't find the 4th bottle, so I had to use a cup. It wasn't very photogenic. :)
Each liquid was clear, so students couldn't base their guesses on sight. Students worked in teams and traveled to each of the 4 tables, describing the liquid at each table. Some students were brave enough to taste the liquids, even after I told them that not everything was edible. (not poisonous, just not edible)

Students had to record their adjectives on a physical properties recording sheet.

Each class had a great time! The answers were- bottle 1: water, bottle 2: karo syrup, bottle 3: vinegar, bottle 4: baby oil.
We made charts of the descriptive words students used for each liquid, but I didn't get a picture. The kids did a great job!

Planting a Mystery Garden

 This science experiment started innocently enough. All I wanted was to irritate my husband. Honestly, it doesn't take that much. You see, we have a garden in our backyard. My husband has built 40 raised garden beds for his gardening projects. Tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, squash, zucchini, lettuce, berries, you name it and my husband grows it!

Here are some pictures from last year's garden:

My husband is showing my mom the garden.

Here's my daughter showing off her sunflowers.

This year, wonder of wonders, my husband has allowed me to have one garden bed. That's right. Out of 40, he has allowed me 1. How gracious of him.

Now my hubby is completely OCD when it comes to his garden. Every bed is planned out to perfection and each seed is given it's time to germinate on our growing table before being planted in it's garden home. What could I do to shake him up a bit?

I could find a seed so obscure that it would throw him into a tizzy! So, I went online and found this site:

Bountiful Gardens!

Not only to they specialize in seeds of all kinds, all the seeds are heirloom, which means you can harvest the seeds from the plants you grow to use the next season! Score!

So  I went to the Seed Mixes section and found the PERFECT mix of seeds for my evil plan... the KID MIX! It's a random mix of seeds from the previous season- in other words, you don't know what you're going to get! Veggies, fruits, or flowers? Who knows!? And what could be more annoying to an OCD gardener than having a mystery garden?!

The best part is that the seed packets are so cheap- just 50 cents! I bought 4 packets. I wanted my (personal) kids to get in on the action, and I wanted to share the fun with my students as well.

The Mystery Garden

I let my students in on my evil gardening plan and they thought it was hilarious. When I told them I wanted us to plant some mystery seeds, they were thrilled! We started by watching a short Curious George video called Seed Trouble. 

It's about George having to sort seeds using their attributes- size, shape, color. I wanted my students to have to do the same thing. I gave each team a small amount of seeds from one of the seed packets. (there were a ton of seeds in that packet!) They were to examine the seeds and sort them into groups according to their attributes. Once they were sorted, my students had to label them as being vegetable, fruit, or flower seeds.

After sorting, students chose 4 seeds (of the same kind) and came to my table. Last season I made a binder of all the different seeds my husband used in his garden. My students used the binder to see if they could identify their seeds.

It took me 2 hours, but the binder is worth it! Do you know my crazy husband had 14 types of tomatoes?

 Showing off the seeds they chose

 Going through the binder to guess what they have

 They labeled their cup with their name and their guess 

Time to plant! Dirt, seed, more dirt, water!

Only time will tell what our mystery garden will grow! Some of the seeds were easy to label since I had some matching seeds in my binder. However, the seed mix was so extensive, we have some seeds planted that we couldn't identify! A true mystery!

 

Creative Discovery Museum at CHES

On Tuesday night we at CHES were excited to host our first Science Night, with activities brought to us by the Creative Discovery Museum!

*side note here- the lady on the left was Ms. Roach's 3rd grade teacher! Crazy, right?*

If you missed out on the fun, no problem! Here's what you missed!

Above and Below the Earth

Biodiversity and Interdependence- 

life cycles and food chains

 Ms. Roach showing the life cycle of a moth through the magnifying glasses

 Matching life cycles

 I love that parents got in on the action!

Build a tower

 Mrs. Ritchey and Mrs. Jackson

Cells

Myth Busters

Science of Flight-
By far the most popular room! Ms. Chase handled it like a pro!

Simple Machines

Types of Energy

 Making sound cups

What's the Matter

Using carbon dioxide (dry ice) to make soap bubbles

Thank you, Creative Discovery for coming and making our Science Night a success! And thank you parents, staff, and students for participating!