Posterous theme by Cory Watilo

Filed under: 4th Grade

High Line History

10/4/12

4RJ and 4G will be taking trips this month to see the High Line, "New York's Park in the Sky!"  In preparation for the trip, each class learned about the history of the High Line.  Check out these video links:

A brief history: http://youtu.be/oH5rs2ktazQ

Animation of the Design of Sections 1 and 2: http://youtu.be/9o_5cbPDQoY

Since 4RJ is going on their trip next week, the students studied the High Line beam bridge structure and experimented with modeling a beam bridge. 

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States of Matter

Today the 4th grade students learned about the 5 states of matter.  Yes, you read correctly, there are 5 states of matter: Bose-Einstein condensate, solid, liquid, gas and plasma.  In 2001, three scientists won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their actual discovery of the Bose-Einstein condensate.  S.N. Bose and Einstein had theorized about the possibility of this low energy state in the early 1920s.  

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2001/popular.html#

What's the Matter?

4th graders have begun talking about matter (anything made of atoms, that has mass and takes up space).  This week we focused on the difference between mass and weight.  If you tell you 4th grader that you want to lose some weight, they might just tell you to go to the moon!

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4th and 5th Grade Circuit Challenge

Ask your child to help you.  Hint: Think about series and parallel circuits.

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Part 1:

Phew!  It was exhausting work, but you just hung all the Christmas lights on the tree at Rock Center.  You are standing back admiring your handy work when all of a sudden the whole tree goes dark!  You search through the tree and realize that a single bulb has cracked and broken.  Your boss wants to replace every strand of lights.  You don't think that it is necessary.  Explain to your boss why just changing the broken bulb should restore light to the entire strand. 

 

Part 2:

Okay, problem averted.  You found the broken bulb and fixed the tree.  How can this problem be avoided next year?  Make a recommendation to your boss about a better system for lighting the tree.

Yeah for Earth Day

Last Friday, the Healthy Hunter Committee hosted a thought provoking Earth Day assembly.  To begin, the HCES Green Team of 4th and 5th graders, led by high schoolers Penelope and Jenna, performed a skit on alternative energy and shared their video on solar energy.  Next Steve Ritz from The Bronx Green Machine gave an inspiring presentation on urban farming and growing healthy food and healthy communities. Check out Steve and his students in these two videos.

 

 

Alumni Scientist

Today Michigan State University physics professor and HCES (class of 1947) alum, Walter Benenson came to present to 4RJ.  His presentation, entitled "Granny's Glasses" was a lesson in light, lenses and focal length.  Walt (as he asked to be called) asked the students if light traveled in a straight line.  To prove that light doesn't travel in a straight line, but rather, can be refracted, he showed us an image of a "broken" pencil (similar to the straw below).  

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Wtih the laser box, Walt demonstrated how light is refracted through a lens and focused on the other side.    
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Walt then gave students glasses and explained how to find the focal length of the lenses and the strength of the glasses in dioptera. 

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Walt shared his 6th grade report card and class photo with the students.  He said that when he was at HCES, there was no science taught at all!

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