MS. KYLIE'S FOURTH GRADE!
  • HOME
  • STUDENTS
  • CALENDAR
  • PARENTS

FROGS, SALT WATER, WACKY WEDNESDAY, AND SLEEPING!

2/28/2018

 
Really Big African Bullfrogs
Picture
Mr. Carter, the reporter of the week, shared some fascinating facts about African Bullfrogs.  African Bullfrogs are found in Africa.  The tadpoles hatch after only two days in the eggs.  Did you know that males can grow to be the size of a cantaloupe?  Females get to be about half the size.  The males fight each other over mating rights and they're fights get pretty intense. We're glad we don't have to fight over friends. 

Our scientist of the week, Mr. Silas, shared a science experiment that tied in perfectly with what we learned from Mr. G yesterday.  He asked us whether an egg would float better in plain water or salt water.  We had some good reasoning and 12 of us thought salt water while 5 of us thought plain water.  Turns out salt water is more dense than plain water.  The egg floats in salt water because it is less dense and the egg sinks in the plain water because it is more dense.  Water that is more dense pushes the egg up just like high air pressure pushes on marshmallows and makes them shrink.  Silas shared that the Dead Sea is really salty and really dense.  Now we all want to take a little trip across the pond!  
Picture
Picture
salt (left) / plain (right)

In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday on Friday, two of our friends brought in some of their Seuss favorites.  Andrew read us the very appropriate Wacky Wednesday.  Edy shared The Sleep Book, which after lunch made us all want to take a nap!  We love when our friends read to us!
Picture
Picture

UNLESS SOMEONE LIKE YOU CARES A WHOLE AWFUL LOT...

2/28/2018

 
In honor of Read Across America/Dr. Seuss week we read, The Lorax.  We were detectives and tried to use clues to figure out what the theme was.  Here's what we came up with:
be mindful  /  think about more than just you  /  everything is connected 
it's NOT all about money  /  don't use more than your share
protect the nature  /  do something for what you care a whole awful lot about

Take a look at what we each care a lot about!

Picture
animals
Picture
being helpful
Picture
kindness
Picture
love
Picture
friendship
Picture
nature
Picture
love
Picture
nature
Picture
family
Picture
family
Picture
school
Picture
family
Picture
kindness
Picture
love
Picture
nature
Picture
being myself
Picture
my brother
Picture
stewardship

PRESENTING A SMALLER THREE ACT TASK!

2/27/2018

 

ACT 1

Look at the picture below.  What do you notice?  What do you wonder?
Picture
Hmmmm? How many ping pong balls are in that container?

ACT 2

We're going to need some more information to solve that problem.  Does this help?
Picture
In one cup...
Picture
...there are 4 ping pong balls.

ACT 3

Well...there were 4 ping pong balls in a cup and 35 cups in the container.  That means we have to do some multiplication or a whole lot of addition...
4 x 35 = 140

MUTATING MARSHMALLOWS WITH MR. G

2/27/2018

 

PROBLEM

What happens to marshmallows when you put them in a sealed jar and pump air on them?

PROCEDURE

Get a large threaded test tube.  Drop four mini-marshmallows inside.  Screw on a hand pump really tight.  Pump it 20 times while watching the marshmallows.  What happens to them?  Next try this same experiment using a vacuum pump.

MATERIALS

four mini marshmallows             test tube             hand pump

HYPOTHESIS

A. The marshmallows grow in size. (5)
B. The marshmallows get smaller. (4)
C. The marshmallows turn into one big blob. (4)
​D. The marshmallows turn into liquid. (3)
Picture

CONCLUSION

The marshmallows get smaller!  Air takes up space and the more air you squish into the test tube the less room the marshmallows have.  You've created a high air pressure environment.  The extra air is pushing really hard on the marshmallows.  Air is made up of 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, and 1% other gases?  All that air takes up a lot of space!
Check out the opposite situation.  With a vacuum pump the air is taken out and you create a low air pressure environment.  The marshmallow now has room to expand, but the container is really hard to open...until you let the air back in.

PRESENTING OUR THREE ACT TASK

2/26/2018

 

ACT 1

Look at the picture below.  What do you notice?  What do you wonder?
Picture
Hmmm? How many beads are in that container?

ACT 2

We're going to need some more information to solve that gigantic problem.  Does this help?
Picture
In one cup...
Picture
...there are 338 beads.

ACT 3

Well...there were 338 beads in a cup and 46 cups in the bin.  That means we have to do some multiplication or a whole lot of addition...
338 x 46 = 15548

HOW HIGH CAN YOU COUNT?

2/23/2018

 
Today was all hands on, all day!  And it was great.  We took the water beads from Ella's science experiment yesterday and tried to figure out how many there were in that gigantic bucket.  We did a lot of counting, a lot of adding, and even a lot of multiplying!  More on this coming soon.

