Tis the Season to Build a Village

The children created many unique and creative gingerbread houses this week. They constructed many different homes from the variety of ingredients donated by parents. When they completed their homes they arranged them on a small community map according to their coordinates. Thank you to all the parents for the many donations and a special thanks to Mrs. Aiello, Mrs. O'Leary, Mrs. Fisher, Mrs. Goldstein, Mr. Valdavia, Mrs. Elefante and Mr. Joss for volunteering their time!

The Power of Water

Students ended the Water Unit by making water wheels. They learned how flowing water could be used to help move a load. The demonstrations were a lot of fun even though they sometimes got a little wet!

Pumpkin Extravaganza!

Students had a wonderful time estimating the weight, circumference, and seeds of pumpkins. After completing and recording their measurements, students counted pumpkin seeds and designed their pumpkin for carving. Thank you to our terrific volunteers, Ms. Dove, Mrs. Giles, Mrs. Major and Mrs. Vananse who helped carve and supervise this activity. We could not have done it without you! Pumpkins were donated to Charlestown School's Pumpkin Glow Night.

How Many Drops of Water Fit on a Penny?

The students learned about surface tension this week. They made predictions as to how many drops of water could fit on top of a penny. They tested their predictions and were surprised to find out the results. Water formed a dome on top of the penny and they were able to put a lot more drops then they thought. Some students had as many as 29 drops! This property of water is called surface tension. Next, the students tested this property using salty and soapy water. They were able to see how salty water did not change surface tension, but the soapy water reduces the surface tension by breaking the dome of water.

Water! Water! Water!

Water is the first unit in science this year. The children investigated with water this week. They were able to see what happened when water was splashed, spilled, or dropped on different surfaces. They found out that it does different things. Depending on the surface, sometimes it beads up, is absorbed, or spreads out. Some children had some very wet desks!

Field Trip to the URI Learning Landscape

Last week the third graders went on a field trip to the URI Learning Landscape. The children learned about the red wiggler worm and how it decomposes household waste, but also how their castings are good fertilizer for the soil. They were shown good and harmful insects of Rhode Island. They got to looks at skulls and pelts of animals that are native to Rhode Island, then took a look in the greenhouse at many different types of plants. The children planted seeds and talked about germination. They also took a look at recycling and ways to protect the environment. The field trip was a success due to the well behaved children, great weather, and wonderful chaperones. A special thanks to Mrs. Roiu, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Ackroyd for chaperoning our trip!

Straw Instruments

Students used straws to produce vibrating columns of air. Some students designed straw instruments that were really long which produced low pitch sounds while others were short with high pitched sound. In conclusion, students learned that pitch is related to the length of the column of air that is vibrating.

Chicks Arrive!

The third graders were thrilled to watch the chicks hatch on Monday. They saw the chicks emerged from their eggs looking tired and wet. Our class had a great hatching of eleven chicks! By Wednesday the chicks were named and the students were even able to hold them, feeling their soft downy feathers. Some of our chicks names are: Cocoa, Chocolate Chip,Chipmunk, Oreo, Sugar Cookie, Fluffy, and Snowflake. What a fun way to learn about the life cycle of the chicken first hand.

Read Around the World

The theme for Reading Week was read around the world. Each class learned about a different country. Our class learned about Ireland. On Friday other classes were able to visit to find out what we learned. Students were happy sharing information on Ireland's weather, flag, location, history, irish step dancing, clothing, jewelry, Celtic music, Gaelic language, irish folktales, Blarney Stone, and its beautiful landscape. As students left our class they were shown some irish hospitality when they were given a taste of irish soda bread and leprechaun juice. What a great way to end Reading Week!

Reading Week Success

This week was Reading Week and we celebrated with many activities. The children were excited to have Ms. Iacoi visit as a guest reader. She was happy to be back at Charlestown and remembered many of the children from kindergarten.

Beetle Pull

Students tested the strength of the Bess Beetle's legs this week. They attached a harness and had the beetles pull paper clips.
Before they started they weighed their beetle to determine its mass. After performing the investigation students came to the conclusion that not only could they pull their own weight, but they could pull more than ten times their weight. Students made the connection that the beetles have strong legs to pull and push wood in their habitat.