With Nature's Classroom around the corner, 5th grade students have been learning about stars and how to use a star map to locate stars in the night sky. This week students in 5Me experienced the StarLab (5Mc will do this next Friday) as a sneak preview to what they will observe in the very dark night sky of Connecticut.
Here's an example of a star map. The students received a slightly different version at school. Ask you child about the proper way to hold a star map!
Today we began our Astronomy unit with the study of the sun. Ask you student about some of the fun facts that we spoke about.
Ask your child to help you. Hint: Think about series and parallel circuits.
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.
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.
Ask your 5th grade student about series and parallel circuits! Which type of circuit is shown in the illustration below?
Today 5Me explored the science of compasses. Ask your student how a compass works. Here's a hint: The needle of a compass is a magnet. Red is north and white is south.
jhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46739932/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.T2FsX5jv-xI
Check out this site to hear the "throaty croak" of the Southern Leopard Frog!
http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=AR0034
5th graders investigated the connection between solar flares and Earth's magnetic field. We focused on the Aurora Borealis. Take a look at some of the information we used in class...
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/03/07/148170132/sun-sends-solar-flar...