Today we wrapped up our unit of rocks with a study of landslides. This lesser published natural disaster moves a lot of land and can cause a lot of damage. We were tasked with brainstorming ideas for protecting a house at the bottom of a landslide path. When brainstorming, no idea is too crazy. Check out our cool thoughts! Turns out engineers had a lot of the same thoughts!

We've had our first two weeks of scientist and reporter and we're loving learning cool, new things from our friends! The reporter finds and shares an article about a current event or creates a slideshow with a research project. The scientist completes an experiment (at home and/or with the class) and leads us in the scientific method.

Today we completed this tricky three act task called Dill 'er Up! 
Ask us how a Three Act Task works--only scroll down to see one act at a time!
T​ry this at home. It's great practice. 

We've been learning all about rocks and how Earth's landscape changes over time.
Lava from volcanic eruptions form new rocks. Existing sediment under pressure and over lots of time forms new rocks. And now we're learning about the erosion process. Rocks get broken up through root wedging, ice wedging, and just generally tumbling down the mountainside. Check out our sugar cube experiment to see the erosion process.

Though we were sad we couldn't perform live, we loved the opportunity to work with Ms. Colleen and film our class Celebrate the Beat dance. We can't wait to share it with you.

We've been learning about how landscapes change over time. Volcanoes create a very visible change! This week we learned that there are two types of volcanoes: cone and shield. We also learned that there are two types of lava: thick and thin. Cone volcanoes are explosive and have thick lava that forms felsite rocks. Shield volcanoes are more gentle and have thin lava that forms basalt rock. Check out how we explored the properties of thick and thin lava!

Today we learned to play multiplication Salute. It's a fun game you can play at home with just a deck of cards. Two people blindly put a card on their foreheads. A third person announces the product of the two cards. Can you determine your card with only the product and one factor? 

We're video taping our dance on Friday for the virtual performance!
Please take a moment to practice this dance at home.

Today was fire safety day. We learned how fire, police, and EMS work together to respond to a call and keep us safe. Our homework is to test the smoke detectors and change the batteries.