Wednesday -Spring Break Thursday - Monday

We are having an interesting learning experience today. The people from Bear Lake, Preston and Soda Spring's Soil and Water Conservation District have come to teach the students about how to take care of their habitat. The students also get to make paw prints and identify animals by their pelts.

We are having a dance this afternoon. The students are dressed in their best clothes and look very nice.

Remember, sundials are due Thursday April 8th. This Spring Break would be a great time to get it done. However, if the weather is bad the entire week, we will change the due date to April 15th.

Tuesday

We watched Plato today and learned alot about the different planets. Did you know that Jupiter is 11 times larger than Earth, yet its days are about 9 Earth hours? Tomorrow we will be having visitors come and the students will be making animal prints and learning how to take care of our natural resources.

Tomorrow is also a dance just before spring break. Students are to dress in their best clothes.

Spring break lasts from Thursday through Monday. Sundials are due one week from this Thursday. If we have any clear skies, watch and you can see Venus and Mercury together just after sunset.

Monday

I hope you are watching the moon as it was full last night. With the weather changing it will be hard to watch as it goes into its waning phase, but try and see what you can.

Vocabulary words were due today. They were assigned on Wednesday. Those who did not get them done will be in remediation today.

The teams met together today to research planets. We will work on planets today and tomorrow. On Wednesday a group is coming to talk to the 6th graders about animals and our water. It should be fun.

Tomorrow is Bling Day for Spirit week

Thursday - check out Mars next to the moon tonight

We finished our movie today. It excellently shows that although we have learned a lot through out the time of man, we do not know everything. We learned today why the Big Bang theory was finally accepted over the Steady State theory. We learned about Fred Hoyle and George Lemaitre and how prejudice can keep you from considering new ideas.

According to the forecast the weather might be perfect for sundials this week-end. Students need to bring their metal hangers and finish last night's homework assignment.

Mars should be visible tonight next to the moon - see if you can see it there.

Spirit week starts Monday, where blue and white.

Wednesday

We reviewed the moon information today and then began on the second of three parts of the movie on the Big Bang.

Homework tonight will be the vocabulary words on C46, C58, C70, C82. The words are in a little box called vocabulary on the top of the pages. You are to write the word and then find the definition and write it. This will help you understand what we are reading about.

Please bring wire hangers, if you have some extras, please bring them ASAP. Also, this week-end finish your sundial. Please follow the instructions.

Tuesday

We have started a movie that teaches the Big Bang Theory. We will be watching parts of it for the next few days. This movies shows how scientific theory has changed over the centuries. It covers much of what we will be reading about in the next few days.

I still have nine students who have not returned their spring pictures. Either the pictures or the money must be here by Thursday.

Students need to be working on their sundials and bring in wire hangers. Remember, sundials will be due on April 8th. The instructions are on this blog on Thursday March 18th.

Monday sundials and hangers

The Hubble space telescope has sent some fantastic pictures back to Earth. Today we viewed some of the favorites of scientists. We reviewed the uses of satellites and talked about how useful they are on Earth. We showed how communication satellites can give us information. We also showed how the Earth compares to other planets and stars. It is truly amazing.

Then we moved onto why we have seasons. We used a model to show the tilt of the Earth and what causes seasons. Then we viewed a short clip on Youtube that showed the Earth, Sun and seasons. Finally we discussed tides. The spring tide is when the tide is unusually high and it is caused when the sun and moon are in line with each other. The neap tide is a very low tide and it occurs when the sun and the moon are at a 90 degree angle from each other.

Students need to bring a wire coat-hanger to class. If you have extras, please bring them for the students that have none. Sundials are due on April 8th. Please make sure that you line it up North South East West and that your stick is at the bottom next to South. The lines need to be drawn out to the very end of the stick. If it goes past your paper, tape more paper on so you get the full length. Very long sticks require a very large drawing surface. Too short of sticks won't show up.

Thursday with Sundial Instructions

We had an interesting class today learning about satellites. We are showing images from weather satellites and agriculture satellites that show moisture in soil and how well crops are growing. We discussed why we have time zones and watched on-line a current satellite map that shows where it is night time and where it is daylight. We also discussed the differences we learned from yesterday's experiments.

Here is a site that shows some of the images sent back from the Hubble telescope http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/multimedia/ero/index.html

Students were give a handout for making their sun-dial. I am also including the instructions here:
Sundial Instructions - Due Date April 8th:
Supplies:
1. Large piece of paper, cardboard, paper plate or other flat object that can be drawn on
2. A stick, pencil or other straight tall object to use to mark the time
3. Something like clay to anchor the straight stick
4. A marker or pencil

Instructions:
1. Find a good place where the sun will shine for at least five hours
2. Place your flat paper or other object in the sun, anchor it to the ground
3. Determine the directions, North, South, East, West
4. Put the stick or pencil in the bottom center of the paper
5. On the next hour, mark the shadow of the straight object – make sure you draw to the end of the shadow
6. Set a timer and then mark the shadow every hour – draw the new line including width and full length
7. Five hour markings are required

Cautions:
1. Put the paper in a place that will not be bothered by animals or wind and anchor it down
2. If you are forced to move the paper, use a compass or marker so you can reset it exactly
3. Set a timer – you think you will remember but it is really frustrating when you miss it by a few minutes

Wednesday

Today we discussed refraction, reflection and the electromagnetic spectrum. Then we went to our lab and saw what we were talking about. We held up the spectroscope to the fluorescent light and the incandescent light. Students recorded the differences they saw. Next they went to the table with the bowl full of water and a ruler. By putting the ruler in the water they could see how materials appear to bend when moving from one substance, air,to another substance, water. Lastly they went to the table to practice making the phases of the moon. We used a light and a ball and moved it around to see the eight phases of the moon.

