Sci@LA

5th - Physical & Chemical Change

2010-04-17T16:47:00.000-07:00

We finished up before the spring break with a lab on physical and chemical change. The students effected physical change on a variety of substances (metal, paper, yarn & clay). They described the change and how it met the criteria for physical change to their group.

Physical changes are noted for not changing the molecular make-up of a substance. For example, freezing water is an example of a physical change

Ask you student which item they made a change to and why is qualified as a physical change.

The class outlined things that represent that chemical change took place. They took the temperature of 50 mL of water and then placed three "Alka-Seltzer" tablets in the water.

Ask your student what two signs indicated that a chemical change had taken place. (creation of gas observed as bubbles, change in temperature - it dropped).

Upon our return our final two labs of the year will take us back to science standards learned in grade four as the students prepare for a cumulative 2 year assessment of fourth & fifth grade science in their CST.

3rd - Building the Solar System

2010-04-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

Mother Nature laid it on for us today as the 3rd grade ventured outside to build the solar system. We certainly know how to have a good time in the 3rd grade.

After modeling the orbits of the inner planets, we trekked to the field divided into 9 groups. Each group was responsible for sharing information about the sun or one of the eight planets.

We imagined a solar system where the sun was 1 inch in diameter and scaled the distance between the planets accordingly. Things started off easily with the first few planets being just a meter or so from each other.

However, once Mars was placed, things got a little busier. In placing Jupiter, we were able to see the space occupied by the asteroid belt.

Ask your student one hypothesis for the existence of the asteroid belt. {Scientists hypothesize that perhaps it is the remains of a planet that broke up}

The distances between planets grew larger and larger. In the end, our solar system ran from the back fence along Firefly to almost to the upper grade eating area.

Ask your child which planet or start they represented and one fact that they remember about their celestial body.

5th - Mixtures & Solutions

2010-04-06T21:12:00.001-07:00

Our chemistry unit continues as the students applied their reading to a lab situation.

We investigated the make-up of various mixtures including some solutions.

Ask you student what are the main features of mixtures (not chemically combined, can be separated into its original parts).

The final test was for each table to devise a method to separate a mixture of iron filings, sand, and salt.

Ask your student how their table accomplished the task.

Next up we will look at chemical & physical change.

1st - Frogs (and toad and newt and salamader and caecillian)

2010-04-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

It was an All-Amphibian Friday as the first grade had their first opportunity to use our microviewers.

Ask your first grader what is special about the amphibian family. (They undergo metamorphosis and spend their juvenile period in the water and their adult life on land).

The viewers allowed us a close up view of all the stages of frog development. We noticed stages such as egg, embryo, tadpole, froglet and frog.

The students drew the egg, tadpole and frog stages.

We built a giant "word wall" about amphibians and frogs and then the students selected two ideas to write about following our discussion.

Ribbit!

3rd - Our Changing Moon

2010-04-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

I was dissatisfied with a lab I tried from our new textbook last year. The point of the lesson was to show the students the phases of the moon and why the moon changes its appearance in the night sky.

The problem with the proposed lab is that it did nothing more than what was seen in the sky...it didn't show the "WHY".

So I tried something different this year and turned our entire classroom into a moon viewing gallery. We hung a "moon" (very large styrofoam ball) in the center of the class.

The windows were covered and we turned out the lights. I turned on the sun (light at one side of the classroom) and we paraded around the room.

I'm not sure who was more excited, me or the kids. It was pretty cool watching the visible portion of the moon change as our positions changed.

Watch the moon over a period of days with your child. Compare what you see to what the calendar says about the moon's phase.

Very small (atoms & molecules) and very large (planets & stars) are pretty abstract concepts. Revisit the moon's phases regularly with your child to help them internalize the concept.

Are you a little foggy on the concept yourself? Check out the links on the right for a refresher on why the moon changes phase.

Happy Moon Gazing!

5th - Riddles of the Periodic Table

2010-04-06T20:30:00.001-07:00

Confession time...I love musicals. And who does them better than Gilbert & Sullivan. Combine the music of "I am the very model of a modern major general" with the period table and you've got a makings of a hit.

Check out the links on the right for the introduction to this lesson.

The fifth graders then tackled some riddles to find their way around the periodic table and familiarize themselves with the information therein.

Ask your student what two particles are in an atom's nucleus (protons & neutrons).

There was lots of "on-task" chatter (my favorite kind) and the students discovered the chemical symbols for various items, elements named for famous scientists, etc.

They asked excellent questions and it was one of those days when I wished I had the luxury of spending a day just answering questions and talking about interesting stuff.

