Good evening!
Today we had Computers. Students had 3 different tasks that they could work on during Computers. They could: find a favourite poem, research a Science Fair project, or use their Mathletics. Some students were finding it difficult to find a favourite poem and spending some time looking for one today enabled us to help support and help one another. Plus, now we all have our homework done! Last week we sent the Science Fair logbooks home. Today, the class and I reviewed what makes a good Science Fair project. Students were challenged to consider having an essential question that they need to solve/answer. This will ensure that students’ work is focused and has purpose. It will also help students in using the Scientific Method. If we start with an essential question in mind, it is much easier to plan the project and to know what we are working towards. A good place to look for Science Fair projects is:
The links section of the Regional Wood Buffalo Science Fair’s website, provides several different sites that students can use to help start planning and designing their projects. We checked out “Science Buddies” together today. We looked under “Cooking and Food Science Project Ideas” and found 71 different project ideas. We decided to check out the very first suggestion. Here is what it said,
“If you’ve ever been on a long hike, you probably already know how hungry all that walking can make you. But if you’re going a long distance, the last thing you want is a heavy pack of snacks on your back. So what can you bring along for a healthy, hunger-satisfying, lightweight snack? How about dried foods, like banana chips or beef jerky? Many foods have high water content. The drying process removes much of the water from the food, leaving behind a lighter, but equally nutritious snack. Just how much water is removed during drying? Find out for yourself by making your own supply of dried banana chips (or another fruit of your choice). You’ll need to research different drying techniques and remember to weigh the bananas before and after drying to calculate how much water was lost. For a more advanced science fair project, you can try comparing the results of different drying techniques, or comparing the amount of water lost from different types of foods during drying. Happy snacking!”
After reading the description we worked together to write an essential question that we could use if we wanted to complete the above project. We decided on, “How much water does the average banana lose during the drying process?” Just having this question gave us some more clues about what we might have to do to complete this project. We would have to test several bananas so that we could average our results. We would have to weigh all of the bananas individually before drying them. We would have to weigh all the bananas individually after drying them. We would have to explain in detail the method of drying used. We would need to track our results with either a graph or a table. We would need to make sure that we didn’t change our controlled variables (eg. the drying time, temperature, placement in the stove, etc.), that we manipulated some variables (eg. repeating the experiment with different bananas – different weights), and that we accurately recorded the the responding variables (eg. the weight after drying). Students should consider doing something similar when planning their project at home. Starting with an essential question really does help to point you in the right direction!
In our own Science class today, students completed their safety posters. Students really are experts on electrical safety now. Check out some of our work below.
Tomorrow is the last day that we will be accepting orders for a toque for “Toque Tuesday”. Toques come in black and gray and cost $10/toque. Timberlea is very excited and honoured to be hosting the Centre of Hope on February 4th. All proceeds from our toque sales will go directly to the Centre of Hope to help those who are homeless in our city. Not interested in buying a toque? That’s okay! Students can bring $2 on February 4th to wear their own toques to the assembly!
Agenda:
Reading Journal – Friday (Ninja – Describe the setting’s time and place. Draw it!)
Read 20 minutes
Toque Orders – Due tomorrow ($10)
French – Numbers (1-100) Quiz (next Wednesday)
Friday – Movie Night @ 6:30 pm (Despicable Me 2)
Ski Day – February 6th
Monday – Family Literacy Night
January 29th – Book Orders due
January 29th – WiM Poems due
