Layered Liquids

Today in IBL we did a experiment wfe miss dent it was fun! - Karsten                                                   Today we had a grat day because we did a experamat waf miss dent. We uost liquids to. It was fun we had a grat day! i liket my day - Shelby!!!!

In IBL I am working with my own class! It is nice to work with them and my teacher partner, Candace at the same time!

We have been doing experiments for Solids, Liquids and Gasses. Today we talked about density and layered liquids in a jar. Science experiments are the best because kids are so engaged. They just cannot wait to see what will happen. We get to talk about scientific information, make predictions and then actually see what happens. Today they learned that liquids that are more dense stay at the bottom and liquids that are less dense go to the top. We are all having a blast!

From bottom to top: honey, corn syrup, dish soap, water, oil and rubbing alcohol.

First Juice, now Jello!

What's the best way to end the week? Making a treat to eat and learning at the same time, of course!
On Friday afternoon, we made Jello for Science. Monday, we reflected on our learning from our time in the kitchen.

I asked the kids: Why did we make Jello?
Evan explained that it would be a good way to show different states of matter when he said:
Its solid, and then liquid and then solid.

I then had the students think about and walk through our Jello making process:

We poured the sugar into the bowl, and it was a solid. (Adam)

Observing the solid crystals.

 We added hot water and we mixed it. The solid crystals dissolved. (Haylee)

Mixing to help the solid crystals dissolve in the liquid,

Next we put cold water and mixed it more, and then put it in the fridge (Sean)

And now... we wait!

Some further thoughts a few students had about the different states of matter that the Jello moved through,..

When we put it in the fridge, it made a solid, and when we ate it, it turned into a liquid in our mouth. (Katelyn)

When the Jello mixed with our saliva, it turned to a liquid (Sean)

Once the Jello was ready, everyone enjoyed a serving, and then we discussed how we could tell that the finished product was a solid. We did this by checking for the three properties of a solid.

It has mass/weight (Gabby)
It takes up space (Evan)
It keeps its shape (Chantal)














When I turned the bowl upside down, the Jello held its shape and didn't come out (Charles/Ciera)











Last but not least, the students shared some thoughts about eating the Jello!

Enjoying the finished product,

It tasted really good (Adam)

It was really delicious and I wanted another bowl (Gabby)

It tasted awesome (Katelyn)

Making juice....in Science?!

We are exploring properties of matter in Science. At the beginning of the unit, we filled out a KWL chart (What we Know, What we Want to know, and What we have Learned) about Solids, Liquids and Gases. One of the wonderings we had as a class was: what happens when you mix solids and liquids together?
We discovered that some solids don't change when mixed with a liquid, when we poured water over a wooden block.

Up next was to try and see if we could dissolve certain solids with a liquid. We found out that rice would not dissolve, but sugar would! 
Then everyone in the class got to explore with some juice crystals.

I think it’s a solid. (Gabby)

It sounds crunchy! (Evan)

Its tasty! (Sean)

Its just like orange sugar. (Kaz)

When you stir the crystals it sounds like a rattle. (Anthony)

Getting a closer look at the juice crystals.

After we added the liquid (water) we observed what happened...

Stir, stir, stir!

The water turned yellow. (Brooklyn)

It smells like orange juice. (Haylee)

The crystals are gone! (Gabby)

I think it will taste like orange juice. (Adam)

It looks yummy! (Ciera)

When you added the water the crystals dissolved! (Nathan)

After we tasted it...

It tasted awesome! (several shout outs)

Taste- testing

When the crystals and water mixed together, it tasted kind of sour, and the crystals tasted different before we added the water. (Gabby)

It’s kind of good. (Kaz)

When I was done, there were still some crystals at the bottom of my cup. (Ciera)

Delicious!

The class can't wait to continue exploring with different materials and states of matter. We will keep you posted on our next adventure in Science!

-Mrs. Chubey

Seasonal Changes with Grade 1 {IBL}

In IBL (Inquiry Based Learning) I am working with grade 1. I taught a grade 1-2 multiage class a few years ago but my memories of September grade 1 children have faded a little. I absolutely love working with grade 1, they are SO excited to see me and are gung-ho to do just about anything I announce!! In Science they are learning about Daily and Seasonal Changes so we are focusing in on the changes animals go through in the different seasons. We talked about the seasons (no, Christmas and April are not seasons...) and some of the things they know about the seasons and then they got to use sticky notes and smelly markers (best writing lures ever) to post their ideas in each season. I reminded them that if they didn't know how to spell an idea they had, they could just write the sounds they hear, stretch out the word, etc. This was followed by some awesome ideas that the children wrote independently! There were also a few of these:

child: "I did one!"
me: "Awesome! Can you read it to me?"
child: "Umm, I don't remember what I wrote."
me: "That's ok, I think it says               "
child: "Mhmm, I think so too."
I love it.