Ask them if they remember the symbol for Silver (Ag - "Almost Gold).

1st- Home Sweet Habitat

2010-04-06T20:18:00.000-07:00

Our investigation into habitats is newly developed for this year.

We started our discussion considering our own habitat.

Ask your student things make up their habitat. (Home, school, streets, stores, parks, etc).

The first graders had the opportunity to pick an animal home from samples on their tables and draw the animal that would live in that home along with the habitat.

Ask your student which home they thought was most interesting.

The children did a wonderful job with their next task. In small groups, they were given a collection of animal photographs. They had to decide which animals would share a habitat. One student from each group presented the team's idea to the class.

Next up...FROGS!!

3rd - Reasons For the Seasons

2010-04-06T19:52:00.001-07:00

It's fun to combine a little treat with a some learning and that's what we did with our "earthmallows".

The third grade used marshmallows to represent the earth. We drew the Equator, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn using food coloring.

Then we used our earthmallows to show how the earth's 23 1/2 degree tile is the "reason for the seasons".

When the north pole is tilted towards the sun, it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Conversely, when the north pole is tilted away from the sun, it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

Ask you student what the season in San Jose is when the North Pole is pointed away from the sun.

If there wasn't a tilt, we would have much less variability in our weather.

5th - Building Atoms

2010-03-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read correctly, we made atoms in class. To be precise, we constructed models of atoms: hydrogen, helium, lithium and beryllium.

The students are embarking on a chemistry unit where we scaffold onto their base knowledge of matter and delve into the building blocks of our world, atoms.

In this first lab, we learned how to interpret the individual boxes in a periodic table. We learned that each element has a one or two letter symbol and that the atomic number and mass tell us how many protons, neutrons and electrons compose each atom.

We are familiar with electrons from our study of electricity but protons are new to most of us and many of us thought that Neutron was just Jimmy's last name. :)

Ask your students which two particles combine to form the nucleus of an atom.

Hopefully your child brought home their atom model. If not, have a dig through their backpack.

Ask them what the beads represent.

Next up is a riddle-filled walk through the Periodic Table. Stay tuned!

3rd Grade - Food Chains

2010-03-23T09:45:00.001-07:00

Mother Nature put on a glorious day for an outdoor 3rd grade lab last week. We took our lesson outside to model and learn about food chains.

Ask you student what the source of energy is for almost all living things on earth (the sun).

The students were divided into three groups: grasshoppers, hawks & lizards.

Plain popcorn was placed in feed stations around our "habitat". Grasshoppers could eat popcorn. Lizards could eat grasshoppers. Hawks could eat lizards.

If you were "eaten" (tagged), you had to hand over your collected food to your predator and go the graveyard.

The first iteration of our game had an equal number of grasshoppers, lizards and hawks. The supply of lizards was quickly exhausted and our food chain was broken. Few animals had a full enough "stomach" (sandwich bag) to be considered still alive.

The students suggested that we modify the balance of animals and reduce the number of Hawks. So we fortified the ranks of the grasshoppers and tried again. This time our little ecosystem lasted much longer before part of the food chain broke.

We attempted one more modification based on student feedback. We increased the size of the habitat and added some more foodstuff for the grasshoppers. Once again this resulted in better playing conditions.

Ask you student to explain what happens when humans or other factors reduce the size of an animal habitat.

Can you child explain what a good balance of animals would be for a simple food chain?

The kids were well behaved in our outdoor classroom and apart from a little too much sun on my face, it was a very fun day.

5th - Clay Planets

2010-02-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

Every fifth grade student deserves a pat on the back for their tremendous engagement and effort in this week's science lab lesson. I set them loose on a group task and they showed themselves quite equal to the challenge. Their classroom teachers and I were all very impressed.

In third grade, we shrink the sun down to the size of a ping pong ball and map out the distance between the planets. The solar system runs from the back fence of the school almost to the eating area. I do the calculations for the students and they handle measuring between planets and presenting facts about each planet.

This 5th grade lesson was along the same theme but more involved for the students. Each group measured 100 grams of clay to represent the mass the sun, 8 planets and our moon. As a table, they decided the relative mass of each planet and formed a sphere to represent it. They recorded the mass and provided their data on the earth, moon and sun for comparison with the rest of the class.

Of the 32 groups, there wasn't a duplication in results but that isn't to say there wasn't a TON of good thinking. Students actively discussed the relative size of Mercury to the sun and Jupiter to the earth. They debated, compromised, tried, adjusted and found consensus amongst their group. In terms of results, I wasn't looking for the perfect answer. Moreover, I wanted to see rationale thinking supported by existing knowledge. Simply put, is your moon much smaller than your earth? Is your sun much larger than your moon?

