Grade 1- Kitchen Chemistry
 First graders are learning about chemistry this month. They have tracked reactions, making a mixture that turned hot, cold, changed colors, changed from solid to liquid to gas and even bubbled, fizzed and made noises. Their next tasks were to clean pennies with salt and vinegar, use the resulting solution to "electroplate" nails with copper,and then used various concoctions to make their own cleaning solutions. Our last experiments this week were with solutions, making supersaturated Kool-Aid and experimenting with solubility using milk, cream, oil and food coloring.
Click here to view photos.
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Grade 3 Detectives Solve the Crime
 Third graders put all of their forenisic knowledge to the test, as they worked to solve The Case of The Missing Head of School.
After checking all of the evidence and comparing the test results from the crime scene, they concluded that Mrs. Peterson, posibly with help from Mr. Frantz and Mrs. Heady was the guilty party.
Click here to view reports.
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Making Ice Cream- A Lower School Science Tradition
Making our own ice cream in zip lock bags is a tradition in lower school science. Second and third graders made ice cream to celebrate the end of their intensive design technolgy units. First graders are looking forward to making their first ice cream as we learn about chemistry. This link is to a short flash video of 3rd graders, shaking their ice filled bags as they try to change their milk and flavoring into real ice cream.The file is large, so please be patient
Third grade ice cream party |
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Third Grade Forensics
 Third graders learned about paper chromatography, identifying fingerprints, pH, and learned how to analyze mystery powders, in preparation for the 3rd grade mystery project. On Tuesday, students arrived to find that Mr. Peterson was "missing" and collected evidence to help them solve the mystery. They interviewed suspects and collected more evidence to test. Stop back soon to find out the identity of the culprit who had spirited away our head of school.
Click here to view photos.
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Grade 1 Simple Machines
 First graders have been studying simple machines. They learned about work and friction, the 6 different types of simple machines and went on a hunt to find examples of them on the playground. They played with levers in class and found that they could move a big log up in the woods with their tree branch levers. Using a big bit and brace they explored screws and wedges. First graders made their own cars while learning about wheels and axles. The most fun was probably learning about inclined planes and pulleys. They made zip lines and pulleys and raced stuffed animals across the room on the pulley, down the zip line, up a pulley and back across the other pulley.
Click here to see more- patience...large file (1.2MB)
Click here to see lots of photos of the 1st graders at work
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Grade 8 Everglades Projects
The Everglades Field Guide 2007
A collaborative project by the 8th grade class.
Students learned about the ecology of the Everglades in Mrs.Benner's science class and created their pages in Mrs.Tumenas' computer class. They spent a week in the Everglades after completing their projects.
Click here to view pdfs of all projects. |
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Grade 3 Design Technology
 Third graders use the Linx system to construct "something that moves". They begin by designing their project to scale on graph paper, cutting and gluing their pieces together and finally adding batteries, motors and wheels. Then the hard work actually begins. If their vehicle doesn't perform as they had expected, they troubleshoot the problem, redesign and rebuild it. They learn about and solve problems with torque and pulleys, weight distribution, and many other facets of physics and mechanical engineering.
Click here for more photos
Click here for Flash PowerPoint version. File size 1.4MB |
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Grade 3 Electricity Experiments
Third graders reviewed simple circuits, made serial circuits and moved on to make parallel circuits. One of their projects involved evaluating printed circuits, finding the circuits that worked and then writing exact instructions on how to fix any circuits that did not work. They are great electricians!
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Grade 2 Design Technology
 After second graders study electricity and circuits, they move on to use this knowledge to design and build a lantern using the Linx system. They measure and cut the wood to make a cube. After carefully gluing the pieces together, the next task is to perforate corrugated plastic squares to attach to the cube. Finally, they are ready to wire their lantern, add a battery and light bulb and make an on and off switch.Click here for more photos. |
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First Grade Experiments with Conductivity
First graders continued their study of electricity by testing various materials to see if they were insulators or conductors. Most materials reacted as they predicted, but the pencil sharpened at both ends was very tricky. The graphite actually conducted electricity. Click here to see more photos. |
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Grade 1 Electricity Experiments
 First graders are studying electricity in January. Beginning with static electricity, they are moving on to find out how a circuit works, making simple circuits and serial circuits and switches.
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Grade 2 Earth Science
 Second graders learned about topics in earth science, ranging from tectonic plates, earthquakes and volcanoes to rocks and minerals. They made earthquake resistant structures, exploded volcanoes, classified rocks and minerals and made their own crystals.
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Grade 1 Water Experiments
 First graders completed their study of the properties of water in December. They learned about water tension, capillary action and how water moves. They competed to move water across the room, using only siphons..
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Third Grade Flight Trials
Third graders completed their study of air and flight by making and testing 3 different model paper airplanes. They recorded data for distance flown, length of flight and scored the planes for tricks performed. After collecting the data, it was off to the computer lab to learn how to use the Excel chart wizard to graph their results. Although individual results varied, the Sparrowhawk set a new distance record of 50 feet.
Click here to see some of their graphs
Photos of Flight Trials
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Grade 3 Air and Flight Studies
 Third-graders study the properties of air and flight in the fall. These third-graders are discovering Bernoulli's principle. A basic understanding of fluid mechanics will help them design their own paper airplanes. It takes a lot of hot air to perform all these experiments!
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Grade 1 Adopt-a-Tree
 In the fall first graders spend as much time as possible studying trees on Mike's Trail. Each student "adopts a tree" for study. They are responsible for measuring the tree circumference, taking a bark and leaf rubbing, drawing a sketch of the tree, and even making a map to their tree. They also spend time looking all around the tree to see if any animals have made the tree their home. All of the information collected goes into a tree book, which is held together by a twig from the tree they are studying. After learning about individual trees, they are off on the trail once more to learn more about classifying trees and about the role of decomposers in the forest habitat.
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Grade 2 Pond Studies
 Second-graders visit three ponds to learn about the pond habitat and ecosystems. They first learn the ABCs of ecosystems: Abiotic, Biotic, and Cultural (or man-made artifacts), then we go to the ponds to see what each pond contains. Students compare and contrast the ecosystems at the BCD pond, Janet's Pond, and the Stockbridge Bowl. We learn how the water comes into the pond and where it goes when it leaves. Some of the questions examined are: Why we do only find some plants at the Bowl and not at the other ponds? Why do some animals live in one pond and not the other? Students learn about food webs and the roles that producers, consumers, and decomposers play in the ecosystem, and make a mural of the plants and animals in the pond ecosystem, webbing the relationships between all of the inhabitants.
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