Picture
We also had a visit from a secret reader, Miss Kelly, Carter's mom.  She read us a book we'd never heard before called Mr. Pine's Purple House.  This was her favorite book growing up.  It's all about a man, Mr. Pine, who lives in a neighborhood with 50 white houses, with 50 little pine trees outside, and 50 little bushes all lined up in a row..  He wants something a little different so he decides to paint his house purple.  Turns out his splash of color sends the whole neighborhood on a painting spree and soon they live in a much more exciting place.  
Picture

FOSSILS AND PLATELETS

2/22/2018

 
Baby Bird from Time of Dinosaurs Found Fossilized in Amber
Picture
Picture
Today Yari, the reporter, shared a fascinating article about a REALLY old bird.  The remains of a baby bird from dinosaur times were found fossilized in 99-million year-old amber in Burma.  The bird had teeth and was very different from the birds flying around today.  In the amber you can see the preserved head, wings, skin, feathers, and clawed foot.  The feathers suggest that this young bird was capable of flight and not dependent on parents like baby birds are now.  So cool to find something so well preserved from that long ago!  If you're ever in China check out the fossil at the Shanghai Museum of Natural History.  And take a peek at the examples of amber/resin on the left.  The pendant in the middle shows how things can be preserved just like the bird.  Thanks for sharing Yari!!

What's in blood?  How do we stop bleeding?
Picture
Picture
Ella, our scientist, was curious about our blood.  What's in it and how do we stop bleeding?  She showed us how to make a model of our blood using water beads, red foam pieces, and ping pong balls.  The water beads represent red blood cells that carry oxygen all around our bodies.  The ping pong balls represent white blood cells that help to fight off illness.  The foam represents platelets, which help us form blood clots when we're bleeding.  They rush to the scene of the injury and stop the blood from gushing out similar to 19 first graders trying to get out the door at the same time!  We got a chance to play with the "blood" and thought this was pretty cool.  Stay tuned for a BIG math problem involving these red beads.

FASTER!

2/21/2018

 
What an amazingly blue, perfect, snowy, fast, and wonderful day on cross country skis.  We slipped, we slid, we balanced, we fell down, but most of all we worked together and become better friends and more confident skiers.  Thank you to the volunteers who made it possible. 

THE BAD SEED AND OTHER FICTION STORIES

2/20/2018

 
First grade is hard work and we were feeling kind of stuck in a writing rut.  Maybe you know of the feeling as "writer's block."  Anyway, we decided as a class that we needed some time to write fiction stories and take a walk on our creative sides.  We read a few fiction stories and compared the plot lines.  We noticed they all have great characters, interesting settings, lots of stuff that happens, a problem that needs to be solved, and eventually a solution.  
Picture
In the awesome book, The Bad Seed, the characters are the bad seed, his family, seed citizens, and a giant human. The setting is a beautiful sunflower field and a city.  The story starts with a happy seed family.  They all get along great and love life until fall comes and the flower wilts.  They get raked up into sunflower packages and sold to hungry humans at baseball games.  The bad seed ends up alone and lonely and decides he might as well just not care about anyone else--the problem!  Until he decides he doesn't like being alone and makes a conscious decision to become a better seed--the solution!
We used this cool ice cream sundae to start mapping out our ideas with the same story elements.  We can't wait to start writing tomorrow!  Stay tuned, these are going to be good!
Picture

SCIENTISTS, REPORTERS, AND SECRET READERS

2/16/2018

 
Picture
Our Scientist of the Week, Mr. Boti, showed us how to make Elephant Toothpaste! What?! Turns out when you combine yeast, hydrogen peroxide, a little dish soap, and some food coloring you create a pretty cool chemical reaction.  The yeast works together with the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to release an extra molecule of oxygen. This creates water, a lot of extra oxygen, and some heat. What it looks like is a lot of foam being created very quickly, or maybe toothpaste big enough for an elephant.  If you look closely you can see steam rising, which is the heat being produced by an exothermic reaction.  Check out the video below to try this at home with an adult.  Thanks Boti!
Picture
6% Hydrogen Peroxide on the left. 20% Hydrogen Peroxide on the right.

NASA is Contemplating Sending a Submarine into Space
Picture
Sloan shared a very interesting article about NASA's recent discovery.  There is a 400,000 sq. km ocean on Saturn's moon Titan, named the Kraken Mare!  This is the largest body of liquid discovered in space.  NASA is interested in finding out just what sort of things might be in there, so they are contemplating sending a submarine up into space on a rocket ship.. Picture that! Thanks Sloan!

And for our secret reader, we had the pleasure of hearing from Ana's dad, Mr. Sasa.  He shared a book that was new to all of us: Love is all around St. Louis--(also very appropriate for Valentine's Day). We learned a little about the city of St. Louis and discovered new places to look for love here in Aspen too.  Thank you!  Oh, and we even got to taste a little St. Louis chocolate.  
Picture
Picture
<<Previous
    Picture

    QUICK LINKS...

    Classroom News
    ​​
    ​​​Weekly Schedule​
    ​Titan Times

    Picture

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014


    Picture

Be the best version of you!
Picture
  • HOME
  • STUDENTS
  • CALENDAR
  • PARENTS