Fourth Grade

Week of January 8

This week will continue to work on our science fair project. We are about done with the procedure and will be writing our hypotheses. We are almost ready to begin the experiment!

Week of December 11

This week is all about Christmas science! We will be make cookie cutter fizzles with baking soda and vinegar, floating cranberries in a magic liquid, mixing Christmas colors, and building gum drop towers. It will be a fun week before break!

Ian Milliken teaching about archaeology and showing artifacts. The students were fascinated. Thank you, Ian!

Week of December 4

We are so lucky to have a guest come in and teach for a documentary. Ian Milliken will be here Tuesday! Pictures and information to come.

This week we will be moving to chemical weathering. Students will use four types of rocks to soak in vinegar. Each will weather differently. We will discuss how this type of weathering connects to our Earth.

Week of November 27

I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

This week we are working on our slides for science fair. We researched our topic, and we will now write the background essay as a class.

We will also begin physical weathering of rocks. Why do some rocks weather more than others and how does that connect to our land and rocks on Earth?

Week of November 13

This week we are learning about different soils and what components are in them. Why do some soils have more pebbles and some have more clay? We will be discovering the regions the 4 soils come from. Students will also add water to separate the components into layers.

Week of November 7

Welcome to the second trimester! We are starting Earth Science. First, we are jumping back to science fair. This week we will be starting the research portion. As a class we will discuss what information is important to include. Students will bring Chrome Books to do the research in class.

Week of October 30

Happy Halloween week! We will be engineering bone bridges this week. Students will work in groups to collaborate how to design a bridge out of Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and string to hold up pumpkin candy. The goal is to hold the most candy! It will be a spook-tacular time!

Week of October 2

We chose our topics for science fair!

4A: How can sharpie be removed from the wall using natural items from our house?

4B: What surfaces in school have the most germs?

This week we will build parallel circuits. The students will see that the bulbs are bright using only one battery.

Week of September 25

This week we are focusing on science fair. Each class will be creating their own project as a class. We will be working together step-by-step so that the students become familiar and comfortable with the process. This will help them in 6th grade when it is an individual project. We will be discussing the Scientific Method and choosing a topic.

Last week we built series circuits using two bulbs! Adding a second D-cell makes the bulbs brighter!

Week of September 18

This week we will begin building series circuits. The students will build circuits using more than one light bulb. They will observe the difference between multiple bulbs and one bulb. Why are the bulbs dimmer? Stay tuned!

Last week we explored energy sources, and the evidence when energy is present.

Week of September 11

This week we are continuing to test our objects to see if they light the bulb.The students will discover that some objects close the circuits and some do not. Why are some materials able to light the bulb? We will dive deeper into conductors and insulators.

Week of August 28

This week we will be continuing to explore circuits. So far, students have made a bulb light by using two wires and a D-cell. We are adding more components! What happens when we add a switch and a motor? What happens to the current when the switch is off? Each group will be building their own circuits to investigate.

Last week students were excited to light their bulbs!

Week of August 21

Welcome to lower school science! This trimester, we will be studying Energy and Electromagnetism. We will begin with lighting a bulb - how can we use two wires and one D-cell to light a bulb? It is the start of our path to building a circuit!