Christmas Card Art

Last December each fourth grader chose an old Christmas card and expanded the picture from the front of the card.  Take a look at how clever our students are!

PS - If you have old cards to donate for next year please bring them in.

Time in the Garden

Mrs. Gross had our class in the school garden this afternoon.  They reviewed what they planted in their Three Sisters garden last year as third graders (corn, beans, and squash), and they examined the massive squash plants that grew over the summer.

After a little learning, each student helped harvest squash and carrots and helped Mrs. Gross clean out one of the gardens.  The pictures show the students hard at work as well as showing off the fruits of their labor.lants that grew over the summer.

After a little learning, each student helped harvest squash and carrots and helped Mrs. Gross clean out one of the gardens. 

Matter - Solid or Liquid?

This week in science we started our unit on Matter.  We mixed 125g of cornstarch with 100 mL of water to see what we would come up with.  The students had a lot of fun trying to decide if it was a liquid or a solid.  The students discovered that the mixture behaved like a liquid or a solid depending on how much pressure was applied.  The mixture is one of a few substances that has properties of both a liquid and a solid and is classified as a non-Newtonian fluid.  Cornstarch and water is probably the most commonly found example of this.  (It also is the inspiration for the Dr. Seuss book titled, Bartholomew and the Oobleck.)

Target Field

We had a great time at Target Field on Wednesday.  In addition to touring a bunch of really awesome places in the stadium, the 4th graders also took math and science classes.  The should be able to answer the following questions:

• How is a strike zone measured?
• What geometric shape is home plate?
• What materials are used to make a baseball?
• What is the name of the spot on a bat where vibrations are NOT felt?
  
• What happens to a baseball when it meets the bat?

The pictures show us hitting a ball in the warm-up batting cage, taking our math class, and sitting in the press box.

Welcome Back!

We've had a great start to the year!  More to come on some of the specifics. I wanted to start by publishing some dates for your calendars.

Tuesday, Sept. 17: Book Orders Due

Wednesday, Sept. 18: Target Field Tour and Meet the Teacher Night

Wednesday, September 25: Fourth Grade Family Mass

Thursday, September 26: Picture Day

Friday, October 4: Marathon

State Reports

We are mid-way through our state report projects.  Each student in 4th grade is researching a different state.  The research phase is over and we are working on typing up our information for our websites.  

Next week Mrs. Atlas will introduce the students to the actual websites that they will be using, and she will show them how to transform their hard work into webpages.  

The sample website that can be used as a guide is http://minnesota1858.weebly.com/

Electricity

We have been very busy since our last post!  One of the things we are just finishing up is our unit on electricity in Science.  The highlight for the students was our work with Snap Circuits.  Students worked in groups of two or three students to create simple circuits and parallel circuits.  They made light bulbs, fans, and speakers work in different types of creations.  It brings a whole new meaning to, "All my fourth graders want to do is work on their electronics!"