A Class That Runs Itself

I just got a GREAT email from our awesome guest teacher, Catherine Turner.

Sara and I were at a Digital Advisory Panel meeting this afternoon. I'm always sad to leave the class, but know that the Rainbow Eggheads will have a good time with Catherine.

Catherine just updated me about the afternoon and even sent me some adorable photos of students working on a Science challenge.

I LOVE these photos! So happy-making!

Thanks Catherine and Rainbow Eggheads for the great news. I love hearing about students using ADD EGGS and having a class that runs itself!

Your Science Missions!

Here are your Science missions for today:

1. Start a folder on the Google Drive for this Science unit.
2. Make a slideshow of the Big Ideas for your unit (listed at the bottom of this post and in our Daybook)
3. Fill in the K and W parts of a KWL on your Google Form (you might want to refer to your Big Ideas to help you with this). Before submitting your responses, check off the "share responses via email" box). After submitting your responses, have a look at how your classmates responded. Links to forms: grade 5s, grade 6s
4. Continue our brainstorm of 101 Ways to Conserve Energy. Make sure you don't repeat others' ideas!

BIG IDEAS

Conservation of Energy - grade 5s

1. There are different forms of energy and we use them in everyday life.
2. Some sources of our energy are renewable and some are non-renewable.
3. Energy transforms from one form into another, but cannot be created or destroyed.

Electricity - grade 6s

1. Electricity is generated in Canada in several different ways. Each of these methods have different effects on our natural resources and other living things.
2. There are two different kinds of electrical circuits that are composed of the same components. Each are used for different purposes.
3. There are two different kinds of electricity: static and current.
4. Energy comes in different forms and they can transform from one to another. Electricity is a form of energy.

Experiments with Baby Nisha

Baby Nisha Experiments

Anita Grace, the reporter who came into our classroom, brought in her adorable 8-month old daughter, Nisha, to show us about brain development. She's posted about it on her blog.

After they got to test Nisha's capacity to understand object permanence, students wrote a formal lab report and then creatively shared their observations and conclusions in reflections.

Thomas did his reflection on a Show Me. So did Jack. 

Gabby's reflection is a slideshow of some more experiments she did with a baby and a control subject, her dad!

 Anita has asked us to visit her blog and leave links to our work!

Do babies remember things? By Millie

So last week our reporter, Anita, (who interviewed us in the newspaper) brought in her 7month year old, Nisha!

We decided to do some science experiments on Nisha. Not the the ones like poring a bunch of chemicals on her, but some mental experiments.

We wanted to know if babies remember things. Do you remember stuff from when you were a baby?

To do that, Anita brought some of Nisha's favourite toys. She also brought a blanket. 

Our plan was to put the toy in front of Nisha, have her crawl toward it, and the hide it under the blanket to see if she remembered that the toy was there. 

Ok, so this is what happened. 

Nisha did not have a nap that morning, so she was a bit grumpy, but not that much. We set the toy out in front of Nisha. She started crawling toward it, but she got so distracted by all of us around her, she started crawling toward us! Some of us moved out of the way. We tried it again, and Nisha crawled toward it again. We covered it up with the blanket and she kinda looked around with this facial expression: 

So, I don't really think babies remember things when they are about 7 months old, because I don't remember anything when I was that age. And also, Nisha didn't seem to remember what was there. 

By Millie 

Today in the Lab

Hi boys and girls,

  Welcome to the Computer Lab. You have a few jobs to finish off today and one new job to get started on.

Job #1. Create your quiz questions for Science. Click on this link! You must complete this task by tomorrow, Friday, November 22nd. 

Job #2. You will be making a 60 second presentation about something related to your Science unit.
Visit the blog post I made about Wonderopolis.
-Select one of the questions for your grade and click on the link.
-Once you get to the Wonderopolis site about that question, watch the video to whet your appetite for knowledge.
-Next, read the answer.
-Make jot notes that would help you to explain this information to your class

Job #3. Type up your About the Author and share it with me on the Google Drive. Your first draft of this is due on Monday, November 25th.

Success Criteria:

-computer typed

-permanent spelling(Spelling Box, spellcheck)

-write in the third person

-describe interesting things about yourself

-hook the reader, make them want to keep reading

Job #4. If you're done EVERYTHING above, check out the Museum of Nature website. Read about the different exhibits and think about which ones you'd most like to see for yourself.

Science Quiz Show

Writing Game Show Questions!

Here is the link to the form to create Game Show questions about your Science topic! Follow the instructions on the form!

Today in the Lab

Hello, boys and girls and welcome to our weekly computer lab time!

Today's jobs are fairly simple:

#1. Visit the blog post I made about our upcoming Science unit and Wonderopolis.
-Select one of the questions for your grade and click on the link.
-Once you get to the Wonderopolis site about that question, watch the video to whet your appetite for knowledge.
-Next, read the answer.
-You will notice that lots of words are underlined in red. Float your mouse over top of any of them and see what happens!
-Once you have read the article and learned the answer to your question, look on the right hand side of the Wonderopolis page. There is a box titled, "Test Your Knowledge". Click on that, answer the questions and check how well you understood what you read and watched.

#2. Visit TypingWeb and practice your typing for 10 minutes (keep track on the bottom right of your screen).

