On Thursday, local news meteorologist, Brantley Ussery, visited fourth graders at Stony Point. Students have recently finished their unit on weather and atmospheric science, so they had many interesting questions to ask a true meteorologist. Additionally, students got some air time on local television! In Science, students have now turned their focus to space and will have an opportunity to Skype with a real Astronomer in the month of December.
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On Thursday, students started their Solar System unit by Visiting the McCormick Observatory at The University of Virginia. The Observatory houses a very large telescope. At one point in history, it was one of the largest telescopes in the world. Students were amazed to see the architecture of the observatory. The public is provided a chance to observe the stars and planets through the McCormick telescope twice a month. You can find the schedule at this link.
Additionally, Professor Murphy gave students a detailed presentation about the latest breaking news and facts regarding the Rosetta International Comet Mission. Ask your child to explain the ten year mission that successfully landed a space research craft on comet 67p. Students involved in the cleaning of the school's pond implemented solutions with a school volunteer this past week. They hope that the introduction of pond snails and several species of aquatic plants will help to eliminate the algae boom that has occurred in the pond. Stay tuned for results!
“Create Something Related to your Roald Dahl Book.”
This week, students responded to the making prompt above. The prompt was very open, so it gave students a large amount of freedom to express their creativity. Like always, it was amazing to see what the students developed. This maker project served as an ending to our Reading unit on Roald Dahl. Students will be focusing on reading biographies during the second quarter. Check out the photos below! Several students in our class are currently researching the algae problem in the Japanese Garden's pond. Below are a few photos of these students taking samples from the pond and observing the samples under classroom microscopes. They hope to implement solutions within the next few weeks with school volunteers.
As part of our unit on maps, students worked with scales. After we discussed how scales are used on maps and how they work, we applied our knowledge in a cross-curricular activity during Math class. Students were asked to create a miniature avatar of themselves. It was a process that took a few steps. First, students agreed on specific dimensions that could accurately represent themselves on a much smaller scale. They came to the conclusion that one foot should equal one inch on their scale for creating their avatar. Next, students measured both their length and width in inches and rounded their findings to the closest half foot. Then, students measured and drew a box that correctly matched their length and width according to the scale they had developed (1inch=1foot). Last, they drew their avatar in this box and cut it out. They were left with an avatar of themselves that was correctly proportionate to the scale they had created! Check out the photos below!
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Brian A. Valentine
This blog will serve as a visual representation for the exciting events that occur in fifth grade throughout the 2016-2017 school year. Archives
December 2017
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