In Science Class . . . Week of 2/6

5th Grade: Ask your child about outdoor science camp! Kids should have a good working knowledge of redwood ecology, gardening, adaptations, etc. I was with them for part of Tue and all day Wed - it seemed like they were having a great time, and the weather was overall beautiful. What an amazing opportunity for them! If you have a minute, thank Mr. Weis, Ms. Klein and Ms. Delgado for putting so much time and energy into getting the kids there!

4th Grade: This week, we examined some new minerals and discussed the properties of magnetism, luster, cleavage, and streak color. We filled out a mineral property table and compared it to a table of known mineral properties.

Key Questions:

• What knew properties did you learn about? (Magnetism. Luster = metallic or nonmetallic. Cleavage = mineral breaks apart with flat surfaces. Streak color - color of the streak of mineral pieces when a mineral is rubbed against a tile). Why did you study this? (It helps us understand how geologists identify a mineral and also helps with our table-reading skills.) FYI, the new minerals were hematite, pyrite or Fool's Gold, galena and magnetite.