At the end of our lesson came the "Aha" moment. Ask you student, if the solar system were represented by 100 grams, about how much would make up each celestial body (sun, planets, moon, etc).

I hope they continue to do themselves proud and can tell you the surprising answer.

Science Rules!

1st - Crazy for Crystals

2010-02-05T12:57:00.001-08:00

We reused and recyled today in the lab...our knowledge that is. The kids built on prior knowledge of matter to investigate crystals.

We have increased the number of first grade labs over the past two years and I certainly am reaping the rewards of that decision every time the kids make the walk down to E-14.

We spent an hour today "oohing" and "aahing" over geodes, calcite, salt, sugar and even graphite during our investigation of crystals. We compared the size, shape and color of four different types of crystals.

Ask your student if all the crystals were the same size and what they noticed about their shapes.

As our grand finally, we mixed up saturated solutions of salt and will be "growing" crystals in the classroom over the coming days.

Messy, but lots of fun!!

3rd - Adaptations (& the Scientific Method)

2010-02-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

The third grade a little "buggy' on Wednesday as we investigated how creatures have evolved highly specialized features to get food. Shortly the third graders will begin their "animal reports" and in preparation for that, we considered how insects have a variety of mouth parts to collect food.

Ask you student how a butterfly and a mosquito are similar and different.

We overlayed a fun experiment onto our investigation to review the scientific method in preparation for the up-coming science-o-rama! event in February. I hope all our third graders will take the challenge and do an experiment of their own and report back to the school.

Ask you student what the name for a "thinking guess" is in science.

Weather permitting, we will be outdoors, looking at food chains on the 25th of February.

If anyone would like to lend a hand making popcorn the old fashioned way (pot & oil or airpopper) in preparation for this lab, please let me know.

Science Rocks! (and rolls).

1st - Weather Watch

2010-01-29T23:44:00.001-08:00

The first grade had lots to discuss following the spectacular weather we saw last week. The students have a good grasp of solids, liquids & gases from earlier in the year. We applied that knowledge to understanding weather and the water cycle.

Ask you child if a cloud is made of gas. Why not?

We made a cloud in a jar and saw evaporation and condensation at work.

Does your student remember the different kinds of precipitation? (rain, snow, hail & sleet)

We got to see hail last week, probably the first time for many of our kids.

Can your child explain what happened to all the puddles that were on the blacktop last week?

Next lesson finds us back into solids as we explore crystals.

Science Rules!

1st - Light, Light

2010-01-20T13:04:00.000-08:00

I just love days like today. Despite the torrential rain, the clouds and hail, all is well in the science lab.

It's hard to have favorite labs, just like one doesn't have favorite children but I love our first grade light lab.

First graders bring a joy and wonder to life that just isn't found everywhere.

Ask your child to introduce you to Mr. Roy G. Biv.

Looking for some rainy day fun?

Turn out the lights, grab a flashlight and mirrors (yes, that's plural) and let your first grader lead the way.

The kids have spectroscopes to bring home and I will be sending pictures to the classroom of all them looking "stellar" in the our "reflection room".

Science Rocks! (and so do first graders)

All Grades science-o-rama!

2010-01-12T13:36:00.000-08:00

Time for Scientists to Shine....

Next week, Amy Sechrist and her team of volunteers will roll out the plans for the All Grades science-o-rama!

With the support of the Synopsys Outreach Foundation, Los Alamitos has held a science fair for over 20 years. Each year, we've seen a higher percentage of our students participate in the voluntary activity.

I hope you will do two things in your household:

1) Encourage your child to select an experiment and join in the fun.
2) Offer your assistance to Mrs. Sechrist in whatever way you can.

Science-o-rama offers you child the opportunity to investigate a science topic that is of interest of them. They will develop a question and conduct an experiment.

The highlight of the event will be February 23rd when all our young scientists bring in their displays boards and the entire school enjoys a viewing the work. In the evening, we will open up to school to families and our students will briefly explain their work to an intersted adult.

Science-o-rama! enjoys a rich tradition at Los Alamitos. Please plan to join us.

For more information, check out the science page at Los Alamitos.

3rd - Endless Energy

2009-12-09T20:13:00.000-08:00

Now that we're experts in wiring electrical circuits, we investigated the Law of Conservation of Energy. That's a mouthful that basically tells us that energy is never created or destroyed.

The student wired a simple circuit with a light and observed how energy changes from stored energy in a battery to electricity to light and heat.

Then they removed the light and replaced with with a small buzzer motor.

