Sunday, October 30, 2016

Unit 2 Math Test

Wow! We  finished Unit 2 in math last week. We spent Friday reflecting on our mastery (or not) of the unit 2 skills, reviewing, and playing some EDM math games. On Monday we will take a break from math to do a fun 'Maker' activity with our 5th grade team.  Then, on Tuesday we will do some more whole class, and small group review. Our assessment will be on Wednesday, November 2.  The following skills will be assessed.


  • Identify values of digits in a multi digit number. 
  • Write numbers in expanded form. MJ
  • Represent powers of 10 in exponential notation. MJ1
  • Explain patterns when multiplying by a power of 10.
  • Multiply with U.S. traditional multiplication. MJ1
  • Divide multi digit numbers. MJ1
  • Interpret a remainder in a division problem.











Sunday, October 16, 2016

Mount Philo!

What a great day we had at Mount Philo!  The weather couldn't have been more perfect, and the students (and teachers) had a blast!















Sunday, October 9, 2016

All About Osmosis!


Last week in our science unit on cells we learned about osmosis. We did this using eggs. We soaked our eggs in vinegar overnight in order to dissolve the shells. The  eggs then had only a thin membrane holding them together. They were rubbery and translucent and lots of fun to hold!  In order to see osmosis in action, we observed what happened to the shell-free eggs when they were placed in substances like molasses, light corn syrup, and dark corn syrup.  We discovered that the eggs lost water and shriveled up.  We learned that this is because water passes through the membrane from an area of higher water concentration (egg) to an area of lower water concentration (molasses and corn syrup)  in a process called osmosis.  We then placed the shriveled eggs in water with food coloring. Ask your child what happened. Check out the pictures below.












Sunday, October 2, 2016

Cells!


We began our science unit on cells a few weeks ago. In one activity, students carefully removed thin sheets from an onion, created their own slides, and viewed them under microscopes. The cells of the onion were visible; students recorded their observations in their science notebooks. 
We have also been reading about cells, using a website called Cells Alive! to do lots of fun activities, and looking at some great cell pictures and videos online. 
We did a school and cell analogy activity where we compared the school to a cell. For example, the nucleus could be compared to the main office, and the cell wall to the outer brick wall. Ask your child what the endoplasmic reticulum or the vacuole would be analogous to! Next week we will began a very cool hands on activity with eggs to learn about osmosis. Stay tuned, and enjoy the pictures below!