#3. Next, visit IXL and continue working on the tasks there. Today, I'd like you to focus on multiplication and division. If you are working in the section of your grade level and it is too challenging, select a lower grade level to practice with first.

Wonderopolis Can Help Us with Science!

To get ready to start our first Science unit: Understanding Structures and Mechanisms, I've been doing some exploring on a great site called Wonderopolis. 

Below are some links to the great articles, videos, activities and quizzes available on Wonderopolis that tie into our in-class learning.

If there is a question that has not yet been answered on Wonderopolis, you can submit one!

Can Kids Be Inventors, Too? Hopefully by the end of this unit, you'll answer this with one word: "Yes!"

Grade 5s, we'll be learning about Forces Acting on Structures and Mechanisms.

What Is a Hurricane?

What Is a Tsunami?

What is City Planning?

How Long is the Longest Bridge?

Why Do Bridges Freeze Before Roads?

Why Are Brick Houses So Strong?

How Many Blocks Make an Igloo?

Is the Leaning Tower of Pisa Falling?

How Tall is the Eiffel Tower?

What is a Waterwheel?

Grade 6s, we'll be learning about Flight.

How Much Does the Sky Weigh?

Which Bird Flies the Fastest?

Who Invented the Kite?

How Does a Hovercraft Work?

Do Boomerangs Always Come Back?

How Do Helicopters Work?

Who Were the Wright Brothers?

Why Do Airplanes Leave Tracks in the Sky?

When is Being Grounded Good?

How Far Can a Paper Airplane Fly?

Should We Bring Elephants into Our Classroom?

I found yet another cool opportunity on Skype in the Classroom. Scientists in Thailand have offered to share information about the elephants they're studying via Skype with classes all over the world!

There is a big time difference between our countries, and meeting live may be tricky. I'm tyring to come up with ideas of what we could request from Think Elephants and then remembered how much better 29 minds are than 1!

What could we do? Students in NYC meet virtually with scientists (and even got to see the elephants via Skype!) after school in the evenings. They even helped the scientists in Thailand develop experiments to test the elephants' understanding!

Check out Think Elephants website. You can read about the work they've done, their educational programs and what they've learned about how elephants think!
 

More about scuba diving

      

     

 This is are manta rays

The Portuguese man of war is so dangers if you get stung you don't put pee on it like a jellyfish and don't put fresh water on your sting put vinegar on it .

Bye for now

Bye Kaleigh 

Shauna's cousins a scuba diver!

She is teaching us about sharks and fish she is teaching us awesome facts about sharks it is so fun and it is a great show! We finished are awesome fish now we are naming it Fishiocus dancucuse with a underline under the name it was created in room 209. Sharks have bin around for 250.000 million years ago where the Dino's where still alive and they where perfect. We are looking at sharks back then on google images they look so weird. We are look at a Japan shark it looks like slime now we are looking at extinct species like tephopods. We are looking at lung fish looking at amphibians they look awesome to me but to shauna it looks gross. There are lots of fish in the carrabien Looking at manta rays. Looking at water animals and whales have hairs all over there body looking at awesome jelly fish. Jelly fish have really high a electric volts. We are looking at nurse shark body parts. Bye and sighing off with your host

-THOMAS SARKOZY!

Shauna's cousin Lauren is a scuba diver By Kaleigh

    She is a scuba diver and she is showing us how the fish's and sharks work she teaches people how scuba dive it's so cool and she told us that the hammerhead sharks  the head is all the nerves in the head and when they hear your heartbeat they would be scared because it's like nothing they heard before. that picture is what ever we want update on the picture we named it fishicus danceicus  Rm209.

Bye for now 

By Kaleigh

 

Science electives!!!

   We just did science electives we are sharing what we did 

1.liquids

2.building cars

3.gardening

4.goo

5.using levers

6.egg drop

How cool is that we'll bye for now friends

By kaleigh

Toaster Where Project

Science and Engineering: Building Bridges

 Our grade 5s got to work with Natalie's grade 5s and a Science student from the University of Ottawa to learn about Forces Acting on Structures.

 Students worked in small groups to create the most sturdy structures possible.

Science with Linda - by Thomas

We are learning about matter with Linda it is fun. We are learning so much from Linda. Looking at the periodic table there are 118 elements.

#scientistsinschools

-by Thomas

Scientists in the Schools- Forces and Structures with Toni! - by Millie

Today we are doing Scientists in the School with Toni! She is teaching us about forces and structures! We are about to be building a structure out of straws and tape. Right now we are brainstorming for ideas of what we are going to build.

Pulleys, Levers and Gears - demonstrations by students in Room 209

Today we watched an awesome Disney Imagineering video about Pulleys and Levers and were inspired to go on a Simple Machine hunt throughout the school. We shared our information in different ways!
-Show Me by Fiona and Lauren


-Youtube video by Laryssa, Liam and Cohen
-Show Me by Jack

List by Pat:
Today in class we did a science mini project. In it, we had to go around the school and find simple machines. Here's mine! Enjoy!
Display screen, globe, hamster wheel,  axle on clock, axle on door, wheels on moving desk, wheels on cart, wheels on moving chair, hands on clock, door, door handle, light switch, pencil sharpener, pins, and sand timer.

Many more episodes of "Fantastic Pulleys, Levers and Gears!"

Pat and Fin's Where Project