I posted this photo to instagram the other day - such a great reminder of where these new little writers are at. :) It says "the snow is melting so we can play outside at the beach!"

GIANT, pretty, moth!

There was a flurry of excitement as the students gathered around this giant moth on the playground. Three of them ran inside to get me and a camera, I am glad they found me! I have never seen something so big and beautiful. I always think of moths as the little, brown ones that flutter around the lights outside. The boys that came to get me with the camera earlier just came with a book. They found the caterpillar and moth when they got to class! It is called the Cecropia Moth and is the largest caterpillar in Canada and the US. It can grow to 10 cm as a caterpillar and be very fat. The caterpillar eats many different tree leaves such as lilac, apple, ash and cherry. We have lots of lilac trees around our playground, maybe that is where it came from!
Check this out!

 

 

 

This is my adult hand!

 

 

 

Paper Slide Videos :: The Integumentary System {IBL}

The final piece for the grade 5 Human Body Series is the Integumentary System - the skin. All the videos will be compiled into a DVD for each of the grade 5 students to keep. What a great portfolio piece! I loved doing this project with grade 5.

The Integumentary System from LeslieDent on Vimeo.

Paper Slide Videos :: The Circulatory System {IBL}

The sixth video in our Human Body Video Series is The Circulatory System. This system was longer and had more information than some others, the group did a great job of sticking with it and creating a great product.

The Circulatory System from LeslieDent on Vimeo.

Elephants

Elephants have ruff skin to pretect them.They live in forests and grasslands.some people kill elephants and take there tusks.Elephants eat bark dates and grasses and more-carter l.

Paper Slide Videos :: The Muscular System {IBL}

The next video in our Human Body series is The Muscular System. This group was very efficient and did a great job on their project. Just two more systems and we will be able to compile the series into a DVD!

VID00005 from LeslieDent on Vimeo.

Paper Slide Videos :: The Nervous System {IBL}

The fourth video in the grade 5 Human Body series is the Nervous System. The students are doing an awesome job of breaking down their system into steps that make sense and describing how their system works. As they finish, they have a clear understanding of their system and a video production they are proud of. Awesome!

The Nervous System from LeslieDent on Vimeo.

Paper Slide Videos :: The Skeletal System {IBL}

The third in our series, the Skeletal System!

The Skeletal System from LeslieDent on Vimeo.

Paper Slide Videos :: The Respiratory System {IBL}

The second video in our grade 5 human body series is The Respiratory System!

The Respiratory System from LeslieDent on Vimeo.

Paper Slide Videos :: The Digestive System {IBL}

I have started working with both grade 5 classes in IBL. They are looking at the body systems in Science so we decided to do paper slide videos in small groups on each of the systems.

The first group were experts on the Digestive System. They wrote the steps to their system and created the drawings you see. Enjoy!

digestive system from LeslieDent on Vimeo.

Time Lapse Video

Last weekend while I had the caterpillars at home, I tried out time lapse photography/video. I set up my dslr camera with a caterpillar that was ready to go into chrysalis and let it got all night, taking a photo every minute and a half. When I woke up I was excited to see how it turned out...the caterpillar was still hanging there and the camera battery had died half way through the night. So, I charged the battery and set it up again through the day. This time it worked! I caught the caterpillar going into his chrysalis. The lesson this time was that the photos needed to be closer together. Regardless, I made it into a video. You will notice that the caterpillar very quickly changes, this is because it happened in a matter of 5 minutes which was only a few photos.

I also found an app that makes this process WAY easier. Of course. It is called iTimelapse and it costs $1.99. Worth every penny! You follow all the steps and the app takes the photos and puts them together (renders them) into a video. You can watch the video right there or share it in a variety of ways. Of course my class thought this was as awesome as I did so we tried it at the beginning of their gym class. This video is of them having their free time warm up and then settling in to their squads.

I am planning to catch the process of the butterfly emerging using this process as soon as they are ready! Stay tuned :)

- Mrs. Dent Scarcello :)

Weekend Caterpillar Invasion

What a crazy caterpillar weekend! As you know, we have hundreds of caterpillars. We had to buy plants to feed them because they were running out of food. On Friday, I took a bunch home with another net to transfer them into for space and feeding. On Friday evening I moved them all into their cozy, new home. Early Saturday morning I was up to get Emily a bottle, I took one step into the kitchen and noticed something on the floor. I flicked on the light and {*sigh} there were about 10 caterpillars crawling all over the kitchen! I quickly scooped them up and put them back in their net. Then I noticed some on the counter, climbing the cupboards, much farther away in the dining and living rooms and even one all the way downstairs in the basement! Sheesh! Thank goodness I noticed when Emily found a few before she was able to get them in her mouth or squeeze them too hard.

