Digestion . . . EWWWWW!

What a fun and exciting time we have had working through the human body this year. We have studied the skeleton, heart, lungs, brain, muscles, and the digestive system. We completed the unit today with a station rotation that allowed the kids to study x-rays, monitor their pulse with a tack and a match, make a stethoscope with a Styrofoam cup, learn about reaction time while trying to catch a dollar bill and see an example of how our lungs work with balloons and empty dish soap bottles. However, this post is about the digestive system and how our stomach works. The kids were partnered up last week and given a bag with a few banana slices, a few crackers and a couple of drops of water. We discussed the job of the stomach and the kids got to see first hand how much work it takes to "digest" food. We created a not so appetizing liquid in our "stomachs" and had some interesting conversations about what we observed! As always, lots of fun was had and I hope you enjoy the following video!!

Toondoo.com

This week we wrapped up our unit on animals and lifecycles. On Thursday, I was able to check out the wow cart, and each child was able to work on a laptop with a partner. They got to go to toondoo.com and create their own cartoon about animals or lifecycles. The children were instructed to come up with 3 facts they had learned during the science unit. Then they were instructed to come up with one false fact. The children were allowed to use their creativity and their work is authentic. Have fun letting your child tell you about their comic and let them look at some of the other student's work. See if they can decide which fact is false in some of the other children's comics. I have attached the example I created for the kids in order to guide them in this assignment. In order to view your child's work go to toondoo.com and login using the username jgist and the password bailey9. Then click on the blue tab that says toon and then click on the words my toondoo. You will be able to look at all the children's work and click on your own child's comic to view their creation. Have fun!!

Pet Rocks

Last week we explored the difference between living and nonliving objects. We discussed how we care for our real pets and how they need someone to watch over them if the pet was left alone for the weekend. Then we had lots of fun decorating our pet rocks. The kids named them and decorated them with lots of materials. Some children even made beds and other items for their rock. We finished the day up with a discussion about what would happen if we left our pet rock for the weekend without anyone to watch over them. The kids made the connection between why their pets need someone to care for them and why their rocks didn't need special care.

Wizard's Brew

What happens when you mix a solid like dry ice with a liquid like water? The kids had a blast watching our "wizard's brew" bubble and float out of the bowl. Did you know dry ice is called dry ice because it goes straight from a solid to a gas? It is one of the few objects that does not change into a liquid before it changes into a gas. This was a great, fun experiment to wrap up our matter unit. Now on to animals and living and nonliving!!

Miss Simpson's Class


Mrs. Gist's Class

Mystery Matter

What a great day we had in class today! One student said, "Mrs. Gist this is fun like science recess!" We used our imagination and imagined that aliens had visited our classroom last night. The aliens left a box with regular objects like a battery, a domino, a key and even some mystery liquids. The problem was that they forgot some of their favorite objects, and they need them back. However, the list they left for me is written in alien language and I can't tell what they want us to keep and what they need returned. The only clue is the information they left about the object's properties. For example, they told us the "burble" they forgot has a mass of 41 grams, is 5 cm long, sinks, is magnetic and is shiny, pointy and small. Your children got to choose an object from the box and analyze their matter's properties to help decide if their matter was the mystery matter the aliens need back. The kids had such a good time and got to experiment with balance scales, magnets, deductive thinking, measuring cups and rulers. I took a few pictures during our experiment, and I know your children learned from this hands-on experiment about the properties of matter!! Make sure to let them tell you about it!

Welcome to Mrs. Gist's and Miss Simpson's Blog!

We are so excited to start another year at David Elementary! Last year we really used our websites as a way to nurture communication between teachers, students and parents. This year we are trying a new line of communication! We have started a blog. The blog will be used to show you things we are working on and creating here in class. We will let you know if your child has something he/she created on our blogspot. Please be patient as this is a new endeavor for us and for many of your children. We hope this will be another tool that can be utilized to enhance your child's learning experience!