In Science Class . . . Week of 9/12

Yay! We are in the full swing of science class!

5th grade: This week, the 5th graders are working on putting together mixtures and then separating them using filters, screens and evaporation. Last week we mixed gravel and water, powder and water, and salt and water. The screen and filter were able to separate the gravel mixture and the powder mixture, but the salt dissolved in the water and passed through both. Over the weekend, we used evaporation to get rid of the water, leaving behind salt crystals. On Friday, we'll investigate how to determine the mass of salt in water without measuring the salt directly on a balance.
Key questions to ask your student:

• What is a mixture and what are some examples? (Any two or more substances put together. Examples are infinite! )
• What is a solution? (A special type of mixture where the solid dissolves, like salt in water.)
• What tools can we use to separate mixtures and solutions? (Screen, filters, evaporation)
• How did you find the mass of the salt on Friday?

4th grade: We are finally done setting up science notebooks and will have our first lesson on magnets this week. For starters, we made predictions about what objects would stick to a magnet, and then tested our prediction and recorded results. We also became iron detectors and walked around the classroom finding things made of iron and steel. Later in the week, we will investigate other magnetic properties (such as poles) and introduce the terms of "attract"and "repel."
Key questions to ask your student:

• What types of objects stuck to the magnet? (Objects made of iron or steel.)
• What objects in the room are made of iron or steel?
• What happens when you put two objects together? (Sometimes they attract and sometimes they repel - it depends on which way the poles are facing. Like poles attract and opposite poles repel. Poles are either called "north" or "south.")
• What surprised you most about our activities?