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

Classroom Newsletter  - Wednesday, June 6th

Contents:
1. Upcoming Dates
2. Polluted Shark Tank
3. Space Systems Unit
4. Field Trip to Liberty Science Center & L.E.A.D. Celebration

It's been a busy couple of months here in 5th grade!  One of our recent highlights was our field trip to Liberty Science Center!

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1. What's coming up?

1. Current Events for the 4th marking period are underway and all 3 will be due Friday, June 15th.  If your child is having any trouble with these, please refer to the 'Current Event Rubric' instruction doc posted in Google Classroom.  This marking period, there will be no recommended due dates to try to enforce the ongoing concept of time management!


2. Our field trip to Liberty Science Center was last Friday, May 25th.  The students had a blast.  A special thanks to all parent chaperones who helped to make the trip special for all of our 5th grade scientists! 

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2. The Polluted Shark Tank

Last month, students participated in the Polluted Shark Tank.  Based (loosely) on the TV show 'Shark Tank,' students created products and pitched them to each other as potential investors.  Students learned about some environmental problems that are affecting our world, then chose one in particular to research.  They then created a website using Weebly for Education and built a model of a product to help in their chosen environmental issue.  Finally, students set up and delivered their presentations as their peers toured the Polluted Shark Tank and decided which products were worth investing our classroom "cash" in!  Check out our classroom winners and their websites!

The Mercury Chimichangas Winner: 

The Sea Life Saver by Kylee! A solution to wildlife being endangered by both plastic and oil pollutants

  The Venus Star Warriors Winner:  

The Crystal Quest by Addy, Adrianna, and Sarah: A plan to separate oil and plastic from water

The Saturn Scientifix Winner: 

The N.C.T. by Logan, Marc, and Christian.  A solution to nuclear radiation!

The Neptunians Winner: 

The Master Aqua 2000: A water purifier designed to help clean water be more accessible!

These weren't the only great projects produced by the Polluted Shark Tank!  Here are some other amazing creations:









































































































































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3. Space Systems

What do our stations consist of in this unit?

Students have been working their way through six ecosystem-based stations to investigate all different aspects of how the sun, earth, and stars interact, according to the Next Generation Science Standards. These stations were:

Students kicked off the unit by entering the StarLab,
our inflatable planetarium!

1. Mission 1 - Graphing Earth's Patterns - Students were tasked with researching either daylight hours or temperatures of different cities around the globe.  They then graphed this data to compare how the Northern and Southern hemisphere experience patterns differently.

2. Mission 2: Building a Model - Students built one of two models: a Sun Viewer or a Universe in a Box, to get a sense of some of the patterns we see as the Earth rotates and revolves.  Students were either able to see how the sun rises in the east and sets in the west OR how the stars change throughout the seasons.

3. Mission 3: Scaling Down the Solar System - At this station, students were asked to grab a pair of Virtual Reality goggles and climb aboard a space ship!  Once there, they explored the planets, moons, and stars around us in space.  They then came back to Earth and built a scaled model of the Solar System in the hallway.

4.Mission 4: Planet Research - Students chose one of the planets in our Solar System and created a brochure, advertising it to aliens looking for a new home.

5. Mission 5: Investigating Gravity - Students learned about how gravity affects weight, not mass, by calculating their weight on Earth, and doing some math to figure out how that compares to their weight on other planets!

Michael is tired of hearing what I have to say,
let's see what the students learned!

6. Mission 6: The Sun as a Star - One of the skills we're working on this year is synthesizing information from multiple sources, like videos, images, and nonfiction texts, to answer a single question.  At station 6, we continued to build this skill by answering the question 'Is the sun the biggest star in the universe?' using both a table comparing the size and distance of the sun to other stars, and a video demonstrating the size of objects in the universe.

Using a website called flipgrid.com, students recorded short videos of themselves discussing their favorite parts of stations!

Station Reviews
Password: science202

Abby & Kylee:

Tonianne: I think I would pick station 1 because it was super fun to work with Trinity. We both did equal amounts of work and we both got along. We both loved working together and her and I loved graphing and recording answers. We also liked watching Mr. Morris graphing because he is so good at it, and that helped us learn how to read and how to make a graph.

Mission 1: Delia, Regina, and Bella gather some research

Wyatt's graph demonstrates the different seasons in
different hemispheres!

Paige & Kendra:

                                     Marc & Michael

...while Tabby comes back to Earth

Cooper's up in space...

Heiner, Wyatt, Kristina, and Ahlyse collaborate on Mission 4

Maddie A.: My favorite station was station 4. What we did at the station was you had to choose a planet and you had to answer the questions on the doc about it.The station helped me understand a lot.What I learned was many facts about the planet I chose which was saturn like this fact about how you can not stand on saturn and if you do you will fall through to the hot center and get crushed.That is why it was my favorite station and what I learned.

Hunter & Gage:

After researching (using VR) planet distances, students measured out their scaled Solar Systems:

Sara & Emily 

Rachel & Cassidy

Jakob: I chose mission 1. At the station we had to make a graph of either daylight hours, or temperature in two different places. I chose to do Option A which is daylight hours. In it we needed to draw out the town and the city on the graph and compare them. In the mission I learned how to understand and make a graph. I also learned more about the X and Y axis. One more thing that it helped me learn was the differences in Stanhope and Miami’s daylight hours.

These guys are working hard gathering research for Station 4!

Trevor and Heiner play a game of Space Travel

Callie and Maddie take Mission 6 very seriously

Adrianna and Cassidy getting ready to put on their VR goggles

Michael & Kayla:

Regina & Bella:

John:

Christian & Marc:

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4. Field Trip & L.E.A.D.

Over the last two weeks, the 5th Grade has had two WONDERFUL experiences, our field trip to Liberty Science Center and the L.E.A.D. graduation/picnic.  Below are some pictures of our two recent events.  

5th Grade's L.E.A.D. PSAs

Thanks for taking a look at our class newsletter.  Have a happy and healthy summer!