Physical Science Inquiry - April 9, 2008

Physical Science Inquiry
Our final inquiry unit of the year involves physical science.  The scientists in Room 11 are enthusiastically making hypotheses, writing detailed observations, sketching, and coming up with insightful conclusions for our experiments.  Last week we started exploring matter and conducting experiments to answer the following questions: What are the properties of solids, liquids, and gases?  What happens when matter is heated?  Does temperature change matter?  What happens when matter is cooled?  After discussing the experiments, the students concluded that:

• Matter is anything that takes up space and has weight.
• Solids have a shape of their own.
• Liquids take the shape of the container they are in and go every direction except upwards.
• Gases have no shape, take up the maximum space possible, and expand in all directions.
• When matter is heated, it changes from a solid to a liquid and then to gas.  
• Temperature changes matter.  Heating something will cause it to get big (expand) and cooling it will cause it to get small (contract).
• When matter is cooled, it changes from the gaseous (or vaporous) state to the liquid state and from the liquid to the solid state.  
  

The students also turned into molecules and acted like gas, liquid, and solid molecules.  Match the pictures below to the correct state of matter.  (Hint: Gas molecules bounce all over and spread out, liquid molecules spread out a little but stay inside their container, and solid molecules huddle close together and hardly move.)

First Grade Math - Finishing up Unit 7
In Unit 7, we have been focusing on color, shape, and number patterns.  The numerous investigations provide the students with opportunities to create, describe, and extend repeating patters with two of three alternating elements.  Throughout the unit, the students have been describing and analyzing various patterns and finding the unit of the repeating pattern, such as AB, ABC, AAB, and ABB.  In addition to color and shape patterns, the students investigated number sequences using three situations (collecting pennies in a jar, making Staircase Towers with connecting cubes, and making repeating shape patterns).  Here is an example of a penny-jar problem: There are three pennies in the jar.  What would happen if we added two pennies each day for 10 days?  The students discovered that the constant rate of change for this problem is two. 

Looking ahead to the last two units...Our first-grade math-class goal is to finish all the units by the end of the school year.  The students are very motivated to get to the end of their workbook, so each day during math we use every moment possible to explore the concepts and reinforce understanding.  Next week will take us into Unit 8: Twos, Fives, and Tens, where the students will develop strategies for efficient counting and focus on the number sequence from 1 to 100.  Finally, the investigations in Unit 9 introduce the students to 3-D geometry.  There will be lots of exciting learning in the weeks ahead!

Thank You
Thank you to TC for bringing in delicious mochi to celebrate her birthday!  Thank you to ER for the yummy Jamba Juice, doughnuts, and bag of treats to celebrate his birthday! Thank you also to ER for the crickets and silk worms for our Jackson chameleons.  Thank you to AW for the special shortbread Girl Scout cookies!

Posted on April 9, 2008 11:26 AM | Permalink