In Science Class . . . Week of 9/27

In 4/5th grade science this week, we'll be wrapping up our evaporation experiments and graphing our results. Students will practice using syringes and graduated cylinders to measure water volume.  Key questions:

• How did you measure the volume of the water in the cups? (We used a syringe to put the water into a graduated cylinder.)
• Where in the classroom did water evaporate most quickly? (By the window, because the air temperature was higher due to the heater and lots of sunlight.)
• Where did it evaporate the slowest? (On the floor, in the cupboard, etc where air temperatures were lower)

In Science Class . . . Week of 9/20

This week, the students will be focusing more on evaporation and recording data. We will examine our paper towel experiment, and then design an experiment to investigate how different locations in the room affect evaporation. Key questions:

• What happened to the scale with the paper towels? (The paper towel with out the lid dried, meaning the water evaporated. The paper towel with the lid did not dry because the water was contained, though there was some condensation on the inside of the cup. The scale tipped toward the side with the lid because it still contained water, whereas the water on the other paper towel had escaped into the atmosphere.)
• Where did your group place the cups with water? What predictions did you make? Which cups will have the highest evaporation rates?

In Science Class . . . Week of 9/13

This week, we wrapped up our solar system section by reviewing key concepts on the planets (see previous post) and watching a video. We have moved on to discussing evaporation as part of our focus on earth processes. The students observed a demonstration that involved putting two wet paper towels on a scale, with one side being covered by a lid. Key questions:

• Where do you see evaporation in daily life? (When things "dry up" like laundry, puddles on the sidewalk, hair after a shower, etc)
• What did you predict would happen with the scale and the wet paper towels? Would both paper towels dry?

Welcome to Science! Weeks of 8/31 and 9/6

Hello, everyone, and welcome to a new year of science at Emerson! I am very excited to back at Emerson, teaching a subject I love. On this blog, I'll update you on our lessons and topics and include questions you can ask your 4th and 5th grader to reinforce science concepts (and spark conversation)!  If you have questions about any of the following or anything related to science education at Emerson, please contact me at caitlin_jenkins@berkeley.k12.ca.us.

To start off the year, the students did a sensory/observation activity last week. I passed around brown paper bags with common household objects in them. Instead of looking in the bag, students had to use their sense of touch and smell to write descriptive words and make a guess as to what the object was. The learning goals were to work on our observation skills, scientific language and to introduce students to the scientific method. Questions to ask your student: What were the objects? How did you know? What words did you use to describe them?

This week, we started investigations in the solar system. Students worked with cards with each of the components of our solar system on them, including comets, planets, satellites, asteroids and the sun. On the back of each of these cards is important information about the object's mass, diameter, composition, distance from sun and temperatures. We worked on organizing them in order from the sun, and next week will work on other sorting skills. We also watched a video and discussed the sun's gravitational pull. Key questions to ask:

• What is the order of the planets? (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.  Pluto is now classified as a dwarf planet.)
• What is the difference between the inner and outer planets? (Inner planets are rocky and solid, while outer planets are made of gas.)
• What is the largest planet? (Jupiter) The smallest? (Mercury)
• What planets have very high surface temperatures? (Those closest to the sun, though Venus is hotter than Mercury because it has an atmosphere that helps it retain heat.)
• Why don't the earth and other objects fly off into outer space? (Because of the sun's gravitational pull) 
• Why do the moon and man-made satellites continue to orbit around the earth? (Because of gravitational pull of the earth.)