Monday, March 30, 2009

ALL SYSTEMS GO!!!!! was the title of our activity today. We reviewed the Circulatory systems, it's four main parts (heart, veins, arteries and capillaries) and it's main function (pumping blood). We reviewed the Digestive system and it's nine main parts (teeth, mouth, esophagus, stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, small intestine and large intestine) and it's main function (processing and digesting food). We also reviewed the Respiratory system and it's six main parts (nose, naval cavity, trachea, bronchial tubes, lungs and diaphragm) and it's main function (breathing). The students received pictures of each and color coded the parts for easy reviewing. Please encourage them to study the functions of each system.

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

Today we read in our National Geographic Explorer about Butterflies in an article titled "Living Color". I read the article to the students and they completed a patchwork as I read, see my earlier post from Monday, March 2nd for another example of when we used this learning strategy. The students created some very interesting patches for our "quilt" of knowledge. The article taught us:

• Monarch butterflies migrate in October, fly up to 2,000 miles and up to 10,000 feet in the air.
• Butterflies migrate because they need a warmer place to live.
• They are found in many different habitats and places.
• Butterflies are insects, they have six legs, a head, a thorax, an abdomen, wings, antenna, and a probiscis.
• Butterfly wings are symmetrical, which means that both sides are exactly the same.
• A butterfly's wings comes from it's unusually feeling scales.
• Scientists are experimenting with makeups, computers and cell phones that use this technology.
• Butterflies go through metamorphosis, a special type of life cycle that consists of four stages: Egg, Larva, Pupa and Adult.
• Butterflies start as eggs, then become caterpillar, and then spin a chrysalis, and then emerge as an adult.
• Adult butterflies feed only on liquids, nectar especially. As they feed they pick up pollen from the flower and drop it on other flowers, this is pollination.
• Monarch butterflies eat milkweed, when they are caterpillars, which contains a toxic poison, but it does not affect them. As an adult, when a predator eats one, it leaves a nasty taste, and prevents that animals from eating another one.
• Humans are impacting the butterfly life cycle by using pesticides meant for other animals, that also hurts them, and by clearing the land that they call home.
• The largest butterfly is the Queen Alexandra's birdwing which can grow to 11 inches long.
• The smallest butterfly is found in China, and is the Tongeia minima, and is only half an inch long.
• Some butterflies can fly as fast as 30mph.
• The painted lady butterfly can fly for 620 miles, without resting. WOW!!!

Butterflies we discussed and their pictures:
Peacock Butterfly
Owl Butterfly
Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly
Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
Monarch Butterfly and it's caterpillar
Chinese Peacock
Queen Alexandra's Birdwing Butterfly
Tongeia minima Butterfly
Painted Lady Butterfly

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

No Science with me today, but the students did do a few practice questions in class with their homeroom teachers.

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

Today we played vocabulary bingo in an effort to review for the upcoming TAKS. It's on April 30th, only 25 school days, and not counting the Wednesdays that I don't see the kiddos, only 19 Science days. WOW!!! We play bingo a bit differently. Instead of calling out the words and having them cover it up, I call out the definition, or give them an example, and they have to figure out what the word is. Then, when they get bingo, to be able to claim their prize, they have to call out their words back to me, and give me either the definition or an example back. It's great, a "fun" learning experience.

We also did a bit more English today, we reviewed capitalized abbreviations and titles.

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

Today we discussed the 7 main forms of Energy.

These are:
Heat, Light, Sound, Electrical, Chemical, Nuclear, Mechanical.

The students created a tree map in their composition books that has each type of energy as a branch, and examples listed below it. They were to list the few from the book, and then create some of their own.

Heat: Oven, Furnace, Toaster, Sun, Heat in your body
Light: Light bulb, the Stars, Computer Screen, Lightning
Sound: Loudspeakers, Radio, TV, Wind, Thunder, Someone's Voice
Electrical: Electricity from a power plant, Car Battery, Dry Cell Battery in a flashlight
Chemical: Energy stored in the foods you eat, Energy stored in Fuels such as Wood and Gasoline
Nuclear: Energy used to generate electricity in a nuclear power plant, Energy used to kill cancer cells (will be called Radiation Energy later in school)
Mechanical: can be broken into Kinetic- the energy of motion, and Potential- the stored energy

We touched on the importance of knowing that one thing can produce several forms of energy. The Lightning for example, produces, Heat, Light, Electrical etc. The TV produces, Heat, Light, Sound, and uses, not produces, Electrical.

We also did an English assignment in class today that discusses the proper usage of Proper Nouns and Proper Adjectives. The did a review sheet that is due tomorrow.

