5th Grade Science - Volume 1 - Wednesday November 29th                                                            

What are we working on?



This month, students have been using a variety of strategies to investigate the stuff that makes up EVERYTHING - matter!

* In terms of grading, all work submitted on or before Sunday, November 12th was counted as part of the first Marking Period.  All work submitted since will be counted for the second marking period.

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What's coming up?

Students will have a test on Matter on Friday, December 1st.  Prezis, a study guide, and other study materials are posted on Google Classroom.  After matter, we will be doing a mini-unit on reading nonfiction science texts and writing responses and summaries of them.  We will then be investigating ecosystems and energy transfer!

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Now, back to what really "matter"s:
Students have been working their way through six matter-based stations to investigate all different aspects of atoms, molecules, and everything else to do with matter, according to the Next Generation Science Standards  These stations were:

1. 'Do You Want to Build a Snowman?' - Students were asked to watch two videos.  One was a detailed explanation of the states of matter and how these states can change BUT the molecules don't!  Students then watched a clip from Disney's Frozen and explained to Olaf what would really happen to a snowman in summer.

2. 'Separating Mixtures' - Students learned that mixtures can be separated only when you use the properties of the items involved.  Students were challenged to separate one of three mixtures: a. sand, salt, and iron filings; b. salt, pepper, and lentils, or; c. paper clips, glitter, and beads

3. 'The Case of the Mysterious White Powder' - A lab that we did this unit involved determining the properties of baking soda, borax, corn starch, salt, and sugar.  Students were tasked with the job of identifying which substance was which when they were given unlabeled samples.

4. 'Element Commercial' - Students chose one element from the periodic table and gathered research on it in order to put together a commercial for that element using the presentation website animoto.com

5. 'Magic Matter' - Students learned about the law of conservation of matter by combining baking soda and vinegar, and determining what happens to the molecules involved when chemicals combine!

6. 'Using Multiple Sources' - One of the skills we'll be working on this year is synthesizing information from multiple sources, like videos, images, and nonfiction texts, to answer a single question.  At station 6, students used an article on matter as well as a image of solids, liquids, and gases to compare and contrast the three states of matter.





Some students have volunteered to share with you what we've been up to!

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Maddie:
My favorite station was station 1 because the Olaf  video was funny and it was cool to think about Olaf if he melted. What we did is we watched the video that was in the movie Frozen.  Then, we watched a video on explaining if Olaf melted and turned into a liquid, solid, or gas.  What I enjoyed about this station is watching the videos on Olaf and that he can turn into different states. I learned that when you heat up a solid like a ice cube it will turn into a liquid and melt. Also, Olaf will have smoke coming up from him when he goes into the heat because he is cold and the air is hot. That is called the monucles are melting and turning into water and the mist is going into the air.

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Kylee, Hunter, and Jack do their best to separate beads, glitter, and paper clips

Ariana:

We've been lucky to have some 8th graders come in and help us understand
our content!  Quinn worked with Ariana and Trinity.

What was my favorite station so far? So far my favorite station was station #2 Separating Mixtures. It was so much FUN! My group chose Sand, Salt, and Iron Filings as our mixture to separate. We started by getting a magnet and separating  the iron filings from the salt and sand. Then we got a coffee filter and dumped the sand and salt down it. After we added water so the salt would dissolve  and we were left with the sand.  Last  Mr. Morris boiled off the water and we were left with the salt. I learned that you need to use teamwork to figure this out! Know you know why station 2 was my favorite!

Jack:

Maddie, Jack, Gage, and JT are trying to figure out how to separate
sand, salt, and iron filings.  Good luck!

I liked the Matter - Station 2 - Separating Mixtures because you get to take out the iron. And the sand , salt, you get to do a lot of mixtures and solutions we could do with the mixtures. And do different tools you get to use with the product like boiling the salt water was cool because you get to see the salt after the water is done boiling it looks awesome that why i like that station.





Rylee:
In station 2 we separated mixture. What I enjoyed most about this station was getting to work in a group and get to experiment a lot of different things. What I learned at this station was that  iron is magnetic, and I learned how to use different tools. It was very hard to work in a group because we all had to work together and agree on what we were doing. That is why I love that station.     

Rylee and her crew having a great time!

Lorenzo:

Lorenzo, Wyatt, and Sara hard at "work"

My favorite station was Station 2: Separating Mixtures, the station when we had to separate the salt, pepper, and the lentils. What we did at the station is separate salt, pepper, and lentils. The hard part was separating the salt and pepper. What I learned is you need a lot of water to separate salt and pepper. We used the screen and the coffee filter. I also learned that you are going to need more than 1 person.

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As part of the unit, students observed and recorded the properties of five different white powders.  They used their observations to later identify the powders in a small group in Station 3 - Mysterious White Powders.

Aiden, Addy, and Cassidy record their observations

Hunter works through the steps
of the investigation

Danny: Station 3 - mysterious white powder - was my favorite. We separated borax, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and sugar. We did not know which powder is which so to find out we made a graph from black paper and chalk and made 3 rows with 5 spaces in each row we dumped the powder in each space. In the first row we pored H2O on the powders and observed the reaction of each power. Next we powered vinegar on the powders and we observed that. Finally we powered Iodine on the powders. We observed each one then made the conclusion of what each powder was.

