JINGLE BELL FRIENDS!

Dear Families,
We will be visiting the West Side Centre for Seniors on Wednesday, December 2. We have been participating in the "Jingle Bell Friends' program through the 'Life After 50' program at the centre. The students have been collecting points for positive behaviours in the classroom. These points will be turned into cash they can use to buy small presents for family members for the Holidays. We will be walking to and from the West Side Centre on 655 McEwan on Wednesday morning. The permission forms you filled out at the beginning of the year are sufficient for these type of walking field trips.
Thank you

Dance,Dance Revolution!!

We went over some basic dance moves this week in gym class. They are going work on these basic moves and building them into a choreographed routine. Enjoy  the video!!

Scientific Method

The beauty and wonder of science is that it explains everyday experiences and the world around us. We make an hypothesis and then test it see what the results are. The first  results of our Tomatosphere experiment have sprouted!! We watered both sets of seeds equally, we exposed both sets of seeds to the same amount of sunlight and finally we made sure that both sets of seeds were kept at the same temperature. Drum roll please!! The seeds from tray A (second picture below) are beginning to sprout and the seeds from Tray B (first picture below)  are still not showing any signs of sprouts. If you remember, one set of seeds came from terrestrial tomatoes (from earth) and the other set of seeds came from seeds grown in space (aboard the space station). We don't know which seeds were which, again another pillar of the Scientific Method. We hold all other variables constant and see what happens to the one variable we are trying to measure. We will be organizing our data over the next few days and then submitting it. At that point, we will be told which seeds went into space.

A little Rounding Help

 Estimation is a very critical aspect of math instruction. Students that can estimate usually are ones that have strong numeracy skills. They can manipulate numbers both with manipulatives and mentally. We have been working on rounding numbers and estimation strategies over the last few weeks. The picture below is a copy of the rounding strategy anchor chart that was shared with the students. I've place it here as a reminder for students and parents. Next time going through the Tim's line ask your child to round up the amount to the closets dollar. We use estimation every day in the 'real world' and it would be beneficial for our kids to see that.

Tomatosphere Hands On Science

Today we had two young men from the University of Windsor Science Department to help us out with our science experiment. We are part of a large group of schools that are collecting data for a Nasa approved experiment. We are conducting a blind study into whether seeds that are grown in space germinate differently than seeds that have NOT gone to space. The students learned about the Scientific Method and how we come up with a Theory and Hypothesis which we then test. We will be observing the seeds to look for signs of germination and then keep track of which seeds germinate more quickly and produce seedlings. 

SCIENCE ASSESSMENTS COMING UP NEXT WEEK

THE STUDENTS HAVE HAD A GREAT TIME LEARNING ABOUT PLANTS, ANIMALS AND HABITATS. WE WILL BE DOING A FEW MORE EXPERIMENTS WITH BOTH GRADES BUT I WANTED TO GIVE FAMILIES PLENTY OF NOTICE OF TWO UPCOMING TEST. THE DATES WILL BE TENTATIVELY BETWEEN NOV 11 AND 13 DEPENDING ON WHEN WE FINISH UP A FEW MORE LESSONS. PLEASE LOOK AT THE INFORMATION BELOW TO HELP YOU CHILD PREPARE. I WILL BE SENDING HOME THEIR SCIENCE DUATANG HOME EVERY NIGHT TILL THE TEST FOR THEM TO REVIEW.

GRADE 4 SCIENCE ASSESSMENT

STUDENTS WILL BE SHOWN A SCENE (PICTURE) OF A HABITAT WITH A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT CREATURES AND PLANT LIFE. THEN THEY WILL BE ASKED THESE QUESTIONS.

PART 1

1. MAKE A LIST OF THE PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS IN THE HABITAT
2. FROM THE LIST IN QUESTION 1, CREATE 3 DIFFERENT FOOD CHAINS
3. IN THE FOOD CHAIN IDENTIFY THE CONSUMERS (HERBIVORES OR CARNIVORES)

PART 2

1. CHOOSE 1 PLANT AND DESCRIBE THE SPECIAL FEATURES THAT HAVE HELP IT SURVIVE IN THE HABITAT.
2. CHOOSE 1 ANIMAL DESCRIBE THE SPECIAL FEATURES THAT HAVE HELP IT SURVIVE IN THE HABITAT.

PART 3

1. GIVE TWO DIFFERENT WAYS HUMAN ACTIONS COULD AFFECT THIS HABITAT

GRADE 3 SCIENCE ASSESSMENT

THE GRADE 3 STUDENTS WILL BE TESTED ON THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF THE INFORMATION BELOW.

1. BE ABLE TO LABEL A DIAGRAM OF A SIMPLE PLANT AND KNOW WHAT EACH PART DOES. (ROOTS, STEM, FLOWER, LEAVES, SEEDS)
2. BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN THE LIFE CYCLE OF A PLANT FROM SEED TO MATURE PLANT THAT CAN PRODUCE SEEDS  
3. BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN THINGS PLANTS AND ANIMALS NEED TO SURVIVE (WATER, AIR , SUN ETC.)
4. BE ABLE TO PICK OUT AND DESCRIBE SPECIAL FEATURES OF PLANTS THAT ALLOW THEM TO SURVIVE IN THEIR PARTICULAR HABITAT ( A MAPLE KEY ALLOWS THE SEEDS OF MAPLE TREES TO SPREAD)
5. EXPLAIN WHAT PARTS OF A PLANT CERTAIN FOODS COME FROM (CARROTS ARE ROOTS)
6. EXPLAIN HOW PEOPLE USE PLANTS FOR OTHER THINGS THAN JUST FOOD.
7. EXPLAIN HOW A FEW WAYS ANIMALS HELP PLANTS.