Friday, March 13th, 2009

Today the students finished their articles in our National Geographic magazines. These articles included Nature's Spirals a discussion on the Fibonacci sequence and how they are found in nature in Sea Shells, Bighorned Sheep, Sunflower Centers, and Spiral Galaxies.

The article also discussed the lost culture of Timbuktu (an actual place) and how it was formed on the possession of salt and gold.
Some key words from this article were:
Arabic- language spoken in the Middle East and North Africa
Culture- group of people's way of life, ideas, customs, and traditions
Nomad- person who does not live in one place all the time
Pilgrimage- journey to worship at a sacred place

The final passage was titled Body Works, and it discussed the microscopic workings of our bodies. This focused on our eyes, and how the rods inside of them help us see in black and white and color; our Brain and it's power in everything. How we breathe, or as they put it "Catch Air"; How Oxygen is delivered in our body, and how our body works when we work. There are several very nice diagrams of the Eye, the Lungs, and our Heart.
Some key words from this article were:
Blood vessel- tube in your body that carries blood, such as a vein or artery
Nerve- wiring that sends messages between your brain and every body part
Organ- body part with a specific purpose
Sense- ability, such as sight, that helps you understand your surroundings

Lastly, we worked in partners and read a short paragraph on Global Warming and focused on the terms Global Warming, Greenhouse Gases, Atmosphere, Deforestation and the Layers of our atmosphere. These layers are: Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, and Thermosphere.

The Troposphere is the layer were greenhouse gases become trapped, the Stratosphere is the layer that contains the Ozone Layer, the Mesosphere is the layer that slows down meteors until most burn up, the Thermosphere is the outermost layer of the atmosphere.

The back discussed Sequoia trees, also known as Redwoods, and how special they are.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Today we read in our National Geographic about Madagascar. We followed Scientist Mireya Mayor (a National Geographic Emerging Explorer) on her journey. She tells us that she would describe her job as "Must like adventure. Must be patient. Must not mind mud. Must not scare easily. Must get close to predators. And finally, must love lemurs." She walks us through some of her daily adventures and introduces us to many interesting animals. These were: Madagascar's panther chameleons, tomato frogs, comet moths, hissing cockroaches, jumping rats, fossas, and Aye-Aye's (a type of lemur). We discussed the words amphibian, endemic, mammal and savanna, as well as mentioned what nocturnal meant.

Amphibian- animal that begins life in the water but later moves onto land.
Endemic- found in only one place.
Mammal- animal that feeds milk to its young.
Savanna- flat, grassy plain with few or no trees
Nocturnal- animal that sleeps during the day and hunts at night.

We will explore this issue later this week, and after spring break.

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Even though we did not switch today, students took their benchmarks in their homeroom classes.
This benchmark was the 2006 released TAKS test, it should be a good measure of how they will perform in April. The benchmark that they took today can be found by clicking on the linked word "benchmark" or by following the directions below:

1. go to http://www.tea.state.tx.us
2. click on Testing and Accountability on the left side
3. click on Released TAKS tests
4. click on TAKS
5. go down to the 12th entry that says April 2006 Grade 5 (1st administration includes Feb. Reading)
6. From there you can choose the Released Test, and Science is on pages 59-84
OR
From there you can choose the Answer key, and the Science key is on pages 8-12

We will be making new tutoring groups next week, to get us ready for our BIG day! :)

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

Well, I'm back...... what a crazy week it's been.

Monday, with my sub the students did a review to get them ready for our benchmark on Wednesday.

Today, we reviewed the review for the benchmark and talked a bit about sound. Our key concepts were that it travels in waves, rippling out. It is consisted of compressions and non-compressions, that vibrations cause it, and it can be low or high in tone/volume etc.

Tomorrow is the BIG, benchmark day......... hope we are studying :)

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

Today we discussed Conductors, Insulators and Circuits. First we went over conductors and insulators and sorted pictures of these into two sections. In our discussion of circuits, we went over the differences between series and parallel, as well as open and closed. We made foldables to make these concepts more "visual".

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

Today we practiced a Reading technique called "patchwork" or "quiltwork". In this activity the students were in groups of three or four. The had one large poster paper that was divided into four sections. Then in, their section they "took notes", without writing notes, about a book. Today we read What's Out There? A book about Space by: Lynn Wilson and Illustrated by Paige Billin-Frye. In this book we explore the various aspects of Space.

Topics of Discussion Include:
Constellations, Planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, March, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune), Orbits, Solar Systems, Stars (The Sun), Day/Night, Rotation, Revolutions, Years, Seasons, Moon Phases, The Moon, Neil Armstrong, Gravity, Space Suits, Atmosphere, Mars Expeditions, Inner/Outer Planets, Asteroids, Meteoroids (Shooting Stars), and Comets.

The students then got discussed their "patches" of the "quilt" with their group members and picked a few favorites to share with the class.