Callie, Robert, and Jack discuss their findings

Gianna Di.

 My favorite station was the Mystery White Powder station. We worked as a group to  figure out what each powder is. They were labeled A, B, C,  D, E and we took turns putting liquid in them to see what powder it was. When we put vinegar in the we knew which one was baking soda was because it fizzed up. I enjoyed seeing the reactions to each of the powder when we mixed h2o, vinegar, and iodine . I learned a lot about mixtures and solutions. I also learned a lot more about matter.

Kellie adds iodine to her powders

Zack, Joe,Franny, and Tonianne work together

Delia:
My favorite station that I did was Station 3.  At Station 3 Regina and I had to separate iron filings, sand, and salt. I enjoyed working with Regina. I also enjoyed taking the iron filings out of the cup with a magnet. It was really cool! At Station 3 I learned that if you boil salt water in a pot, then the salt will be at the bottom of the pot. The reason behind this is the water will evaporate, but the salt will get left behind. It was really cool, and I had so much fun.

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Sara:

In science class we did different stations. My personal favorite was station four. In station four we had to research a element on the periodic table and create an animoto or slideshow.  I chose an animoto. What animoto is that it is a site where you create ads. Some people use it for work and others for school.

I chose the element of gallium. Gallium is an element on the periodic table that melts in your hand. I enjoyed having the freedom of getting to create my own commercial about gallium.

I learned a lot of different things about gallim including its atomic number and it’s atomic mass. I also learned a lot of fun facts. Did you know gallium has a great reflection! It is coded on mirrors and glass.

 Station Four was AMAZING, I loved all the stations. (Sara's presentation is below!)

Emily:

My favorite station was station 4. ( Station 4 was to make a commercial). We made commercial that you can use any element on the periodic table to make a commercial. The thing that I enjoyed was working with my partner. ( My partner is Bella). The element that we worked on was Gold. I learned a lot about gold one of them is the atomic number is 79.

 (Emily and Bella's presentation is below)

Marc:

My favorite station was 4. At this station we had to make a commercial or a slide show. When I read that we were making a commercial I was so pumped up. I enjoyed making the codes and making the commercial.  I learned a lot about platinum. If you get a pound of platinum, it costs a lot of money. I can become rich if I find a lot of platinum. I learned how to code also because the commercial was involved with a lot of coding

This is why station 4 was my favorite. (Marc and Christian's video is below)

Zack

I Loved Station 4: Element Commercial Station. Why I loved this so much is because we got to pick any element from the periodic table of elements and make an infomercial about that element. I picked the element Titanium and the day i’m writing this letter i’m doing a presentation in this class so i’m going to have fun. I loved learning all about titanium and making my slide and I just loved Station 4 all around. (Zack's video is posted below)

Please check out just a small sample of some other amazing research videos created by the 5th graders below!

CESIUM by Caleb

                                                                      MERCURY by Tyler

GOLD by Stephen

                                                                                 ARGON by Franny

GALLIUM by Lorenzo

                                                                        GOLD by Natasha

SILVER by Addison

                                                                   NEPTUNIUM by Josh B.

After creating their commercials, students then got a chance to present them to classmates:

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At Station 5, Magic Matter, students got a chance to observe the law of Conservation of Matter.  They combined baking soda with vinegar and found the mass of the mixture.  After the reaction, the weight of the mixture went down.  They then put a balloon on the same flask.  With the balloon, the mass of the mixture stayed about the same - the students learned that matter can't disappear, but it can turn into a gas and escape! 

Molly, Thomas, Alida, and Callie find out what happens when a solid and a liquid create a gas!

Adrianna G.:

One station that I enjoyed was station 5 Magic Matter. I liked that station because we got to do a really cool experiment.  Before we did the actual experiment we predicted what we think what would happen. I predicted it was going to bubble up. The experiment we did was to take some baking soda and mix it with vinegar and see what happened. Also we did it another time but this time we saw what would happen when we attach a balloon to the rim of the container. And guess what happened, the balloon inflated with all the air and bubbles., Another thing I enjoyed was seeing the vinegar react to the baking soda and bubble all the way up to the top of the container. Some bubbles even escaped out of the container. What I learned at the station was what would happen to vinegar when it is combined with baking soda. Another thing I learned was what would happen when you do the same thing but put a balloon on the rim and see it inflate with all the air.

Yep, Rylee, Alex, and Jason know how to blow up a balloon with no breath!

Regina, Cooper, and Delia watch CO2 try to escape!

Paige H:

I liked station 5 Magic Matter because I liked how we got to pour the baking soda into the vinegar and also got to see it when we put the balloon on the top to.At the station we got to take 200 ML of vinegar and 2 spoonfuls of baking soda and put them on the scale.Then we poured the baking soda into the vinegar.Then we measured how much much it was after it fizzed up.After we did the same exact thing again and put a balloon on the top of the tube.It was a lot more heavy than the first time.I enjoyed watching the baking soda and vinegar react to each other and then start to fizz up I also liked seeing the balloon fill up with air.I learned that some things turn into gas and loose a lot of weight but it just doesn’t disappear.

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Finally, a special shout-out to the Period 8 Neptunians for winning the Fluorine 500, this unit's class race, by being the first class to earn nine protons on their atom!