Ask your student what kinds of energy were observed with the buzzer motor: motion (kinetic), sound (also kinetic) and heat (from the friction).

I wish you all a very safe and fun holiday break. In the new year, we will embark on the study of animals, the solar system and plants.

5th - Where's the Water

2009-11-20T14:33:00.000-08:00

My apologies in advance if your toilet wasn't flushed or your fifth grader has been nagging siblings about leaving the tap running while brushing their teeth.

This week the fifth grade participated in a simulation to represent the location of the earth's water. We learned a number of things relating both to the world's water supply and where our water comes from closer to home.

Ask you student what portion of your family can be supported by the water available in Santa Clara county. (It's 1/2. About 51% of our water is imported from elsewhere).

In addition to discussing the local water supply we investigated the proportion and location of fresh water in the world.

Ask your student how much of the world's water is in the oceans (about 97%) and to tell you about the "toast" that we had in class.

As a community dependent upon others for a great deal of our water, I encourage you to work with your children to explore ways that we can decrease water consumption.

3rd Grade - Electricity

2009-11-04T21:36:00.000-08:00

A million years or so ago, I was an undergraduate studying physics and computer science. I had a reasonable theoretical background in science but little practical experience. As one of just a handful of females in the class, I was seriously nervous about the hands-on lab component of the course.

A classmate (and new friend) took me under his wing and gave me a crash course in using multimeters, breadboards, and other lab equipment. Today I got to "pay it forward" in a small way. The third grade explored electricity.

Ask your student whether electricity is matter or energy. Do they rememberwhat electricity is? (For our purposes, it is the flow of electrons.)

We built simple series circuits and tested a variety of items to see if they were conductors or insulators. Conductors allow the electrons that produce electricity to flow. Insulators prevent electricity from flowing.

Does your student remember an example of a conductor? An insulator?

Mrs. Pine will revisit this concept with the students in 4th grade when they investigate parallel and series circuits along with electromagnets. Hopefully our students who pursue science, engineering or other technical courses in college will feel very well prepared having had their first hands-on lesson before the age of 10. :-)

Science Rocks!

3rd Grade - Pumpkin Math

2009-10-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

Working with authentic numbers, or numbers that have relevance to them, is a great springboard for math learning.

Over the past two weeks, the third grade classes have dug out and counted the seeds for twenty-three pumpkins.

The question investigated was whether a large, medium or small pumpkin had the most seeds.

Ask your student what we discovered. Hint: the point of the lesson was to learn that not every question has an easy answer and we don't always get what we expect in science.

In addition to the science portion of the lab, this lesson gave us the opportunity to manipulate large numbers. The most seeds found in one pumpkin this year was 901. That is a lot of counting!!!

The third grade will have on-going opportunities to work the numbers that add up to over 9,000 seeds including how to share large numbers equally. (Remember, we don't know how to do long division yet!)

Work with authentic numbers at home. Have your student decide on how to share the grapes evenly amongst family members or how to cut a cake into equal shares. This develops richer understanding of important mathematical concepts. .

1st - Gas Detectives

2009-10-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

Gas is invisible but on Oct 23rd, the first grade used their sight, hearing, touch and smell to find clues that it exists. We watched a candle extinguish when we covered it with a jar.

Ask your student why they can smell good food when it is cooking?

We moved ping-pong balls without touching them. Ask your student for a demonstration.

Finally we closed our eyes and listened to various sounds including a drum, bell, harp & tuning fork. We discussed how gas is needed for the vibrations of the sound to be carried to our ears.

Ask your student where the three smallest bones in their body are? (their ear)

Have a fun & safe Hallowe'en.

5th - Digestion

2009-10-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

In keeping with our theme of the human body, we moved on from respiration to digestion. There are no lack of giggles when discussing digestion with fifth graders . We discussed the

- role of the esophagus in moving food to the stomach

- two forms of digestion

- where the body absorbs nutrients.

Ask you student what the two types of digestion and how they happen.

We "digested" crackers to model physical and chemical digestion at work.

Ask your student to tell you about Mrs. A's friend who just had a remarkable surgery.

1st Grade - Liquids

2009-10-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

We carried on our investigation of matter with a lesson filled with liquids.

We used our eyes, hands, noses and tongues to develop an understanding of the common properties and differences between liquids. The students came well-prepared by their classroom teachers and are showing a great understanding of how liquids fill their containers and behave.

Ask you student to show you how two water droplets become one.

We learned a new word that can be used to describe liquids: viscosity.

Ask your student if they remember what the word means and whether viscosity helped to predict the winner of "The Great Liquid Race"

Measurement is an important theme that will be developed throughout elementary school. Providing your child with opportunities to measure at home when cooking will help them acquire a good practical and academic foundation of volume.

