In the course of human events...

                 

"We hold these truth to be self evident...that all men are created equal and have certain unalienable rights among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. " 

It's an exciting week to uncover and investigate the brave and bold words of Thomas Jefferson and The Declaration of Independence. Students took the chance to read and retell this monumental document in their own words. This has been a great way for them to comprehend and remember our history!

When you see a change, how do you determine whether its physical or chemical?

              

We have spent the last few weeks discovery properties of matter and the phases that matter can go through.  Our research and observations led us to one question, "When something changes, how do we know if the change is chemical or physical?" Using household chemicals, we went to the STEAM Lab to do some further investigating.  Students made several mixtures and observed them for things pieces of evidence like a gas being produced, color change, light being produced or temperature change.  Students measured a temperature change using digital thermometers that graphed their results.  The conclusion: if a temperature change occurs, it is likely to be a chemical change.  

Keep Calm and Experiment On

Today we began science by exploring different scientific tools and their purposes.  We discussed as a class why it would be important to know how to use and which tools to use BEFORE actually doing an experiment.  This led to good discussions about science safety, procedures, and even valid data collection.  Most of all we decided that in order to answer questions we would have to 

KEEP CALM & EXPERIMENT ON!

Very Hungry Caterpillar

We have a very hungry visitor in our garden and we are hoping that he will stay!  Caterpillars love to munch on leaves.  In order for them to have leaves, we have to have healthy soil.  Did you know that to have healthy soil you may need to have potassium, nitrogen and phosphate?  Our soil needed a little bit of all of it so we create a mixture and added it to our gardens.  We are hoping this will make the soil "ideal" for growing all sort of yummy vegetables.  In order to track the progress, we started data collection and will check the height, temperature, and soil fertility every week.  

European Explorer Project

For the last few weeks, we have discovered the first settlers of the Americas.  Native Americans, followed by European explorers discovered new land and in the process began to discover new ways of living.  Students will be completing their studies by creating a Google Slide presentation on a European Explorer of their choice.  Students will need to include information such as the explorer's personal background, their motive for exploring, who sponsored the expedition, and a description of the area and/or route of their expedition.

Students will turn in this assignment on their Google Classroom.  If Google Classroom is new to you, please take a few minutes to watch the following video.

The students will be using Google Slides to create their presentation.  This is the Google version of "Power Point".  However, there are some differences.  You may use the Google Presentation How-To link to help your child.

I am excited to see what the students create!

Outdoor Classroom - 3 Sisters Garden

One of the wonderful resources we have at RES is the Outdoor Classroom.  It is located behind the library and is constantly busy with students who are as busy as the bees themselves.   

Mrs. Beth Daigle, a retired fifth grade teacher, has done a wonderful job of finding lessons that enhance the state standards students are learning.  

Today, our class went to learn more about the 3 Sisters Garden which is a combination of squash, corn, and beans.  The students have been investigating what resources the Native Americans had and discovered this was exactly what some of them may have planted.  Mrs. Daigle read a legend about how the garden came to be and the process that Native Americans may have gone through to grow these vegetables.  Then we picked some beans ourselves.  

In the coming weeks, we will also use the garden to extend our learning of earth science and plants.  

This is How We Research

Do you know how Native Americans adapted to their environments?  We are currently researching how  the regions in which they lived played in part in the resources they used.  For example, Native American tribes in the Plains region would have used buffalo hide to make shields and even blankets.

Students used atlases (maps), a textbook, and Discovery Education online tech book to gather information and determine which artifacts belonged to a specific region.