Virtual Volcano

Today we played with virtual volcanoes on discovery.com. I have added the link for anyone who wants to play with it some more. On this site, you can choose the viscosity of magma and gas levels of volcanoes and see how it affects the eruption. Have fun! :)

Explosive Science

Today in Earth Science, we used alka selter to create pressure in film canisters. We observed the explosive results and compared it to the release of pressure in a volcanic eruption. Everyone had a BLAST! haha

Here we are at work!

WORDS and more WORDS

This year, we are taking it up a notch with vocabulary instruction. In our room, we have word walls of all kinds in every nook and cranny. We even use the windows for words!! I thought you might like to take a peek and see some examples. We have a wall of words that we use in literature, a wall of computer and technology words, a wall of standards verbs ( words we might encounter in testing), a wall of words with common prefixes and suffixes, and a wall of new words we learn in our reading. I am so proud of our word walls and how much our students use them. Please enjoy a virtual visit to our classroom!

Earthquake Resistant Structures

Today we are designing and building earthquake resistant stuctures and testing them using a shake table. Our shake table is a home-made version made of rubber bands and cardboard. Jake called it a "red-neck" shake table, but it does the job.

Take a look at some of the structures we made today. Some resisted, some fell, and some... well... some didn't make it to the table. Regardless, the students enjoyed the process and learned what works and what doesn't. Enjoy!

Feel free to comment and tell us what you think! :)

Ms. S.