Tomorrow we will compare what they saw. Then we will move into satellites.

Homework tonight is to read C6-C15.

Tuesday

Some students still have not turned in their spring pictures/money. The names have been sent to the office.

We corrected Thursday's classwork/homework. It was an open book review. If students didn't finish in class, which some did, they were allowed to finish it over the week-end. Those who didn't have it finished Monday were sent to rememdiation to have more time, although they would lose some of their points. After we corrected the papers we learned about different ways to observe the universe. We saw many different telescopes and two of the classes were able to see some beautiful moon pictures.

Monday

Students turned in their homework. We will correct it tomorrow. Quite a number did not finish their work and went to remediation. We learned about eclipses and the phases of the moon today. Students drew the 8 phases of the moon. They are to watch for the moon and determine which phase it is in.

Thursday

Today was our open book assignment to finish this unit. Students have 33 questions to answer on pages 46-47 1-15, 19, 20 and pg 92-93 1-16. This is open book and can be finished at home. It is due Monday morning at the beginning of class.

Wednesday

Today is the school play. Our classes are a bit shorter and we will not have learning stations. In class we reviewed the six types of simple machines and then students were asked to draw a cartoon, Rube Goldberg style, using the simple machines to do a common job. This should allow them to review the simple machines while using some creative skills.

Spring pictures or money is due now. Please make sure that you get this in. Tomorrow we will have an open book review for the chapter and next week we begin Earth Science. Students have been asked to start moon watching.

Daylight savings time starts on Sunday. Students will need to be getting up an hour earlier. It is a good time now to go to bed a little earlier and get up a little earlier to start setting your inner alarm clock.

Tuesday

Simple Machines was the topic for today's lesson. The students had the opportunity to sketch the three types of levers. Then we discussed inclined planes, wedges, pulleys, screws, and wheel and axles. We followed the discussion by having the students go into the lab and identify several of the items we discussed.
We also corrected yesterday's assignment. Students are to finish reading Unit F and to start watching the moon.

Spring pictures or the money are now due. Please make sure they get turned in as soon as possible.

Monday

We are asking the students to either return their spring pictures of turn in their money this week and no later.

Due to the play practice today we concentrated on reading the chapter on Energy and Work and doing the worksheet with that. All students should have one and it is due tomorrow. Tomorrow we will correct the worksheet and then do a lab on simple machines.

Thursday

Yesterday the school sent home spring pictures with the students. The pictures or the money must be returned as soon as possible.

Today we had a discussion about plagiarism. It is very important that students learn to do their own work. There is a real temptation to copy off of the Internet, copy and paste are so simple to use. But we are trying to teach the students that it is illegal. Any student who copies work will get a zero.

Today the students gave examples of Newton's laws. We discussed how to find force, mass and acceleration. Then students finished working on a project for next year's Project Northland.

The final copy of the Weed Essay is due Monday at the start of class. This will give me the chance to get them read before they are due. Fifteen essays that follow the rules and are well written will be turned into Todd Transtrum and they will choose the finalists from those fifteen essays. I have told the students that they must follow the rules or their paper will not be turned in. However, all students will get a grade for their own work.

Wednesday

The weed essay is due today. Many are coming in, hope they all do! Today we did an experiment racing a marble down a ruler and bumping it into a cylinder. Students experimented with different ways to make the marble go faster or slower. Some timed it and found the actual speed and velocity of the object. We discussed Newton's laws, potential and kinetic energy, gravity and friction, all concepts we have been learning in class.

The final weed essay must be in on Monday as I will need to read them and have them turned in by Tuesday. I will have all corrected rough drafts ready to hand back tomorrow.

Tuesday

Today we learned about Newton's second and third law while reviewing Newton's first law. We watched free fall prove Galileo's concept of gravity. Then we watched an explanation of the three laws.

Please, the weed essay's rough draft is due tomorrow. It is five paragraphs on Why Weeds Won't Wait. It must be in tomorrow so I can grade it and get it back on Thursday. The final paper is due on Monday, so it must be in on Wednesday. Late papers lose half the points. I am offering time to students with no computer to type their paper at school. Please make sure it is in at the beginning of class or your grade will really look ugly.

Monday

We are learning about Newton's laws. Today we discussed force, friction, balanced forces, unbalanced forces and Newton's first law which is an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by another force and an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by another force. The word for this law is Inertia. We had students demonstrate balanced and unbalanced forces by doing a tug-of-war. We demonstrated friction by trying to slide a book on a rough surface and then by sliding the same book down a smooth surface.

The weed essay's rough draft needs to be turned in as soon as possible with Wednesday being the final day. The final copy must be in on March 8th. The rough draft is worth 50 points. The final copy is also worth 50 points.