Metamorphic Rock

We had a "smashing" time learning about metamorphic rock! Not only did we learn that metamorphic rock is formed by a rock undergoing massive heat and pressure, we also got a little snack!

We observed our rock..(ahem..snickers!) and drew a picture of it.

After that, we applied tons of heat and pressure to our poor little rock..(ahem..snickers!) and watched it transform into something that looked very different that when we started!

We squeezed our rock, put a book on our rock, stood on our rock, and sat on our rock!

We learned that heat and pressure makes metamorphic rock...and we also learned that a squished snicker bar tastes way better than a normal shaped one!

Science is "sweeeet"!

Mrs. M

Vocabulary

There are no new vocabulary words this week. The words from last week are the same this week. There will be a spelling and vocabulary test this Friday, December 11 and it will be counted twice! Make sure you are studying those words!

Mrs. M

Igneous Rock!

Igneous rock is formed by cooling magma. We had fun learning about this!

Just like lava hardens as it cools, so does wax and CHOCOLATE!Candle Volcano! As the wax cools, it hardens! Just like igneous rock!
This is our chocolate, excuse me "lava", as it cooled and hardened on our desks!

Rock on!
Mrs. M

Sedimentary Rock!

While learning about Sedimentary rock, we made a yummy model! Sedimentary rock is formed by the compaction and cementation of sediments. Sediments come from other rocks being weathered. Our model represented the formation of sediementary rock, but we got to use food!
First, We weathered Graham crackers in tiny crumbs!



We then added other types of sediment (Sugar!) and Fossil fuels (butter)! We pressed our sediements in the pie pan and put them into the toaster oven to bake. Our rocks came out hard and tasty!
This model Rocked!!
Mrs. M

The rock Cycle

We have been studying the rock cycle! Looks complicated doesn't it? Well, its really not! Over the next few days we will study each type of rock and how it is formed...this could get yummy!

We also learned a new song! We will ROCK you!

We will we will rock you!
we will we will rock you!

Volcanos erupt with lava so hot
it cools and hardens and its igneous rock cuz
rocks can change...all over this place...
they weather, and melt, and get rearranged!

We will we will rock you!
we will we will rock you!

Rock gets weathered into tiny tiny rocks
layers and layers get piled on top
it gets compacted, its elementary
this rock will become sedimentary

we will we will rock you
we will we will rock you!

Any type of rock under heat and pressure
becomes metamorphic and thats for sure
cuz rocks can change, all over this place..
they weather, and melt and get rearranged

we will we will rock you
we will we will rock you!

My job "rocks"!

Mrs. M

Week Thirteen Vocabulary

Week Thirteen Vocabulary
Novmeber 30 – December 4, 2009
Your spelling and vocabulary test will be on Friday, December 4th . You will be responsible for knowing how to spell each word correctly and the definition for each word.

1. Igneous rock- rock formed from cooled magma or lava.
2. Sedimentary rock- rock that formed when sediments were pressed and cemented together.
3. Metamorphic rock- rock that formed when another kind of rock was squeezed and heated deep inside Earth’s crust.
4. Rock cycle- the process of rocks changing into other kinds of rock.
5. Fossils- the remains or traces of an organism that lived long ago.
6. Volcano- a mountain built up from hardened lava, rocks, and ash that erupted out of Earth.
7. Lava-melted rock that flows out of the ground onto Earth’s surface.
8. Magma- melted rock below Earths surface

Guest Speaker!

Today we had a guest Teacher. Mrs. Natalie Brown is a reservoir engineer. She talked to us all about her job and what she gets to do! She also taught us about how oil and natural gas are produced and how they figure out where it is and get it out of the ground. It was very interesting! She also brought a lab for us to do! It was a major challenge! But Mrs. M is proud to announce that her bright students all met the challenge head on and figured out the problem! I think the problem solving today would make Ms. D and Ms. H proud! You go scientists!


Oh What fun!
Mrs. M

Week Twelve Vocabulary

Week Twelve Vocabulary
Novmeber 16 – November 20th
Your spelling and vocabulary test will be on Friday, November 20th . You will be responsible for knowing how to spell each word correctly and the definition for each word.

1. Carbon dioxide- a gas made of carbon and oxygen atoms that plants need for photsynthesis.
2. Dendrochronology- the study of trees that help find clues about the tree’s past.
3. Scar- dark spots in the tree’s rings that tell whether the tree has been damaged by fire of insects.
4. Tree rings- rings located in the center of a tree’s trunk. They tell the age and environmental conditions from present to past.
5. Environmental conditions- the kind of weather and surrounding in which trees have grown.
6. Igneous rock- rock formed from cooled magma or lava.
7. Sedimentary rock- rock that formed when sediments were pressed and cemented together.
8. Metamorphic rock- rock that formed when another kind of rock was squeezed and heated deep inside Earth’s crust.
9. Rock cycle- the process of rocks changing into other kinds of rock.
10. Fossils- the remains or traces of an organism that lived long ago.

