Weekly Update; January 17

Wow, it's the middle of January already!

Here is a quick summary of our Science program so far. . .

Our Drink Car Dragster; time to add wheels.

We had a late start to our regular schedule in the fall, but when we did get going, we started right into our Waste in our World Unit.  The main points in this unit were for students to develop an awareness of how nature has no left-over waste; waste will either become food for other organisms, or will decompose and become nutrients for the plant kingdom.  This then ties to all the types of waste that we humans produce, and what we, as a society, try to do with it.  Our unit culminated with a 'Making a Difference' project  that the students really enjoyed working on!  Unfortunately, December raced by, and we didn't quite finish these to be able to present, but the students were very engaged in the message they wanted to include in their project, which is what my main focus is.  The students filled in a planning page for this which can be found in their Google Drive account.  If you haven't yet, ask you child to show you their Drive account, and what work they have in there already.

Time to test with wheels

That brings us to our new unit: Simple Machines.  This is a two part unit, the first includes the theory in how simple machines such as wheels and axles, pulleys, drive systems and levers make work easier, and the second is applying this theory in a series of building challenges.  It is a great hands on unit!  I have two requests:  the first is that we will be using a lot of materials that are found in household recycling.  I'll keep you posted on various items we may be needing, and if you are able, we'd appreciate you sending it in to school, and the second is if you are able to come visit during our class to man the glue gun, or help with other tools such as hammers or screw drivers, I would really appreciate it! We have an hour at the end of every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday; just let me know!

More testing

Our first building project is to add wheels to a pop can to measure the distance without wheels compared to with wheels.  Our results were mixed, partially due to the lack of stability of paper wheels!  The conclusion is that adding wheels will decrease the friction, allowing the car to go further!  Next week, we will build a paper chassis, and add a wheel/axle combination using straws, skewers, and, yes, more paper wheels.  The students will need scissors, if they've lost them, please send in a replacement pair!

Thanks for visiting;

Mrs. Kiss