Studycast - Light Energy

Before you listen, be warned.  This is a studycast I made for last year's class.  The material is all the same, but the questions on the study guide may be in slightly different order.  Click here if you'd like to listen.   If you have any questions, just leave a comment below or send me an email.  Good luck!

What Can Light Shine Through?

We asked ourselves this question the other day.  We then spent some time shining our flashlights on lots of different objects, which led to some interesting conversations.  We found some objects that appeared to have translucent and transparent parts, leading us to think about objects in our home that may contain elements of both.  This investigation also led us to new questions.  Is colored glass translucent?  Or is it just colored transparency?  Does colored glass "block" light like other translucent objects?  Or does it just allow certain colors to go through?  Great questions!

Opaque, transparent, translucent

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Finding Conductors

After doing several experiments with conductors and insulators, we we went on a conductor hunt.  Each team built a conductor tester and went exploring around the room.  We were surprised by what we found!  Some metals did not appear to conduct electricity - but we inferred that it was due to the object's shape or structure.  We found lots of metal objects in our classroom that did conduct electricity.  Here are some pictures of our scientists at work...

Finding conductors

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Building Electromagnets

After studying series and parallel circuits, I issued the kids a challenge.  Turn a steel rivet into a temporary magnet.  I gave teams of scientists a battery, switch, 150cm wire, small washers, and a steel rivet.  After 10 minutes or so, one team experimented with wrapping the wire around the rivet (with electricity flowing through the wire).  The other teams quickly revised their own approaches, and soon each team in the class had created their own electromagnet.  I was proud of the way our kids experimented with their thinking - trying out ideas, revising their ideas, listening and building off each other's thinking.  Unfortunately, some of the batteries provided by our district were weak, so some teams weren't able to pick up a lot of the washers.  But that was OK - it just led to another investigation exploring how to strengthen an electromagnet. 

My favorite part of the following video is the very end.  You can hear our principal begin making the afternoon announcements, and Will lets out a "Aaarrggh" in disappointment - our science time is over.  I wish everyday ended like that - sighs of disappointment that our class time is over for the day. 

Switching On a Motor

After learning about circuits, we continued our investigation by figuring out how to make a motor run.  Our students quickly got their motors running, and then I extended the challenge - How could you use a switch to turn your motor on and off?  Once again, our students quickly discovered how to open and close a circuit.  Some of our students connected a switch to the idea of a drawbridge.  When the bridge is closed, the cars (or electricity) can flow.  If the bridge is opened, the cars (or electricity) cannot flow.  What brilliant thinkers!

Building Circuits

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How Do You Light a Bulb?

This was the question I posed the kids.  I gave them one battery, two wires, and one small light bulb.  Our students soon learned that electricity must flow in a complete circuit - from negative to positive.  The light bulb acts as a receiver, and the path of electricity must flow all the way from one side of the battery to the other.  This was a brand new concept to the majority of our kids, and they did an incredible job developing plans, trying out their theories, revising their thinking, and working with their partner.  I was proud of their persistence and critical thinking.  Here is a video of our scientists at work...

Creating Static

To begin our unit of study on electricity, we first began with a study of static electricity.  We've all experienced static electricity - begin shocked when we get off the slide or bounce too long on a trampoline.  But none of us really knew why we got shocked.  We spent some time experimenting with balloons, and we eventually learned about negative and positive charges.  We learned that if an object has a build-up of negative charges, those negative charges want to "jump" to an object with a positive charge.  This discharge of negative charges is what produces that shock we all know.  Using static electricity, students were able to make salt and paper jump from the table - as well as make their hair stand up on end.  Unfortunately, static electricity had very little effect on my hair.  Hmmmmm.....

Static Electricity

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Hidden Magnets

As a culminating activity for our study of magnets, we played a fun "hide and seek" game in class. Teams of students worked together to "hide" a magnet inside a small box (taping it to one of its sides).  The other members of the team used magnet detectors to try and find the magnets.  Students used iron filings, compasses, and objects from their mystery bags to try and find the hidden magnets.  The students were fascinated by the magnet's effect on a compass, and they loved watching the iron filings reaction when they were brought in the magnet's field.  Here are some pictures of our scientists at work...