5th Grade - Respiration

2009-10-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

Today's lab focussed on the role of the diaphragm in respiration.

Ask your student to show you where the diaphragm is in their body and how it works.

We built models of our respiratory system with soda bottles, balloons, plastic wrap and tape. It's a project that is easily replicated at home.

You can find an example similar to the one we built at:

http://www.adprima.com/respdiagram.htm

The lesson also provides me with the opportunity to share the very personal story of my father-in-law, who we lost to lung cancer in October of 2008. The understanding of the respiratory that the students develop in 5th grade allows them to understand the conditions of emphysema and alveolitis that dad developed. He had a lung transplant but eventually succumbed to cancer two years later.

We discussed how important it is to no take up smoking despite peer pressure that one might have during middle and/or high school. We also remembered that smoking doesn't make someone a bad person but instead that smoking is a very difficult habit to give up and one that shouldn't be started by young people who are informed.

1st Grade - Solids

2009-09-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

First graders began their investigation of matter with a look at solids.

Though students know much about solids through everyday experiences, it is important to develop skills of observation and classification in order to start viewing the everyday world with a scientist's eye.

We explored properties of solids such as length, mass, hardness, texture and shape.

Ask you student to pick four solids in your home.

Have them compare the solids. How are they the same? How are they different?

In coming weeks we will examine liquids and gases and how they are the same and different from solids.

3rd Grade - Chemical Change

2009-09-22T20:47:00.001-07:00

Contrasted to our last lab on Physical Change this week we examined Chemical Change.

Chemical change happens when the molecules in a substance break apart and form something new. There are five signs that a chemical change has occurred. Today we found out that one of those signs is the production of a gas.

Ask your student the name of the tiny particles that make up matter. (molecules)

Ask your child to describe what happened when we combined baking soda and vinegar.

Ask them if they observed a physical change or chemical change.

We have completed our 3 labs on matter. Next up is a special lab that ties into Halloween. It you have any spare pumpkins, we need them in all sizes. Drop me note to tracey AT ananmalay DOT com if you have some to spare.

5th Grade - It's all Green to Me

2009-09-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

As we investigate the systems of living things, the 5th grade took a closer look at photosynthesis in the lab. We learned that the glucose molecules that are made by plants using carbon dioxide and water are very large.

Ask your student if they remember how many atoms in a glucose molecule.

We took a close up look at the amazing "factories" that are leaves. Who knew that so much could happen inside such a thin object.

Students opined on which leaf in a group would produce the most food. The one with no chlorophyll was not the winner.

We also examined how water moves up a celery stalk.

Ask your student what part of the celery was colored.

Science Rules!

3rd Grade - Physical Change

2009-09-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

During our last meeting, we explored the physical change of matter. Physical Change describes when something changes from:

- a solid to a liquid (popsicle melting)

- a liquid to a solid (making ice cubes)

- a gas to a liquid (condensation on the bathroom mirror)

- a liquid to a gas (puddles evaporating).

Ask your student about the tasty treat that we enjoyed in the lab and what steps we needed to take to make it.

We also discussed how the molecules behave differently in each type of matter.

Ask your student whether molecules in a gas or solid move more quickly.

Bonus question: Ask them why gases are invisible.

Next up, we'll explore Chemical Changes.

Science Rules!

1st Grade - Math & Science

2009-09-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

Math & Science go hand in hand at all levels. This month, first graders applied their numeracy skills to an investigation on how the mass of grapes and raisins is different. We used the balance scales to compare the mass of grapes and raisins.

Instead of doing a direct comparison, we used the standard mass of a "teddy bear weight". This gave us a concrete example of comparing things using a common measurement unit.

Ask your 1st grader whether grapes or raisins have more mass.

Then ask them why? We love "why" questions in the science lab.

You could also ask them if bigger things always have more mass (think about a golf ball compared to a balloon).

Science Rules!

5th Grade - Building Blocks of Life

2009-09-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

What many of us began learning in high school is now introduced in 5th grade. Our grade five students are exploring cells, tissues and ultimately organ and organ systems in plants and animals.

Ask your student how a cheek cell varies in size from an onion skin cell.

Ask them what a leaf has in common with your kitchen.

Labs for this unit will include investigations on cells, photosynthesis, digestion and respiration.

3rd Grade - It Matters

2009-09-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

3rd Graders are exploring Matter during the month of September. In third grade, we define matter as "anything that takes up space".

Ask your third grader if light is matter.

We will explore matter as a solid, a liquid and a gas and see how matter can change from one state to another.