Lego + Math = Fun & Learning!

Lego Math Time!

Have you ever noticed that Lego's have dots on them and they may be great for making multiplication and fraction Math problems?

This was the question that was posed to the students.

They all had 10 minutes to build and then had to make a drawing of their creation and make a Math problem that went along with the blocks and the number of dots on the blocks.

Like if their are four dots on the top of block, two by two, this would be two times two.

As you can see from the creations the students had their work cut out for them.

The students came up with great multiplication and fractional problems for their creations.

Many of the students found that this helped them to see the multiplication problems!

In the end:
Lego's + Math = Fun and Learning!

Pop Goes the Volcano, Mount Silverwood

Stand back everyone, Mount Silverwood is getting ready to blow her top!!!!

Queen Helen and Miss Cindy thought of one last, fun way to wrap up our study of volcanoes and add a little Math into Science.

We placed an air pop corn popper in the center of a huge paper and made geographical landforms around Mount Silverwood.

The Students were in groups and made towns in their section of the volcanic landscape.

Each group made a prediction about how much "ash or hummocks," popcorn would fall in their section.

Then each counted their "ash/ hummocks," popcorn, recorded their data, and ate the findings.

Next we did this process all over again on the same sheet, but this time Queen Helen of the Winds turned on a huge box fan.

The students predictions and explanations of what they thought would happen with the fan blowing were great!

They recorded their findings and shared with the groups that did not get as much to record.

We will return to volcanoes a bit latter in the year when we study the planets and moons of the planets!

Great job everyone on your volcanoes for the volcano party!

If you have any pictures that you would like us to post from the party please email them to Miss Cindy or Miss Vanessa.

Shake, Rattle, and Roll! Seismographs

We have been gearing up for our Volcano Party (Nov.20th, 2009) by learning about how we can predict an eruption. One way is measuring the vibrations and movements of the earth.

We had a whole lot of shaking going on in our room!

EARTHQUAKE!
We leanred how a seismograph meaures the movements of the earth and how it shows up in a reading.
We predicted what would happen to the reading from the table being still to the moving of the table. (no tables were hurt in this experiment)

Please look around the classroom for the seismographs. We have put them in different areas to measure the movement/ vibrations of our traffic patterns.

Potions Class

Miss Lisa and Miss Kat organized a wonderful treat for our class today! We had a little potions class making some delicious Stone Soup. Miss Jill entertained us with a Stone Soup story set in China. We added all the ingredients as she read. Each student wrote down the recipe and we had a little introduction to fractions

YUM! Lunch was out of this world! Our minestrone soup was a huge hit and we hope you enjoy making it at home soon!

Water Bottle Volcanoes

This afternoon we did an experiment comparing a volcano to the reaction that takes place when vinegar and baking soda mix. Many groups learned that it is crucial to quickly get the tissue full of baking soda into the bottle and tightly seal the top with your hand before shaking. We had a great discussion about what we could do differently to make a larger eruption. I think our scientists have some great ideas on how to make their own volcanoes even better for our Volcano Party on November 20th! Erasmo, Trinity, and Jasmine had the most spectacular eruption of the day.

Volcano Science

What happens to a river and lake ecosystem when a volcano erupts like in the case of Mt Saint Helen's?

Anna and Jasmine are building the river and lake ecosystems out of sand and the other out of dirt. Will the outcome be different?

Lets find out...

Sand

The eruption has taken place and there is a huge amount of water, rocks and lava that come rushing down the mountain. The sand river and all of its vegetation have washed away.

Dirt
Another eruption.
The students wrote a hypothesis and drew what they thought may happen from their knowledge of the eruption of Mt Saint Helen's.
Afterwards, students wrote and drew their observations from our experiment.


Flashback before the eruption...
a peaceful stream of water trickles down our student made banks.


A note went home today, Monday, explaining the Volcano Party that we will be having on November 20th, 2009; at 2:30pm.
Each student in the 3rd and 4th grade will be making a volcano at home and bringing it to school for the wrap up to our volcano studies. It will be an explosive time!
How to make a volcano links will be in the links section on the side of the blog.
If you have any questions please email Miss Vanessa or Miss Cindy.

Our Trip to Mt. Saint Helens!

What a wonderful trip!

Thank you to all of the parents that joined us on our trip and drove us to and from Mt. Saint Helen's!

3rd and 4th graders at Coldwater Lake getting ready to head out on the trail and work on a lesson about habitat near a volcano. We looked at landforms, water changes, plants, animals and how they all were changed by the eruption of Mt. Saint Helen's. Coldwater Lake before the eruption was a creek and became a lake and a kind of dam after the melt water came down during the eruption.

Students practiced their climbing skills to get on top of this building (it is built into the side of a hill, but they all thought that it was great)!

Mt Saint Helen's as the clouds cleared away, for a moment.
We were very lucky to see the mountain, the lava dome inside of the crater, and the steam rising from the lava dome!

Gate to Mt Saint Helen's, rest stop for us.

Here are the 3rd and 4th graders at the Johnston Ridge observatory. Mt. Saint Helen's came out for a couple of minutes while we were taking the picture.

We went into Johnston Ridge Observatory and watched the movie "Message from the Mountain." The students had an activity to do as they looked around Johnston Ridge Observatory learning about the stages of the Mt Saint Helen's eruption.

We hiked a bit around Johnston Ridge taking in the beautiful sights and cute little squirrels and frogs.

Mt. St. Helens Here We Come!

Our first field trip of the year is next week! Here is a packing list for our day at Mt. St. Helens:
backpack

rain coat

warm jacket

comfortable shoes (we’ll be doing some hiking along a dirt/gravel trail)

an extra pair of socks (if the forecast is calling for rain)

bug spray (it was pretty “buggy” when we visited in August)

water bottle

lunch

“car friendly” snacks (nothing sticky or juicy)

Books, drawing paper, etc. for the car ride

If you choose to bring an I-pod or video games you are responsible for it. It will only be used in the car. If it becomes a problem, the adult in the car will keep it until we return to Silverwood. Please make sure your electronics are charged.

Our car caravan will be departing Silverwood promptly at 7:30 a.m. We will return to school at approximately 6:00 p.m. If we are delayed because of traffic, we will contact parents via cell phone.

SCHEDULE FOR THE DAY:

7:30 a.m. Depart Silverwood

11:00 a.m. Arrive at Coldwater Lake Recreation Area
Exploration Activity

12:10 p.m. Lunch

12:40 p.m. Depart Coldwater Lake Recreation Area

1:00 p.m. Arrive at Johnston Ridge Observatory
Meet with park ranger and view exhibits at the visitor’s center

1:40 p.m. Message from the Mountain theater presentation

2:00 p.m. Hike along the Eruption Trail

2:30 p.m. Depart Johnston Ridge Observatory

6:00 p.m. Arrive at Silverwood

Writer's Notebook

This morning we got our Writer's Notebooks. We'll be filling these with many stories, poems, and thoughts throughout the year. We spent about 20 minutes outside using our 5 senses and writing descriptions of our surroundings. The Writer's Notebook is coming home today. Please decorate and return it to school by Monday (21st). Enjoy the pictures of our writers.