Science: What's Up? Class Updates:
If you have any questions, please contact Laurie Weir or Adrienne Collins at [email protected]
If you have any questions, please contact Laurie Weir or Adrienne Collins at [email protected]
Class Update (Week 6)
December 7, 2023
Students...
December 7, 2023
Students...
- Culminated this science class series with an egg drop competition.
- In teams, they use shredded paper, leaves, straws, plastic bags, string, tape, cardboard, and toilet paper rolls, to build a container to keep their egg uncracked when dropped from a height.
- Use their knowledge of parachutes and gravity to come up with some great ideas.
- Learned that a cracked egg is not a failure but a part of the scientific process that gives them clues on how to make it better next time. Noticed the difference in "how" the egg was packed it didn't crack.
- Listened to the book Rosi Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty.
- Discussed how we can get discouraged when something doesn't work but how great inventions come about from trying again.
Class Update (Week 5)
November 30, 2023
Students...
November 30, 2023
Students...
- Reviewed the law of gravity, objects that go up must come down.
- Learned the science of parachutes and our desire to defy gravity
- Learned about Leonardo Da Vinci, the first to envision and sketch a plan for a parachute 500 years ago.
- Learned about Sebastien Lenormand, who did the first successful parachute jump ever witnessed with a couple of reengineered umbrellas.
- Looked at photos and watched the actual footage of the 1971 reentry of the Apollo 15 shuttle as it landed in the ocean with 3 huge parachutes.
- Discussed the opposite force (air resistance or drag) that stops the parachute from falling fast and keeps the astronauts safe as they land.
- Activity: With plastic, string, and clay, constructed and tested their own parachutes and cargo.
- Witnessed how the heavier the weight the faster it would fall.
Class Update (Week 4)
November 16, 2023
Students...
November 16, 2023
Students...
- Reviewed the concept of projectiles and the trajectory they made.
- Gave examples of ball sports they play and drew the trajectory they would make on the board.
- Learned about Newton and his discovery of gravity and the force that makes a rocket blast to space
- Learned that every action has an opposite and equal reaction.
- Experimented with this law by making balloon “rockets” where air released in one direction made the balloon on a straw travel along a string in the opposite direction.
- Experimented with how much they inflated their balloon. (Students will be eager to show you at home!)
Class Update (Week 3)
October 9, 2023
Students...
Homework: What projectiles do you notice in everyday life?
October 9, 2023
Students...
- Read a book about force and learned about the different types of forces all around us such as pulling, pushing, gravity, and friction.
- Learned about projectiles and discussed ball games that exhibit projectile motion.
- Studied a model of a mangonel (traction trebuchet) and learned how they were used in battle in the middle ages to catapult rocks (2 mangonels were used to catapult 5,000 rocks during the Siege of Lisbon).
- Watched the mangonel launch at three different angles: horizontal (0 degrees), one inch off the ground, and two inches off the ground (about 45 degrees).
- Decided from the parabolas on the graph which position (angle) would make the rock fly farthest.
- Launched from their own mangonel to practice the three different positions and graphed the trajectory on their own graph paper.
- Learned that a free falling object and an object that is thrown from the same level will land at the same time.
- Tested this concept by taking turns being the one dropping from a tower and the one throwing.
- Had a final competition with mangonels and gum balls to see who could launch it the furthest.
Homework: What projectiles do you notice in everyday life?
Class Update (Week 2)
October 2, 2023
Students…
Homework: Look at the moon before bedtime if it is high enough in the sky. On the next full moon go outside and see the moon shadows.
October 2, 2023
Students…
- Shared what they know about the moon (a lot!)
- Discussed the moon, its reflected light and the benefits of a full moon vs a new moon (depending on if you need to stay hidden or find your way in the dark!)
- Determined the current moon phase is now a waning gibbous moon.
- Listened to the story Owl Moon by Jane Yolen where the full moon is needed to go owling and where you can see that the full moon does in fact create shadows.
- Practiced the movements of the earth around the sun and the moon around the earth by taking turns being sun, earth and moon.
- Looked at an image of Johannes Kepler who was the first to discover the moon’s gravitational affect on tides: low tide on the further side of the earth while it’s high tide closest to the moon.
- Read a poem about the moon phases.
- Colored in the moon phases
- Made a moon phase wheel with which to practice.
Homework: Look at the moon before bedtime if it is high enough in the sky. On the next full moon go outside and see the moon shadows.
Class 1 Update
October 26, 2023
Students began the new class with the investigation of gravity and air resistance. We began our exploration by looking at paper airplanes with different types of wings. One has small wings and the other has larger wings. Next, we looked at different items that have different surface area and weight. The students dropped the items at the same time to see which one fell first and record this on their data sheet. Finally, we dropped parachutes from about fifteen feet. We were supposed to drop them with different weights, but we ran out of time. Enjoy the parachutes!
Homework: Complete the answer to the question by using the word bank to fill in the blanks. I attached a key for review.
October 26, 2023
Students began the new class with the investigation of gravity and air resistance. We began our exploration by looking at paper airplanes with different types of wings. One has small wings and the other has larger wings. Next, we looked at different items that have different surface area and weight. The students dropped the items at the same time to see which one fell first and record this on their data sheet. Finally, we dropped parachutes from about fifteen feet. We were supposed to drop them with different weights, but we ran out of time. Enjoy the parachutes!
Homework: Complete the answer to the question by using the word bank to fill in the blanks. I attached a key for review.
| investigating_gravity_worksheet_key.pdf |