Science and Social

North, East, South and West

My challenge for you is to find out how your moms, dads and brother and sisters learned their cardinal units.  I learned "Never Eat Shredded Wheats."  To this day, I use the play-on-words to help me remember my cardinal units.

Watch this video to learn another way to remember the compass rose.

Testing Materials and Deisgns

After learning all about fair tests and the importance of accurate drawing plans, the grade threes began testing the strength for different structures that serve the same purpose.  We tested arch bridges and beam bridges to learn that arch bridges are much stronger.  We then tested the strength of eggs.  Why?

Well, eggs have an arch on the top and bottom.  We experimented to see how strong these arches were, when the eggs acted as pillars.  Our egg-pillar bridge held 18.550 grams and TEN grade 3 math text books.

Thank you to our Junior High Science teacher for this egg-cellent egg-speriment. 

Would you Rather...

Would you rather raise a llama to help a peasant man up the side of a mountain or to keep your people warm?

In your answer, state:

1. What part of Peru are llamas important to?
2. Why are llamas important to quality of life and how do they affect jobs?
3. What other animal is important in this part of Peru?

*** Hint:  One of the options is obviously wrong.  Choose wisely.***

Check Your Rubrics

Parents, this is a good time to review your child's work with them.  We have been working hard during inquiry classes to learn about life cycles of animals.  To present our information, we have created a Google Drawing presentation.  Please log in, with your child, to their Google account; I have sent all students a rubric as to how they will be assessed.  

Students should take initiative to revise their work and further their learning in order to get the best mark possible.  

Presenting our Animal Research

1. Create an "Animal Pictures" file on Google drive
2. Create a new Drawing: title it to suit the picture.
3. Find a picture to show the information you have researched.
   (right click to save)
4. Put the picture into your drawing
   (right click to paste)

Today, you have to finish a importing a picture for each part of the animal's life cycle.

Research Diet and Habitat of the Larvae and Butterfly

Grade three's,

We are in our final days of gathering research about butterflies.  Today, you will be in the computer lab doing some research using the links I have posted below.  Remember to stay on task with your research.  You are searching for information about:

1. What do butterfly larva eat?
2. What do adult butterflies eat?
3. Where do butterfly larva live?  Why do they live there?
4. Where do adult butteries live?  Why do they live there?

Link 1       Link 2       Link 3      Link 4

How Important is Your Mouth?

We experimented with 'food' and 'mouths' today. Animals mouths are designed for specific types of food.  A butterfly would look rather silly with fangs and long, sharp teeth.  Perhaps this is why the butterfly relies on foods like nectar for survival.

Challenge:
1. Choose an animal that you find very interesting.
2. Describe its mouth?
3. What does the animal eat?
4. How is the mouth useful?

Jar-of-Soil

We have just spent the last week creating a soil that will provide the most nutrients for a super plant.  Through the Rocks and Minerals unit, the grade 3 class developed the understanding that rocks are made up of minerals but, through natural and non-natural forces, rocks break into smaller parts.  Rocks make up the most part of a soil (clay, silt, hummus, sand and gravel).

Today, we will begin writing an advertisement for our soil. Students need to explain:

1.  Are the rocks in your soil big or small? 

2.  Why did you choose to use big/small rocks?

3.  What makes the soil have nutrients for plants?

4.  Where did the nutritious parts of the soil come from?

*** Grade 3s, remember to use your planning, pictures and classroom activities to include the most information possible.  You want to sell your soil.*** 

Making Rocks

This week, we learned about lustre and texture of rocks. We developed a better understanding of texture by making 'rocks'.  On Wednesday, we joined some ingredients together as we realized that fine textured ingredients will join together to form a fine textured product.  When we added oatmeal, however, the mixture became coarse.  This is similar to rocks because rocks are made up of minerals.  When minerals that are coarse join together to form a rock, the rock is also coarse.  As the oatmeal rock baked, we discussed how rocks form through the layers of Earth.  Rocks become solids as they approach the crust of the Earth because it is much cooler than the core.  

Luckily, our rocks were soft, edible and delicious.  

Rocks and Minerals

Check out the video we watched on Monday to start our new Science unit.  As we played with rocks this week, we learned about hardness and lustre.  In the weeks to come make comments, or post pictures, of things made of rocks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGfco7kNzJA