Detecting Magnets

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Breaking the Force

Last Thursday, I gave each team of students a scale, a bag of steel washers, and two doughnut magnets.  I asked - How would you test the force between two magnets?  Our kids quickly figured out a method to test the force.  By dropping in washers on one side of the scale, they could see how many washers it took to pull apart two magnets.  This lead to a discussion about reliable and accurate results.  We decided to keep as many factors the same as possible - how we set up the materials, how we put in the washers, and how we dropped them in.  We then extended our experiment by increasing the space between the magnets.  Would our results be different?  Would the force be stronger or weaker?  I love this experience - it teaches kids how to design an experiment, to collaborate with each other, and record and analyze data. 

Breaking the force

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Magnet Exploration

During science this week, we had a great time exploring with magnets.  When we first began exploring, we noticed that magnets do not stick to all metals (which surprised many of us).  We decided to test various materials, and we found out that magnets only stick to objects that contain iron.  We discussed ideas like attract, repel, and magfnetic poles.  Here are a few pictures of our young scientists at work...

Who Borrowed Mr. Bear?

We started off our year in science with a mystery - Who borrowed Mr. Bear?  This activity came complete with a crime scene, clues, suspects, and experiments.  The kids have had an incredible time piecing together the clues, while at the same time learning about observation, inference, and the scientific process.  I was able to snap just a few pictures today.  Here are some of our kids at work...

Who Borrowed Mr. Bear?

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Studycast - Weather

Click here to listen to the studycast for our upcoming test on weather.  The study guide came home on Monday, May 12th and the test will be on Thursday, May 20th.  Please let me know if you have any questions! 

Organisms - Studycast

Click here to listen to the studycast for our upcoming test on Organisms.  This is a studycast I made for last year's class, but it covers all the same material.  If you have any questions, just leave me a comment or send me an email.  Thanks!

Studycast - Astronomy Test

Click here to listen to the studycast for our upcoming Astronomy test. You can download the studycast to your computer by right-clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As..." The study guide for the test came home on Monday, February 8th and the test will be on Friday, February 12th. If you have any questions, just leave a comment below or send me an email.

Magic Penny

This is one of my favorite science experiments. Place a penny right in the middle of a clean coffee mug. Put it in front of you at your kitchen table, and then place the mug in a place where you can see the penny. Keeping your head still, slowly push the mug away from you to where you can no longer see the penny. Make sure it is just out of your sight line - the penny is now being blocked by the side of the mug. Have someone else slowly add water to the mug - being careful not to disrupt the penny. As water is added (you may have to add a lot), you will slowly see the penny "rise up." It's really amazing. Why does this happen? If you can't figure it out, ask your child! He or she should know!

Magic Penny

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Studycast - Light Test

Click here to listen to the studycast for our upcoming light test. You can download the studycast to your computer by right-clicking on the link and choosing "save target as." The test is this Friday, December 11th, and the study guide came home on Monday, December 7th. If you have any questions about the material, please send me an email or leave a comment below.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

Last week during science lab, each student wrote a set of procedures to create a "cookie-turkey." Students would create part of the turkey, and then write down the procedure. Our students did an incredible job using specific details when writing - I was very proud of them. Here are some pictures of the little turkeys...

Turkey Procedure Writing

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It's All Smoke and Mirrors

One of the first investigations in our study of light was to figure out what happens when light strikes a mirror. We observed that light reflects in predictable ways. There is a "law of reflection" that works with mirrors - light beams reflect off mirrors at the same angle they strike the mirror. We decided to see if teams of scientists could use two mirrors with a flashlight and make the beam of light strike in certain places in our classroom. Here are our young scientists at work...

Exploring With Light

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Studycast - Electricity and Magnets

Click here to listen to the studycast for our upcoming test on Electricity and Magnets. You can download the audio file to by right clicking on the link and saving it to your computer.

The study guide for the test came home on Monday, October 19th; and the test is on Friday, October 23rd. If you need an extra copy of the study guide, visit our classroom website's homework page to download a copy.

Send me an email or leave a comment below if you have any questions!

Conductors and Insulators

Today the kids and I designed a "conductor tester." We did this by creating a circuit that could be opened with two wires. If the two wires touch each other or an object that is a conductor, the circuit would be complete and the motor would run. Students went around the room with their testers and founds lots of conductors and insulators. Do you know what kinds of materials are conductors and insulators? Here are a few pictures of our young scientists at work...

Here's a picture of Lizzie with our high-tech conductor/insulator tester.

Sloan is testing out the top part of a clipboard.

Xion found out that the front of a stapler is a conductor.