5th Grade Science - Volume 2 - Thursday, December 20th                                                            

What are we working on?




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

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What's coming up?

Students will be introduced to a series of assignments that we will be working on for the remainder of the year: Current Events.  Current Events will be assigned on Google Classroom.

Please take a look at the Current Events Guideline and Rubric so you know what will be expected of your child moving forward!  

For a quick overview of where to go in Google Classroom to find these assignments and guidelines for them, take a look at this short video.

The first two current events will be due Friday, January 11th. 

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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:

Science gets messy with Ryan, Will, and Daniella

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

What's the 'matter,' Ember? 

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 Google Slides.  Students then presented those slides to their peers as their peers offered feedback.

Colby, Nina, and Kyle mix baking soda and vinegar

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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Sam, Gabby, and Keira (station 2 - separating mixtures):

Dustin, Matt, & Tyler (station 2 - separating mixtures):

Jaxen, Kal, & Michael (station 2 - separating mixtures):

Separating Mixtures at station 2 can get messy...

...very messy

Liam (station 3 - mysterious white powders):

Brian (station 3 - mysterious white powders):



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.

An observation table after each substance was classified

At Station 4, students gathered research about an element from the periodic table and put together a presentation on it.  They then presented their findings to classmates, who provided them with peer feedback.  Below are some presentations and pictures.

Sydney, Bella, Chris, and AJ share their presentation on Hydrogen.

Michael, Christian, and Ben share their presentation as peers observe!

Erin's group even found a Google extension, called Peardeck, that allowed their presentation to be totally interactive! 

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! 
Jaxen and Em (station 5 - magic matter):


Sydney & Bella (station 5 - magic matter):

Keira, Lexie, and Catherine (station 5 - magic matter):

Mixing baking soda and vinegar creates carbon dioxide, allowing us to blow up a balloon without blowing at all!

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To prepare for our unit test, Ms. Phillips designed a Breakout game to help students review!  They had to solve a series of science-related puzzles to uncover the key that helped them solve the mystery of the stolen Atom Crown!

Congratulations to the winning team who finished in about 8 minutes!

In science class, something new we've been trying is Classcraft, an interactive video-game style class gamification platform.  Students have created characters and are completing quests to earn points and prizes.  
Please feel free to create a parent account and follow along with your child's progress!  If you're having trouble and would like to create account, I can invite you as well.  Let me know if you have any questions!

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Finally, a special shout-out to the Period 8 Neptune Knights for winning the Fluorine 500, this unit's class race, by being the first class to earn nine protons on their atom!  They have taken quite a lead in the Science Bowl.

Peter Morris
5th Grade Science
Byram Intermediate School

Thursday, October 25th

What are we working on?

Faith, Bella, and Sydney would like to officially
welcome you to our class newsletter!

This has been such a fun month for our 5th graders.  It's been great to get to know all of your sons and daughters and watch them begin their middle school journeys!

In science, we have been learning about the Scientific Method by experimenting with paper airplanes.   Students were challenged to design one control paper airplane (Dart model with a 5 inch wingspan) and one variable paper airplane.  Their goal was to research and build a design that would fly farther than the average paper airplane.  Students got mixed results on their designs, BUT they all used all six steps of the scientific method along the way!

Lexie and Catherine testing a new method of
 throwing paper airplanes!

1. Observe and Ask a scientific question
2. Form a hypothesis
3. Plan and do an experiment
4. Analyze data
5. Draw conclusions and,    6. Communicate results

Students wrapped up the unit on the Scientific Method and scientific inquiry skills with a test, and are hopefully now equipped with some skills and knowledge that they can build on throughout the year!

What's coming up?

Students are about to embark on our new unit: matter!  We will be studying the atoms and molecules that make up everything around us, the periodic table of elements, mixtures & solutions, states of matter, and more!  Students will be utilizing skills in note-taking, and then will be applying their knowledge in a series of hands-on activities.


Reminders
1. Be on the lookout for our new school app!  Download it to your device here.  We'll be utilizing the app to push out homework notifications and other announcements!

2. Please continue to monitor your child's Google Classroom. Now that we are through the first unit, assignments will be posted almost exclusively on our Google Classroom page.

3. For any and all information regarding the 5th grade team, please refer to our 5th grade Parent Headquarters newsletter

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Paper Airplanes!

As noted above, students have spent most of our first month designing and implementing a paper airplane experiment to test which changes we can make to a paper airplane to make it as successful as possible! Students researched some modification that they could make to the design with the idea of figuring out if that modification made the plane fly more effectively or not. They had to design a scientific question (using the words How will ... affect ...?) and a hypothesis (using the words If ... Then ...). They then had to design planes, bring them to the Open Space area of the school, and fly them! Students learned that math is a BIG part of science when they had to measure the distances the planes flew and then average those distances to get a better idea of how the planes flew. Students filled in a data table, and analyzed this information to come up with a conclusion!

The 5th graders were encouraged to reflect on this process, some decided to create a Flipgrid video to share their thoughts! Here's what some had to say:

Sam and Catie: 

Blake & Tyler:

Keira G:
I really liked the project because it was fun to make planes and then fly them. I also really liked it because we got to answer A LOT questions and it was fun to work with my friends. The project really helped me learn the scientific method because we went through each step. I didn't really like step 4 because it was hard to make our average for our control plane because it flew so far both times. Working with a group really helped because one would do the math. One would do the measuring . And one would do the flying. So if we each had a job it would be a equal share and it was.

Bella:

Faith, Bella, and Sydney plan out their variable

I really enjoyed the paper airplane lab because we got to work in groups and we got to go to the cafeteria and throw our planes in open space. The project helped me learn about the scientific method a lot because we used it constantly and it helped with our project. I enjoyed record and analyze data the least because we had to record lots. My group was really fun to work with because we all had similar plans and worked together well. Yes we all had an equal share of work!  

Molly, Lauren & Erin:


Lexie, Jordyn, & Catherine:

Tehya & Abby:


Berry:
Yes the paper airplane lab was very fun, and I would definitely do it again! The project did help me learn about the scientific method. Before the project I didn’t really know what the scientific method was, but when I did the Airplane lab I understood it better. The step I least enjoyed was communicate results because I didn’t really understand it. Working with my partners was a great experience because we didn’t have any problems or arguments. Our group did  shared the work equally.


Sam:
I did enjoy the paper airplane experiment. The project  help me with the scientific method. Last year I didn’t understand the scientific method that well I always forgot it and now I know it like it’s the back of my hand. I didn’t like analyzing my data that much in this project, because I found it confusing a little bit. I liked the experience of working with a partner because we worked really good together inside and outside of school. We shared all the work equally one was not doing more than the other. This experiment was super fun and I enjoyed testing my control and variables.

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In other news, take a look at some pictures from our awesome field trip to Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge!



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Finally, congratulations to the Neptune Knights, winner of our first class race, the Byram Derby, and current leaders in the Science Bowl!

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Thank you to our student bloggers, and thanks for reading our class newsletter! For more pictures, please follow us on Twitter using @petemorris202 or @Byram5thGrade