Link to Invention Web SiteMay 10
Welcome back, banders! We had a wonderful time ourselves -
the highpoint being working at Feed My Starving Children.
We will have a test on Thursday on the first activities of the
Chemical Interactions unit. Students received study guides today,
Tuesday. All items on the guide will be gone over in class on
Wednesday - they can get started on them tonight.
April 29
Students should redo their Senses test, if necessary. Correct all
wrong answers ON LOOSE LEAF and attach to the front of the
test. The two grades will be averaged. This is an optional suggestion.
Students, for homework, need to finish page 21 in the lab book.
April 27
Absolutely fabulous element presentations! Memorize the symbols
of our presented elements. We're working on identifying mystery
powders. Results are in the lab book pages 9 and 11. This continues
today and summary activities and identification will be tomorrow.
April 18
Keep working on the element project - it's due on Wednesday
when we will be presenting our elements to the class. No other
homework. Tomorrow we will be viewing 9 types of powders
and their characteristics.
April 14
Good job on the test, people! Students have been given ONE
element to research and report on. They have an assignment
outline in their hands with required information and choice of
presentation. This will be due on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20.
Much of the work must be done at home - we will use the
computers here at school for at least two days of research.
April 11
Students have finished the labs for the Human Brain and Senses
unit. Study guides for the last three senses - hearing, taste and
smell have been given out and gone over in class.
Tonight, homework is to generate FIVE questions about
taste, hearing, and smell.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, we will go over all questions and study
guides. TEST WEDNESDAY.
April 7
Students tasted 3 different kinds of paper to determine whether
the ability to taste it is dominant or recessive. It is a genetic
ability.
HOMEWORK: finish the graph and questions for the activity
April 5
Students finished taste testing by doing an activity called
"tongue mapping". They found out where all the taste buds
are on the surface of the tongue. Tomorrow we will gather
data and answer questions.
HOMEWORK for tonight is simply to bring in at least TWO
smells. Anything you have at home - put it in a jar, baggie,
envelope, container - anything that will hold it. I prefer not
being able to SEE the contents.
March 28
Students are continuing to work on the sound activities. I am
expecting each group to finish at least four of them. Most groups
are there or finishing their fourth. We'll go one more day, then
move on to the other senses - taste, smell, and touch.
March 15
Students are working in pairs to investigate many, many aspects of
sound. Some examples are Boomwhackers (ask them how much fun)
tuning forks, parts of the ear, decibels, and many other topics. There
will not be any homework during this week as they work only in class.
February 15
Many thanks and good wishes to the six students who submitted their
invention entry form to the regionals. Yes, we do NOT have to pay the
fee this time - it is included in the school's registration.
Today we went to the FOSS website and learned about an MRI - the
various types of images and the sounds. Students answered questions
about what they saw. We'll go over these tomorrow.
February 14
No homework. Students did "Letterheads" with play-dough to see how
doctors can take pictures of "slices" of the brain to put together into
a three-dimensional model.
ANYONE WANTING TO SUBMIT THEIR ENTRY FORMS TO
THE YOUNG INVENTOR'S FAIR MUST TURN IN THAT FORM
TUESDAY. NO LATE FORMS WILL BE ACCEPTED. YIF HAS
A FIRM DEADLINE.
February 10
No homework. We finished the movie "The Miracle Worker"
which is about the early life of Helen Keller and the introduction
to her lifelong teacher and friend, Annie Sullivan. We
started summary discussion and questions about Helen's life
and the loss of one or more senses.
February 9
Inventions are in!! I am so very impressed with the understanding,
hard work, ingenuity and production. Students shared their projects
with 2 of the 4th grade classrooms and they will be displayed on
Friday during the Family Lunch.
Back the the Brain and Senses next - we'll be finishing light and sight,
then moving to the ear and sound.
January 12
After a long interval, we're back and working hard on a new science
unit, The Brain and the Senses. Invention projects are ongoing with
students hopefully putting the finishing touches on their product.
The revised entry form is due by January 19th, the display board plan
due by January 25th and the complete project is due on the 31st.
November 8
You're working all along on inventions. We started research on Thursday,
will continue some today. We have a web based worksheet on
movement today on the Foss website also. We'll finish this on
Tuesday and begin workbook pages 58 and 59. This will be due
THURSDAY. On Wednesday students need to have a more detailed
description of their invention - we'll discuss this as needed. Thursday we
will assign the last activity in this section - workbook pages 60-61. We'll
correct all and discuss the units on Friday. On Monday
will be investigations 4 and 5 review, and test on Tuesday. Study
sheets should be available by Thursday.
October 26
Some super great ideas for inventions turned in today - continue
working on the plans - a paragraph and diagram due next week
on Wednesday.
All pages 35-46 from lab workbook turned in today - I'll try to
get these on quickly - in case of redos before Friday.
October 7
Please obtain a notebook to use for an invention logbook.
PLEASE refer to the link listed above. Going forward,
SOME dates may be slightly different than listed depending
on availability of school computers, other activities that take up
more time than anticipated, or simply spending more time on
any one aspect.
Inventions are usually a fabulous experience for our sixth graders.
Plan on coming to the informational meeting on Thursday, October 14th
at 6:30 p.m.
October 4
Students are finishing up investigation 3 on speed calculations
and comparisons. They received a study guide for the first
three investigations - symbols, definitions, and formulas - and we
will review all in class on Tuesday. Wednesday will be a test.
September 29
And they're off!!!! The weather prediction is without rain,
the enthusiasm this morning was contagious, the lessons they
will share and learn are unbeatable. Camp St. Croix provides
a stunning view of the river, acres of woods and trails, and a
staff with enthusiasm and knowledge.
September 23
We finished pages 24 and 25. We'll be working on setting
up a new activity based on differences between walking and
running.
September 14
Students handed in lab workbook pages 9 through 11 and
their 4 graphing activities. We started talking about speed today
and used visual "races" on pages 13 to 15. They should finish
for homework if not already done.
August
We are began our Force and Motion unit with
an experiment on motion - bouncing balls. We
set up all the variables, chose our manipulated
variable (independent) and decided on our responding
variable (dependent). On Tuesday we began our
drop-tests to find out which type of ball will bounce
the highest. We will continue Wednesday, then collect
data and analyze conclusions. By Friday we should be
investigating air trolleys. Wait and see how much fun!
September 8
No homework yet in science - soon, though. We
finished up our air trolley flights across the classroom
and gathered data. Next we will graph the class averages
and discuss conclusions on motion. Watch for the
lab workbook coming home soon.
