Spelling Bee

A few weeks ago we had our yearly Spelling Bee with 1st - 4th grade students. From second grade we had Eva Bryce, Connor Dzuba, Caleb Mulder, and Noah Smith in the Spelling Bee. From third grade we had Luke Gorney, Natalie Slone, Tyler Sowatsky, and Jaden Stahl. All of these second and third graders competed well and the rest of us happily cheered them on throughout the Spelling Bee. Our first place for second grade was Caleb Mulder and Eva Bryce received second place. Our first place for third grade was Natalie Slone and Tyler Sowatsky received second place. All of our second and third grade spellers did a great job! Here are a few pictures from the Spelling Bee, enjoy!

Ice Experiment

To finish up our science unit about water, we decided to do an experiment with water in it's solid form: ice. We've been talking about how liquid water turns into a solid when it is exposed to cold air and solid water turns into liquid water when it is exposed to warm air. Students were given a task: they needed to create an environment inside of a box that would keep an ice cube solid for a long period of time. The first day, students were placed in groups and were told to create a design for their boxed environment. Groups were only allowed to pick six items to create their fridge-like environment: a box (this was a necessary item), q-tips, pipe cleaners, wax paper, paper cup, aluminum foil, masking tape, and rubber bands. After students created their designs, they needed teacher approval before the next day when they would actually create this design.

The following day, we were ready to create these designs. Students went back into their groups with their materials and created their new inventions. Once their designs were completed, students were given an ice cube to, quickly, place in their box and close the lid. We placed another ice cube on a paper plate in the front of the classroom so that we could watch it and discover how long an ice cube would last without the fridge-like environment helping it. Once this ice cube completely melted (it took about 3 hours) we opened up our designs to see which group created the best environment for solid water. 

Two groups had their ice cube completely melted, while three of the groups had better results with part of their ice cube remaining solid. The best group used the smallest amount of the box so that the cold air of the ice would remain cold in that confined space. After examining their designs, the students reflected on what they could have done better to keep the air colder in their box so that the ice cube would have remained solid longer. Below is a picture of the winning group's ice cube after three hours in their box. Great job to all of the students who participated in this experiment!

Science Experiment

We have been learning about water the past few weeks in science; how much usable water there is on earth, how we get water in our homes, how we can conserve water in our homes, and how professionals clean the water that we use. This past week, we decided to become scientists and experiment with ways in which we could clean dirty water. The students were placed in groups of three and were only given these instructions: they are to create some type of device to clean a cup of dirty water. Students were given a list of supplies to choose from, but they were only allowed to choose six things from this list: scissors, coffee filter, cotton ball, q-tip, paper plate, plastic cup, straw, or a popsicle stick. On the first day of this experiment, groups chose their six items and drew out what their device would look like. I checked over these drawings, approved them, and the next day the students began to create their devices.

After students created their water cleaning devices, it was time to put them to the test with some dirty, stinky pond water. Each group took a turn while the rest of the groups watched to discern whether or not the group's device actually cleaned the pond water or not. Here are a few pictures, along with a video, of the groups testing their water cleaning creations.

Once all of the groups had gone through and tested their devices, the groups decided that none of their water cleaning devices completely cleaned the water so that it was safe to utilize. After coming to this conclusion, the groups met one more time to decide what they did very well and what they could have done better with their water cleaning creations. We discussed how scientists do this sort of reflection after experimenting with something that didn't work quite as well as it should have. Overall, the students greatly enjoyed this chance to behave as scientists would when they're trying to solve a problem. Great job student scientists!

Bible Drill

Since the beginning of the school year, our second and third graders have been working on memorizing the books of the Bible and knowing which books are in the Old and New Testament. In order to make this a little more interesting, our class has been participating in something I like to call Bible Drill. In these Bible Drills, second and third graders hold their Bibles up in the air while I say a reference, such as 1 Timothy 1:10. When I say the first "charge", second graders put their Bibles down and beginning searching for the verse. When I say the second "charge", third graders put their Bibles down and beginning searching for the verse. The first person to stand up and read the verse out loud, gets to go to the front of the room and be in our classroom championship. Once we have five champions in the front of the room, we have a contest between the five to discover who is the classroom champion for the day. This has been an excellent activity to get students excited to know the books of the Bible! Watch the video below to see the second and third graders in action:

PS: I have challenged the students to get good enough to beat me in a Bible Drill by the end of the school year...they have not yet been able to succeed! :)

Water Measurement

Our second and third graders have been learning about water in our science unit. We have learned where water is found on earth, how we use water at home, and where we get the water that we use in our homes. This past week, we began to think about how much water is on the earth and how we could conserve water each and every day. We began this new thought with a globe activity which had students throwing a plastic globe to each other as they stood in a circle. Students passed the globe 25 times and as the students caught the globe, they would state whether their left thumb landed on water or land. I kept a tally on the board marking how many times students had their left thumb on water or on land. After passing it 25 times, students sat down and I calculated our results.

The results should have shown that approximately 75% of the earth is covered in water, however our results showed about 60%. We then discussed how this "globe throw" wasn't an exact science; if we had time we would do what scientists always do and conduct this activity multiple times to discover a more accurate answer. 

The following day, we discussed how liquids can be measured. We talked about how, at home while cooking, we can measure liquids using measuring cups or teaspoons and tablespoons. We also discussed how scientists usually measure liquids a bit differently, using graduated cylinders which measure liquids according to milliliters. Students discussed how scientists want their measurements to be accurate and exact, so they should always set their graduated cylinders on a flat surface to discover the number that is closest to the real measurement. To give students an idea of how scientists measure, students were placed in groups and given water and a graduated cylinder to practice measuring accurately. In these groups, students took turns pouring water into the graduated cylinders and trying to make their measurement as exact as possible. Students enjoyed having this opportunity to act as scientists and make these accurate measurements. 

After this activity, students were given a homework assignment where they were to measure how much water they use while brushing their teeth with the water running and with the water turned off. I can't wait to see the results of these homework assignments and to begin discussing water conservation!

Bodies of Water Booklets

This week after Christmas break we began a new science unit and we've begun to learn a bit more about water. We started the week of by discussing why we think water is important and we then looked at the many ways that we use water throughout our days at home and at school. To end the week, we looked at the different places that we find water on the earth. We had already discussed bodies of water in social studies, so to show their prior knowledge, the students were put into groups to create small booklets describing these different bodies of water.

These booklets included a cover page, four pages with a sentence and picture of four different bodies of water, and an ending page to write their names. Students worked hard on these booklets and the results show that our second and third graders really know all about bodies of water on the earth. Good job students!