In first grade, the topic of weather will continue with activities on thunder and lightning.  The boys will simulate thunder by blowing up paper bags and popping them, and will create mini-lightning bolts using styrofoam plates and aluminum pans.  They will also learn how to read weather maps and use them for forecasting. 

The second grade is “sticking to” magnets, and are continuing their studies of holding power.  They are analyzing the results of their “fish and clips” activity and will test magnetic abilities through different materials.

Third grade is deep into fossil studies, creating their own mold fossils and examining both vertebrate and invertebrate specimens.  They are looking forward to their trip to the AMNH to learn about dinosaurs.

Fourth grade is finishing their unit on pH and chemistry by learning the basics of atomic structure and the Periodic Table of Elements.  Protons, neutrons, electrons, elements, matter, and atomic mass and weight are all part of the discussion. 

In Third Grade, the boys eagerly studied volcanoes using CD-Roms and then created models of volcanoes that erupted.  They’ll be moving onto earthquakes and plate tectonics next week by making “Peanut Butter and Jelly Geology” models of faults.

In Second Grade, the study of water concluded with  Aquatic Animal Adaptations. The boys were challenged to create an animal using specific adaptations.  The boys designed their animals and made models to display.

Kindergarten continued building their houses to withstand the winds of the “Big Bad Fan!”  They will conclude the building unit next week.

First Grade explored invertebrates by comparing earthworms and millipedes. They made observations of live animals and created Venn Diagrams to show similarities and differences.  The boys also made insect guide books.

Fourth Grade finished their testing of paper towels by analyzing their wet strength, absorbency, and value data.  They will move onto shampoo testing next week in order to hone their experimental design skills.

The Science Challenge on how animals prepare for winter is due next week….we’ll keep you posted!

Deb and Sami

In Kindergarten, the boys are learning about strong structures; triangles, arches, and reinforced materials.  They are currently building houses out of common materials that will be tested against the “Big Bad Fan” next week.

First Grade is learning about insects.  They’ve learned about insect anatomy (head, thorax, and abdomen), bee-havior (bee waggle dance), tested mealworm reactions to light/dark, gravity, and scent, and have observed metamorphosis.  They will be moving on to other invertebrates next week, comparing and contrasting millipedes and earthworms.

Second Grade is deep into their Hudson River Fish Books; the boys are completing their books and moving onto aquatic animal adaptations.  They are creating their own animals from a set of given adaptations.  Their creativity and understanding of adaptation are shining through.

Third Grade has been reviewing the three types of rocks.  They have created metamorphic waffles (observing that some ingredients melt while others stay intact) and conglomerate rocks from plaster of paris and stones.  They are excited to move onto their study of volcanoes and earthquakes!

Fourth Grade has moved onto their Consumer Product Testing laboratory unit.  They are determining the best paper towel by assessing absorbency, wet strength and price.  These activities hone their skills at experimental design as they create their own experiements considering controls and variables.

Family Science has been a great success; we have over 150 people expected at each of the remaining evenings.  The Science Challenge is also going well, with outstanding participation.

Later this week we hope to do a lab testing the properties of ionic compounds vs. covalent molecules. Next week we are working towards a test on Chapters 5 and 6, right before the end of the term.

The boys took a quiz on this material and we set up our Winogradsky Columns for our bacterial study. That seems to be going well. They are taking water quality tests each week and photographing the changes seen in each column. We will follow for the next five weeks.

Then, last week we tackled Biomes, both terrestrial and aquatic. The boys had to create tables to compare the climate, productivity, species type, limiting factors etc. for each terrestrial biome. I went over freshwater and salt water systems in class. They also had a quiz at the end of the week, which they thought was very hard. I have no finished grading it yet.

This week we are moving into Population Dynamics and Ecology (one of my favorite topics actually). We are going over:
Population density
Growth rate calculations
Environmental Resistance and Carrying Capacity
Log curves vs. exponential growth curves
Reproductive strategies: r-selected species vs. K-selected species
Survivorship curves
Density dependent vs. independent limiting factors
Predator-Prey relationships
Boom or Bust relationships
Thomas Malthus and predicting human population growth and carrying capacity
Demographics
Age structure diagrams of developed, developing and underdeveloped countries

Good stuff! They have calculations to do tomorrow and in our double period we are going to work on exponential growth and they will research Thomas Malthus’ ideas. I also have a lab for growing radishes to illustrate competition of resources, but that will have to wait until next week as they did not include enough radish seeds. It is always something.

Since my last post we have covered the following topics, the kids are going to be tested on them on Wednesday:

Phases and phase changes
Gas Lawes (Boyles, Charles, Combined)
Atomic Theory (Democritus, Dalton, Thomson, Rutherford, Bohr and Electron Cloud)
Components of an atom
Atomic number, mass and isotopes
Energy shells, excited and ground state electrons

Once they get past this test (and Bowman and I are trying to make it challenging) we will come up with some fun capstone activities for Thursday and Friday. Then, next week, we are moving on to the Periodic Table and then bonding. Fun!

We have since started our unit on the cell and the cell membrane.  We have read chapter 6 from Campbell and discussed major types of cells, details of organelles, and cellular evolution (endosymbiotic theory). 

The students submitted their first formal lab on fermentation and we are now starting work from the lab manual and will do the osmosis/diffusion lab this week.