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4th Grade Science

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4th Grade Science Class 8/29/19

This afternoon, we launched lesson 2 with a video and discussion about race cars and speed. We recorded our questions on page 25. Then, we began the lesson with an investigation on pages 26 and 27. We will complete the investigation questions on page 28 tomorrow. 

4th Grade Science Class 8/27/19

This afternoon, we completed page 61 in our book. We used what we have learned to plan for the module project. We wrote:
 

Forces cause the motion of roller coaster cars to change. A force will need to be applied to a steel ball to get it to move or stop. Forces such as gravity and friction will affect the steel ball. I can use gravity to pull the steel ball down the hills. Friction will slow the ball down eventually to a stop. Gravity will also slow the steel ball down as it moves up hills. 

Then, we did some questions together to review this lesson.

We ended the class completing the probe on page 23.  

4th Grade Science Class 8/26/19

This afternoon, the students had the first ten minutes to complete their foldable from Friday. Then, we read about the Beagle 2 on page 19. We worked together to complete the Lesson 1 review on pages 20 and 21. We wrote: 
 
Summarize it 

Forces such as gravity and air resistance affect the motion of objects. For example, gravity pulls the skydivers down toward the Earth. Air resistance slows them down. The skydivers can change their shapes to experiences less or more air resistance and fall faster or slower. They use parachutes to increase their surface area which causes drag and will slow them down even more before landing.

1. 500/2= 250 km per hour 

2. You can best describe an object's motion by measuring the time, distance, and direction of its motion. 

3. a. more slowly 

Tomorrow we will finish the review.

Science Fair Experiment Sample Write Up

Here is a sample write up for the science fair. Please feel free to use this to help guide your child as he or she completes each step. This document shows how each child's write up should look for the presentation day in October. Each section should be compiled into one document, NOT one step on each page.  Since it will not be very long, they can use a folder instead of a binder. 
 
Students should use this document and the other two that I uploaded last week to guide them throughout the process. 
 
Feel free to reach out during the week with any questions! Happy investigating!

4th Grade Science Class 8/23/19

This morning, while I checked the science fair topic and problem, the students worked on a post-it foldable in their notebook. The students will have the first ten minutes of the next class to finish this. It is for 12 points. 

4th Grade Science Class 8/22/19

This afternoon, we completed the investigation on pages 16 and 17. We learned how surface area affects how quickly objects fall. We wrote the following in our books: 
 
Prediction

The flat paper will take more time to get to the floor than the crunched up piece of paper.

Investigation

The piece of paper that was wadded up hit the ground first. 

Communicate Information 

Yes! Smaller, more compact objects experience less air resistance, so they fall more quickly. 

Engineering Connection

Engineers might use the evidence that rounded, compact objects like the ball will move more quickly than broad, flat shapes to help them design airplanes that experience less air resistance.

Writing Connection

Cars are designed to make moving through a "wall" of air easier. Round designs help the air flow over the car with less resistance.

After our investigation, we read the STEM Career Connection on page 18 and discussed how robots can help us.

4th Grade Science Class 8/20/19

This afternoon, we worked on a strategy called closed reading in which we read a passage multiple times looking for different things each time. We read pages 14 and 15 about gravity and friction. We watched  a video that explained forces. We especially focused on the part that explained how air resistance (drag) and gravity work when someone is skydiving. When one skydives, they will initially fall quickly because of gravity. Eventually, the force of air resistance and the force of gravity will equal out and the person's velocity will be constant (no change in speed or direction). The person will feel like he or she is floating. 
 
We watched the skydiving video that we watched at the beginning of the lesson to analyze this concept. 
 
We also watched a video that explained in more detail the concepts of gravity and friction.
 
We also revisited the probe on page 5 to see if what we learned changed what we initially thought. 
 
We wrote:

 

Forces such as pulls and pushes can move, stop, change speed or change the direction of an object. Even at rest, forces are pushing up to keep a book at rest on a flat surface. Friction is a helpful force. Without it, we would slip on a surface and not be able to walk. 

We recorded the following in our notebooks: 

  • Gravity- non-contact force that acts over a distance and pulls all objects toward each other  
  • Friction- force between surfaces that slows objects or stops them from moving. 

Science Exam 1

4th grade and 5th grade will take their first science exam on Tuesday, September 10th. 

4th Grade Science Class 8/16/19

This morning, we reviewed the following vocabulary words from yesterday: motion, speed, velocity, and acceleration. 
 
Then, we rea page 12 about how forces change motion. We answered the questions on page 12. 
 
1. Two factors are the forces applied and the weight. 
2. We could increase the speed of a toy car by increasing the force and pushing harder, decreasing the car's weight and keeping the force the same, or pushing it down a hill.
 
After reading and answering the questions, we analyzed and labeled the diagram at the bottom of the page.
 
 

4th Grade Science Class 8/15/19

This afternoon, we reviewed the concepts we learned after doing the investigation. We learned that even though the tennis ball and the racquetball are different masses, they are the same shape, and therefore, hit the ground at the same time when dropped from the same height. 
 
Today, we read pages 10-11 and discussed the vocabulary words motion, speed, velocity, and acceleration. We ranked the speeds of the animals from fastest to slowest on page 10. We also watched a video that explained the concept of acceleration. On page 11 we circled the arrows where the acceleration and the velocity were the same. 

4th Grade Science Class 8/13/19

This afternoon, we had a great class! We began Lesson 1: Forces and Motion with the "Encounter the Phenomenon" activity (page 7) where we watched a video of two people skydiving. We made observations and then we discussed how their position could affect how they fall and how parachutes will change their fall. After the discussion, we wrote down some questions to investigate in this lesson. 
 
1. What does it feel like to skydive?
2. How can you control your speed and direction as you fall?
3. How do parachutes allow you to slow down?
 
Next, we worked together in groups and as a class to complete the inquiry activity on pages 8 and 9. The students learned that when objects of the same shape, but different weights, are dropped from the same height at the same time, they will hit the ground at the same time. 
 
I can't wait for them to tell you what they learned when they get home!

4th Grade Science Class 8/12/19

Happy 3rd day of class! We had a great class today! We began with an introduction of Module 1 from page 3. We watched a video of a roller coaster going down a hill and through loops. We began thinking about how the roller coaster could go up and down these hills and through the loops.  Next, we looked at the Module project launch on page 4. At the end of each module, students will use what they learned to complete the module project. After introducing the module, we began the Lesson 1 probe on page 5. Each lesson will begin with one of these to see what the students know. This is to be completed independently as it is to see the students' knowledge and thinking related to the topic. After learning, they will return to the probe and see if they still agree with their initial thinking. I worked with them to help them construct their answers since this is the first one. We will begin lesson 1 tomorrow.