Clean up that Mess!

What does a messy entrance say about the room beyond that threshold? Classroom 135 did an experiment to open our new Science unit on pollution. Students collected litter off of the playground a couple of weeks ago and categorized the types of litter they found. As this was done with a sub, I wanted to discuss their findings and what they felt we could do to help be proactive.

One of the students made a very astute observation. She said, "If everyone thinks that their one piece of litter doesn't matter, what would happen if everyone felt that way about one piece of litter? We'd have a messy world!" So, we tried our hand at this. Each student took a piece of paper and imagined it was an object that we might find thrown around our playground. We gathered in the hallway and as each person crossed into the room, they left their garbage in the hallway.

We watched our doorway start as a host to one scrap piece of paper and then suddenly we had a huge pile. It was a pretty interesting experience. The most telling part of the experiment was the reaction of other 5th grade classes. We left our pile and talked about how this might impact the way people think of our class. The answers ranged from disorganized to dirty. Every time a class walked by there were at least a few students who stopped in their tracks and perused our pile. One student asked, "What's up with the trash?"

I hope it made an impact. The more cognizant we are about putting trash where it truly belongs, the more likely our environment will be spared. Help keep our world clean!

Ask your student what they have pledged for their pollution awareness promise.

Crystal Check-in

Good Afternoon Families!

Right before our very eyes, crystals are appearing! Students enjoy checking in throughout the day to see if any new peaks or valleys have formed. As a test, I did the experiment too. However, I decided to add a smidge (or another 10ccs) of water. OOPS! I was hoping to model that not measuring accurately - which connects to our Math unit, as well - will directly affect results. My poor sad bucket is far behind in the crystal making process. Hopefully over time, I'll catch up. Here are some pictures of our newest developments!



Thursday - Ms. Angel's poor, sad crystals. Look closely, there are only two!



Ms. Angel's crystals on Friday!

That's a pretty noticeable difference!

Crystals

Yesterday afternoon, our group of agents donned the lab coat again to create crystals. We mixed equal parts of ammonia, salt, water, and bluing liquid and poured them over our host sponges. As the air started to work its magic, we hypothesized on what color the crystals might be, what shape, and how long it would take to develop. We had quite a range of guesses! Here is our prediction sheet below:

Last night, as I was packing up, I stopped by the crystal corner to see if there were any indication of crystallization. Our experiment was finished at about 2:15 yesterday, and just over 4 hours later, there was a sign of growth! Each bucket had a different phase of crystallization. Take a look:

Upon walking in this morning, 12 hours later, this is what I found:

What will happen next? Stay tuned...

Rocks and Minerals Webquest

For today's lab time, please complete the Rocks and Minerals Webquest. With this webquest, use your time wisely and answer the questions using detail. You will need the following links in order to answer the following questions. Please read the passages carefully!

All That Glitters
Gold Properties
Language of Gold
Star of India
Rocks in Your Cabinet

Enjoy your quest!

Scientific Method

In Science class, we started discussing the Scientific Method. Our first step was to "Ask a Question". So, our question was, "Which solution, vinegar or water, will make the color come off of M&M's faster?" As a class, we gathered predictions and then ventured off into groups to test the hypothesis.

It was amazing to see the process live. In almost all cases, it seemed the water was the winner. In other cases, it wasn't completely evident as to which took the color off more quickly. Funny enough, we had seen in a short Brainpop video that when your results aren't easily identifiable, you would test it again. As much as we would have liked to test again, it was time to wrap things up so we could head to Spanish.

Our next Science Lab will be about Collecting Information; yet another step in the Scientific Method. Until next time!

Adam and Charlie use their best Scientist skills to determine the results of their experiment.

One group closes in to get a closer look at the samples. Of course, they were sporting their safety goggles!

The mystery of the floating 'm'.

Hmm....looks a little like tie-dyed milk!

The one in the foreground was vinegar, while the other cup holds water.