Did You Know…? All the batteries on Earth store just ten minutes of the world’s electricity needs.
Good evening,
Today the Gr. 4 and Gr. 5 students started our day with our Multiplication Quiz for this week. We have been working on our 9x tables. After our quiz, we got our new fact family for the week… the 1x tables! I realize that this is a pretty easy fact to be practicing, so we are going to be reviewing our 2x tables as well. After our quiz, we all watched the 2x Multiplication Toon on Mathletics. Then our Gr. 5 students went with Mr. Dykstra and used Kahoot! to review their 2x, 4x, and 8x tables. The Gr. 4 students and I reviewed our 2x tables by playing a new Math game: the Spiral Game. A copy of the game is included below for any families that are interested in playing at home. All you need is some playing cards and a dice:
In Science today, the Gr. 5 students had a few activities that they were completing. First, students were completing some review sheets on electrical safety that we started on Monday. Students who finished this activity moved on to complete their “Hot Stuff!” experiment. In this experiment, students were connecting the negative and positive terminals of a 1.5V battery with an aluminum or copper wire. Students were asked to record their observations about what would occur. The electrons move from the negative terminal to the positive terminal. As the electrons move, they rub against one another and against the sides of the wire, etc. creating friction. In a circuit like the one we have created above, the electrons move VERY quickly, as their is no “work” for them to do. As a result, a lot of friction occurs, causing the wires to heat up. All students were able to feel how quickly the wires get hot. We started this experiment on Monday, students were finishing recording their observations today. Next, they began an experiment called, “Will it Light?” In this experiment, students connected an aluminum/copper wire, a 1.5V battery, and a small light bulb in various ways. Students were asked to predict which arrangements would light up and which would not and then to record their observations. The students found that if you connect the negative terminal to the positive terminal with materials that electricity will flow through, and if you connect the metal thread AND the lead tip of the light bulb within the circuit, the light bulb will light up. If the both parts of the bulb are not connected or if the circuit is complete without the light bulb, the light bulb will not light up. It will also not light up if the circuit is broken by materials that do not conduct electricity like the plastic casing on the battery or the glass of the light bulb. We will continue to explore these concepts in further classes.
The Gr. 4 students have been learning about friction as well! We have been learning about how friction can make our work harder. Take for example a heavy bin. Pulling or dragging the bin across the floor can be difficult. This is because the bin rubs along the floor and the force created (friction) causes the work to be more difficult. To make the work easier, we can use a simple machine to reduce the amount of friction. We used rollers as our simple machine. Students put pencils underneath their supply bins and found that with the bin off the floor on top of the rollers, the friction was reduced and the work was easier. We also tried this experiment with heavy books and pencils, and even using a large bin holding a student! It was hard to pull our classmates across the floor, but once we put the bin on rollers, it was much easier! Gr. 4 students recorded their observations during these experiments and then worked together as a group to brainstorm different ways that they have observed rollers being used to make work easier, such as: rolling pins, roller blades, conveyor belts, etc. We will continue to explore these concepts in upcoming classes.
We also had an electricity demonstration today that I let the Grade 4 class observe as well. I wanted to show our Grade 5 class how little electricity you need in order to start an electrical fire. In our “Hot Stuff!” experiment, we were using only 1.5V batteries and aluminum/copper wires. The wires heated up, but they are built to withstand a certain amount of heat. Today, I demonstrated to students how changing the materials can make a big difference. We used a 9V battery and some steel wool. Quickly after I connected the steel wool to the circuit, the friction created by the flow of electrons was too much for the steel wool and it sparked and caught on fire. This was a great demonstration and a good review of the concepts we have covered, however, I spoke to students about the safety of this experiment. I have conducted this experiment many times and know how to properly prepare and use the materials. I told students to NOT attempt this experiment at home without parental consent or supervision.
Agenda:
Read 20 minutes
Language Arts:
- Book Talk – due January 26th
- Topic/Concluding Sentences – due tomorrow
Math:
- 1, 2x Tables Quiz – Tuesday
French:
- Quiz – Ma Classe, Numbers 0-31, Les Operations Mathematiques (Thursday)
Science:
- Research/Essential Question Check-In – will continue tomorrow
- Classroom Science Fair – March 7th
- Trifold Board Orders – due Monday
Toque Tuesday Assembly – February 2nd ($2 donations encouraged)
Grade 5/6 Floor Hockey – Wednesday, 3:00-4:00 pm
STEM Club – Monday, 3:00-4:00 pm
Cross-Country Ski Club – January 21st, 28th
Grade 5/6 Basketball – Tuesdays, 3:00-4:00 pm
Family Movie Night – January 22nd, 6:00 pm, School Gym, Minions
Family Literacy Night – January 27th, 6:00-7:00 pm, School Gym