Renewable Energy

What do you know about Renewable Energy?

The students are exploring various renewable energies in the classroom: Solar Power, Wind Power, and Hydro (water) Power.

Come back soon to see what we have learned and how we are exploring the concept of Renewable vs. Non-Renewable Energy. 

Electromagnetism and the Telegraph

We worked in teams to build a working telegraph!

Using all we knew about electricity and magnetism allowed us to send messages across the classroom.  It was super fun and super challenging, but we did it.  The students quickly realized how difficult it is to send and receive messages in Morse Code.

April Fool's Day Fun

 

Needless to say, not all the 3rd and 4th grader's were impressed by Broccoli Lollipops!  April Fools!

Ask your kids about the "Brownies" they received!

Writer's Notebook

We are putting some of our new skills to the test!  We have learned how to write a strong non-fiction or informational piece of writing.  In fact, we wrote books about Football, How to Annoy Someone, and Finger Knitting; all things we think we are experts on.  Now we are using those skills combined with our newly learned reading and research skills (note-taking too!) to write non-fiction texts about electricity (science!).

We organize our research into SUBTOPICS.

 

 

We have learned to use the TABLE OF CONTENTS  and the INDEX to find specific information.

The class has started reading information carefully to take notes in order to develop their research topic.

 

Topics include: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Alva Edison, Michael Faraday and electromagnetism, Atoms and Electrons, Generators, and Alassandro Volta (the battery guy!) and his study of electrical current. 

Discovering Electromagnetism

Today we used our knowledge of electric circuits and magnetism to create an electromagnet.

Ask your child about these vocabulary terms: insulator, conductor, receiver, source, attract, and repel.  Then quiz them, what is an electromagnet?

We enjoyed some awesome scientific discoveries today and we can't wait for tomorrow!

Force of Attraction

The 3rd and 4th graders are exploring magnetism and electricity.  They have enjoyed learning about the force of magnetism.  In learning the words attract (pull) and repel (push), they got to push and pull Mrs. Moulton around the classroom.  I don't know why, but they loved it! 

The students are learning to conduct a science experiment to test a hypothesis and then analyzing the data.  Thinking about the science behind why or how things happen can be challenging.

"Time Out for Whoopie" - Learning About Economics

Our Craft Fair was a huge success!  All the students made a profit and enjoyed the experience.  Our class was even able to donate $69.34 to the United Way of Grand Isle and Franklin County to help fight Homelessness.  Each student donated a small percentage (between 10% and 35% ) of their profits to this excellent charity.  The students showed great concern for those that are less fortunate.

In developing their own small business and learning about economics, the students had the opportunity to hear from a local, small business owner.  Shannon Kadish of "Time out for Whoopie" came to the classroom to talk about her experiences as a small business owner.  She answered all of our questions and even shared a taste of her delicious product.  It was a true delight and wonderful learning experience!  Thank you Mrs. Kadish.

 

Yum!! Those Whoopie Pies are Delicious!!