Week, of September 26-30

• You may have heard that this week we had our Second Great Lesson: The Coming of Life.  Please see the papers that went home today for an overview of the lesson as well as a list of vocabulary from the lesson!
• We also had a lesson on the planets.  Many students are busy learning the planets, some are learning their symbols, and others still are doing research in varying depths on each of the planets.  You can help your child at home by talking about Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and the "planet" recently deemed not a planet, Pluto.  Students have been working with a material that demonstrates stellarnucelosynthesis, the process by which stars are formed.  They are exploring the elements as well.
• Last week we concluded our focus on air by conducting an experiment that demonstrated the effect of temperature on land and water in order to understand air movements.  The students measured the temperature of a container of soil and a container of water and predicted which would heat up faster when set under a heat lamp.  Younger students drew and labeled pictures of their predictions, materials, and results; while older students recorded the research question, listed materials, outlined the procedure, wrote a hypothesis, and recorded their results.
• This week our focus was on water.  Water is essential to all life and is present in a biome in many forms. The amount of moisture directly affects the flora and fauna and determines many of their adaptations.  The amount of water in the soil affects the evolution of the soil and its ability to sustain plant life.  Water vapor is contained in the air.  Fresh water resources are renewed in a continuous process called the water cycle.  Life began in the water and liquid water make our planet special.
• Children had the opportunity to work with our beautiful new material the Water Cycle Mat.
• We demonstrated the relative amount of fresh water to salt water to make an impression about how precious fresh water is to our world and to give a practical demonstration of percentage.
• We demonstrated that water flows downhill and through channels.
• We conducted an experiment to illustrate the water cycle.  We ventured up to the big kitchen and predicted what would happen if we put ice on the hot griddle.  We watched the ice jump on the hot surface and saw how the molecules were moving quickly when heated.  We watched a solid turn to a liquid and then trapped the gas in a clear lid and watched it condense and return to the surface again creating our own water cycle.  You can do this at home while you are cooking!  On Thursday we enjoyed popcorn for a snack and the children made the discovery that popcorn pops because there is water trapped in the kernels.  That water heats up and changes to steam which pops the kernel releasing steam which was trapped in our popcorn popper.  Amazing!!