In Science Class . . . Week of 3/28

5th Grade: This week in science, we have been looking at chemical reactions! During a chemical reaction, a mixture of chemicals changes to produce new substances. We did several chemical reactions on Monday and observed changes.  The evidence we say of a chemical reaction included a color change, a temperature change and/or production of a gas (bubbles). (A common chemical reaction that produces a gas is mixing baking soda and vinegar. )  On Wednesday, we dived into atoms and molecules and looked briefly at the periodic table. Student should understand that, in a chemical reaction, the atoms of the reactants rearrange to form new molecules (and thus substances).

Key questions:

• What is an atom? (The smallest particle of matter)
• What is a molecule? (Two or more atoms bonded together)
• Why are there so many different substances on Earth when we only have about 90 naturally occurring elements? (The atoms can combine in infinite arrangements)
• What happens in a chemical reaction? (The atoms rearrange to form something new).
• What are common pieces of evidence for chemical reactions? (Change in color, change in temperature, bubbles)

4th Grade: This week the students detected magnetic fields using compasses, iron filings, and washers. We hid magnets in small boxes, and had other students try to find them using our tools. We also made our own compasses using straws, thread and a steel pin. By rubbing the magnet on the pin, we induced magnetism. Our pin then had poles and had it's north pole point north (as our Earth's north magnetic pole is actually a south magnetic pole.)

Key Questions:

• Why did your tools work to find the magnet? (All are iron, and can be used to detect magnetic fields)
• How did you make your compass?

Have a great vacation, everyone!