I fixed up their net to make it more secure, and hopefully escape-proof. No such luck! Through the weekend I continued to find caterpillars here and there. I even found one attached to a thank-you card that eventually went into his chrysalis.

I went to school early this morning to get some work done. When I arrived, the caterpillars there needed new plants to munch on so I started dealing with them. As I walked down the hall to our classroom, I saw a caterpillar crawling down the HALLWAY! Upon closer examination, there were about 5 in the hallway and 10 in the classroom, inching their way around. Once the children arrived and heard there had been an escape mission, they scoured the classroom and found a few more, including 2 hanging in chrysalids from tables and 2 chrysalids in the middle of the floor! Geez Louise!

Things are back under control now and everyone is safe in a place. That is, until the chrysalids around the room start emerging and we have to chase down loose butterflies!

Their new home, before it went into lockdown mode with tape and numerous clothespins.

The first escapee - notice his friends further along the floor.

This guy made down three steps and was headed out the door.

In the bathroom...

The first escapees I found, I thought THIS was a lot. I also thought I had caught them all. Silly me.

In the kleenex.

Now that is talent. Climbing the wall!

When Emily got up there were a couple more out, looking for a challenge. She won, easily!

Point, Emily.

Later in the afternoon, this is clear across the house.

All the way downstairs in the basement on some smelly socks!

This guy hid from me long enough to attach to this card. This is where he remains, in his chrysalis. It will be a nice surprise when he emerges as a butterfly and wakes us up!

I was able to watch this one change from caterpillar to chrysalis! LIVE!

This morning at school, across the room, out the door and two classrooms away from his net!

Sneaky, this guy attached to the baseboard. Great hiding spot!

A chrysalis on a table.

And another table.

Paper Slide Videos {IBL}

I am getting ready to work on paper slide videos with the grade 5 classes. They are learning about the body systems and will use the videos to describe the process of one of the 7 systems:

• Digestive System
• Skeletal System
• Muscular System
• Nervous System
• Integumentary System
• Respiratory System
• Circulatory System

Check out this introductory video which describes paper slide videos and the process we will use to make them.



Chris Hadfield's Trip Home

As you probably heard, Chris Hadfield travelled home from the ISS to Earth yesterday. They departed from the ISS at 6:08 local time and landed in Kazakhstan at about 9:30 pm. Of course, like most of his expedition, this was widely talked about online and streamed live online. In case you missed it, here is a short video of the highlights from his trip home. We will certainly miss hearing updates from space but are glad Hadfield had such a successful expedition and made it home safely!

 

Watching Animals LIVE!

We are live streaming our caterpillars again, you can see the feed along the right side of our blog. As in past years, there are many other animals to watch live online using sites like livestream and ustream. Some popular ones are the Decorah Eagles and the Peregrine Falcons that nest in downtown Winnipeg. The Peregrine Falcon cam will be live from Winnipeg on May 15, 2013.

I also just found an active Eagle nest in Minnesota! There are two eaglets in this nest that hatched 3.5 weeks ago. They have not left the nest yet. Today in their nest there is half a fish they are feasting on!

We will keep tabs on these live streaming animals and typically check in on them each day as we come back after lunch. Watching them sparks some very interesting conversations and learning. For example, today we noticed that the eagle nest looks pretty big. We looked up facts on eagles nests and found that they can be 2 metres wide! That is taller than the children in our class and bigger than the tables we sit at! We also read that eagles nests can be as deep as 4 metres which is higher than our classroom roof. We aren't sure if that is true and need to look into it a little further.

Have a great weekend!
-Mrs. Dent Scarcello :)

Coming Soon - Caterpillars!!

We are talking about the caterpillars that are coming to our class next week. Our teacher told us that Mrs. Malkoske's class got theirs this week! We went to their blog to check them out and saw the livestream of their caterpillars. Our teacher told us we will have that too!

We have some questions for Mrs. Malkoske's class:

How many caterpillars do you have? -Olivia
What do they eat? -Carter V
What type of caterpillars are they? -Paige
We are getting Painted Lady caterpillars. -Tommy-Lee
Are yours Painted Ladies too? -Max
That sounds fun, I am excited that we get some too! -Katrina and Rebecca
What day did you get them on? -Carter L and Tyler
What do they look like? -Alexa
Do they move a lot? -Elisa and Paige
I hope they are Painted Lady butterflies, I am excited!! -Laine
Has one turned into a butterfly yet? -Avery
I hope they look good! -Sam
I hope they have nice wings. -Paige
Where do you keep them? -Iain
How old are they? -Tyler
What are they doing in the livestream? I couldn't tell. -Kaitlyn

Animal Life Cycles

In Science we have started exploring Growth and Changes in Animals. Today we will start looking at animal life cycles. Here are a few videos worth checking out.

Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle


Chicken Life Cycle


Life Cycle of a Frog