Last week, science buddies headed outdoors and observed the world around them. Students used their senses and scientific tools to pay close attention to items in nature. The scientists then recorded their observations in words and drew detailed, scientific illustrations.

 

What did you observe? What tools did you use? What did you learn? What are you wondering now?

 

If you are interested in observing a miniature world without a microscope, visit the following site. With permission from a grown-up, try the One Inch Square Project at home. Complete the recording sheet and bring it to school.

http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/forkids/inchsquare/index.html 

http://www.mathplayground.com/mathbars.html

This week during Science Buddies we filled a square with Cuisenaire Rods. 

 

After filling the square we were able to generate many different addition number sentences for the sum of 10.

 

Visit the link to use Cuisenaire Rods in different ways.

 Let us know what think of Cuisenaire Rods or the activity. 

First and third grade Olympians dove into the Water Olympics, and competed in three events! During the Great Paper Towel Absorption Race, students observed the rate at which H2O was soaked into different materials. Cohesion, the action of H2O molecules sticking together, was examined throughout the Amazing Water Race while, using toothpicks, students navigated water through a maze covered with a waxy surface. Surface tension, the skinlike surface on water, was one again examined during the Fold and Float competition while students tried to make a piece of aluminum foil sink!

What did you learn during the events? Which competition was your favorite and why? What are you wondering now?

Visit the following links if you are interested in conducting some at-home investigations and learning more about the properties of water:

http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/floatingpaperclips.html

http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/games/experiments/wacky

This week science buddies used a balance scale to investigate the mass of certain objects.  Buddies had to predict which objects had the most and the least mass.  They then tested their hypotheses using the balance scale and hippos or bears.

It was harder then you would think.

What did you think of this investigation?  Did you enjoy the work?  What did you learn?  Let us know.

If you want to learn more about mass and weight of objects visit the link below:

http://www.mathplayground.com/balance_scales.html