Structure and Behaviors of Crayfish

Students had fun examining and investigating the structures and behaviors of crayfish. They will be learning about their habitat and structures. As students learned to hold the crayfish they were quick to watch out for their pincers! Some students were not afraid!

Take a Look Inside a Green Bean

Our new science kits are here! Students took a look at green beans and found seeds. After collecting data on a histogram, they discovered that an average green bean will have about six seeds. Also, they learned that a green bean is a fruit because seeds are found inside. Students will continue to investigate the different properties of seeds.

Building a Community

The children showed their creativity and design sense when they built gingerbread houses this week. They constructed many different and unique homes from the variety of ingredients donated by parents. When they completed their homes they arranged them on a small map according to their coordinates. Thank you to all the parents for the many donations and a special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Ackroyd, Mrs. Roiu, Mrs. Foley, and Mrs. Wicklund for volunteering their time!

Water! Water! Everywhere!

This week the children finished up their study of water by making water wheels and looking at water quality. They were very successful discovering the locations of four samples of water. By looking at the color, clarity, and smell of the samples, they were able to determine they were looking at ocean, swamp, faucet, and dish water.
Finally, they worked in cooperative groups and made water wheels. Their goal was to use flowing water to move the wheel and lift a load. In the end, all groups were successful and some a little wet!

Evaporation and Surface Area

Students investigated water evaportion and surface area. They put equal amounts of water into a cylinder, dome lid, a beaker, and flat lid. After two days they measured the remaining water and found the container with the largest surface area had the most evaporation and the container with the smallest surface area had the least evaporation. In conclusion, if you want water to evaporate expose it to as much air as you can!

Pumpkin Extravaganza!

Students used their estimating skills in determining the weight, circumference, and number of seeds of different sized pumpkins. They came to the conclusion that there was no correlation between the size of the pumpkin and the number of seeds. Thanks to some wonderful parents that volunteered to help the event was a success!

Water Investigations

Students have been performing different investigations with water to discover their properties. They have learned that water flows down a slope, it will flow faster down a steep slope, and bigger drops of water will flow faster. They also learned cold water is denser than room temperature water when they observed a blue dyed ice cube melt to the bottom of a cup of room temperature water. Using a thermometer they discovered the temperature to be colder at the bottom of the cups which proved that cold water is denser. Students are enjoying the many water activities in the water unit!