What a fantastic week! It was a lot of fun learning about different biomes on our planet over the last year, but all that sledding and rolling has shifted our gears into new territory—ramps and pathways! We have officially begun our new exploration and after concluding our arctic exploration last week, everyone finished up their AMAZING climate dioramas as a final project. Your children are all VERY excited to unveil them in two weeks during conferences- they worked so hard! Take a sneak peek down below:)
Just prior to our dentist visit last week, we learned about good habits that help us take care of our teeth (February is children’s dental month) and how different foods and drinks can actually stain our teeth. We did an experiment where we placed one hard boiled egg in a cup with water, one with grape soda, and one with coca-cola. We first recorded our predictions on a chart and then waited 24 hours before recording the final result. Ask your children what happened to the eggs and see if they can tell you why we used eggs to represent teeth!
One of our ramp activities this week challenged us in more ways than one (my favorite). There were two simple directions: to work together on a team and use loose parts to build a ramp. We did not choose teams, but rather let everyone decide how they would divide and conquer. It ended up being boys versus girls which didn’t surprise us, but what happened afterwards did! One team made sure to really discuss their plans which definitely helped them once everyone knew what their individual role was. Once both teams completed their ramps, we tested them out! The boys ramp sent a marble a whomping 72 inches! The girls ramp sent a marble a total of 21 inches. We discussed as a class what are some things that worked, what didn’t, what would you do differently next time, and why?
We had so much fun making team ramps that we then had to make our own! Everyone got to choose between five different materials and textures to test out what would work best for a strong and stable ramp. Wax paper, foam, foil, paper, corks, and cloth were all offered. Once everyone finished, we tested them out! Congrats to Carla whose ramp launched a marble the furthest-48 inches!! Let me know if you guys try this at home:)
New vocab alert!
- steep
- slope
- incline
- accelerate
- ramp
- stability
- slant
Home connection:
- https://multiplicitylab.northwestern.edu/project/ltt_r-057-about/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3COvm0TtxWg
- https://multiplicitylab.northwestern.edu/project/ltt_pb-019-missing/
- https://mysteryscience.com/mini-lessons/leap-year#slide-id-7959
- https://letsfindout.scholastic.com/etc/classroom-magazines/reader.html?id=8-020124
Announcements:
- We are still missing a few permission slips for our field trip next week! Please make sure you complete the form ASAP.
- Conferences are upon us! Have you signed up? https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0F4BAFA72CABFA7-48220641-spring/51160180#/
Have a wonderful weekend!
-Ms. Anna
–“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”- Albert Einstein
