wednesday, september 2, 2015

This was quite a busy day!  The students did some hands-on experiments (but of course!) involving magnetism and integrated the math concept of measurement.  I had already mentioned to the students before but math is really the language of science.  Scientists have to use a common unit of measurement to convey meaning and in almost every case, numbers are used.  In order to understand something, it must be measured.  The real key to understanding is when enough is known about a law or phenomenon that it is predictable.  That is the key!  

The students came in and had the warm-up assignment which was in the form of a half-sheet handout.  It was a simple exercise, really.  There were eight statements and certain words had missing letters that needed to be filled in.  

Since this is still just the second week of the school year, I reviewed what is expected of the students.  Unfortunately, some students are already choosing to not follow all of the rules/expectations, mostly talking out of turn, so again the consequences have to be reviewed as well.

My class is now at a 100% sign-up rate for ClassDojo.  If your child is in either Ms. Fletcher's or Mr. Thompson's homeroom and you haven't yet signed up for ClassDojo, please do so as soon as possible.  This really is a great tool to allow you the opportunity to keep track of your child's behavior.  If you no longer have your unique log-in code, please email your child's homeroom teacher or myself (donald.miller@cms.k12.nc.us) and we can get that taken care of.

The 4th grade field trip has now been scheduled for Monday, October 19th.  The students will go uptown for a real-world simulation called Biztown.  We will need a LOT of parent volunteers for this one so if you are available, please contact us as soon as you can.  You will need to be a registered volunteer.  This is because we are committed to the safety and well being of all of our students.  The process is pretty easy.  All you have to do is go here and fill out the form.

We will begin the Biztown unit during social studies starting next week.  It will be covered Wednesdays through Fridays until the field trip.

Now to science.....

Today's Lesson:

I Can:

• explain how magnets interact with all things made of iron and with other magnets to produce motion without touching them
  

• measure the force (in Newtons) of the attraction between two magnets and paper clips
  
• measure the distance of the force of a magnet’s attraction to another magnet and paper clips
  
• predict, observe, and measure a relationship between the strength of a magnet and its measured force of attraction to another magnet and a paper clip

First, we reviewed the main points of yesterday's notes with an activity.  There were two slides and each one had things covered up for the students to identify.

We did two experiments and afterwards I did a demonstration since I only have one compass.

The first experiment had three parts:

1. Measure the force of attraction between two magnets and then with a paper clip.  Students used a force meter attached to one magnet while the other magnet was moved towards the one attached to the force meter.  As soon as there was a pull, they recorded the amount of force shown on the meter, measured in Newtons.  I had them do this 3-5 times to get an accurate measurement.
   
2. Measure the force of attraction between two magnets by how many Newtons of force it takes to separate them.
3. Measure the force of attraction between one magnet and a paper clip by how many Newtons of force it takes to separate them.

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The second experiment involved measuring the distance of a magnet's force of attraction between it and a paper clip.

It had two parts to it:

1. Along a ruler, one magnet's edge is at the 0 centimeter line while another magnet gets slowly moved towards the first magnet.  The magnet at the 0 centimeter line is held in place.  The objective of this task was to carefully observe the centimeter line where the attraction took place.
2. Repeat the above but with a paper clip.

Tomorrow we will see a short video followed by a reading passage.  This will be a literacy tie-in day though they will still have a warm-up.