Wind, Water, Waves, and Ice...oh my!

Today we spent time in the lab! We were able to see the effects that wind, water, waves, and ice have on our Earth. These four important things are the reasons we have landforms and changes on our Earth! We blew "wind" through straws, sprayed "rain" on a hill, moved "glaciers", and even went to the beach and created waves! Here are some pictures from our experiments.

PS Check out our snazzy lab coats and goggles! We mean business in science class!

Just another day at the "beach"!

Mrs. M

Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition!

Who knew learning about Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition could be so much fun! We had fun Weathering away gobstoppers in our mouths today! It was neat to see that every thirty seconds, our candy was a different color! It just proved to us that weathering was taking place!

After we had a tasty treat to "weather", we played the weathering, erosion, and deposition game! Each team had to weather away a peice of their leggo landform, crabwalk (erode it) to the other end of the room, and deposit it on the desk! It really showed how weathering away of rock makes it smaller and smaller, erosion is when sediment gets moved from one place to another, and deposition is when sediment gets dropped off to make new landforms! It was a fun game!
Just another absolutely wild and crazy day in science!
Mrs. M

Lets get back on track...

Okay guys! Mrs. M is tired of testing! Now that our vocabulary and unit tests are out of the way...lets have some fun! Get ready because learning about weathering is TASTY!

love y'all so much!
Mrs. M

Week Eleven Vocabulary

Week Eleven Vocabulary
Novmeber 9 – November 13th
Your spelling and vocabulary test will be on Friday, November 13th . You will be responsible for knowing how to spell each word correctly and the definition for each word.

1. Weathering: The break down and wearing away of rock into sediment
2. Erosion: The movement of sediment by water, waves, wind, or ice.
3. Deposition: the process in which sediment is dropped in a new place.
4. Landform: a natural structure on Earth’s surface
5. Delta: a large flat area of land at the mouth of a river
6. Glacier: a large body of moving ice that stays frozen all year.
7. Sediment: bits of rocks, soil, sand, shells, and the remains of organisms.

A yummy Model!

What do these items have to do with science?


Well, we need them to make a model of the layers of Earth, of course!
The outside chocolate cookie represents the the crust, the cream represents the squishy mantle, the chocolate syrup represents the liquid iron outer core, and the m&m represents the solid iron outer core!
Yummy!

Just a delicious day of science!
Mrs. M

Fossil Fuel Formation

Today we made a foldable to help us remember how fossil fuels are formed. It is important that we know what the three fossil fuels are and that Coal is formed a little differently than oil and natural gas. So naturally, we sang a song to help us remember!

Fossil Fuels Song!

(to row, row, row your boat)
Oil, coal, and natural gas
we use them everyday.
These three fossil fuels
are formed in special ways.

Oil comes from animals and plants
plus time, pressure, and heat.
Natural gas in the same way and
coal is formed from peat!

Here are some pictures of our foldable!

Love,

Mrs. M

Week Ten Vocabulary

Week Ten Vocabulary
Novmeber 2nd – November 6th
Your spelling and vocabulary test will be on Friday, November 6th . You will be responsible for knowing how to spell each word correctly and the definition for each word.
This week there are several review words!
1. Pangaea- super continent
2. Plate tectonics- the theory that Earth’s plates move.
3. Crust- the outermost layer of the Earth
4. Mantle- the middle layer of the Earth
5. Core- the innermost layer of the Earth
6. Fossil fuels- nonrenewable resources found deep in the Earth, formed by the remains of ancient plants and animals. Coal, Oil, and natural gas are the three fossil fuels
7. Coal- a fossil fuel formed by the remains of ancient plants
8. Oil- a fossil fuel formed by the remains of ancient plants and animals.
9. Natural gas- a fossil fuel formed by ancient plants and animals. It is a flammable oderless gas.
10. Sedimentary Rock- Rock formed by compacting sediment where fossils are found.

Guest Teacher

Today we had a guest teacher! She looked alot like Mrs. M! She was much cooler though!

She brought us dry ice to experiment with! It was very interesting! Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. A frozen gas...cool! She showed us that we could pour the carbon dioxide, make smoke bubbles, carbonate apple juice, and make a big "crystal ball" bubble. It was the coolest! (Get it...coolest!!)









Just another mysterious science day!
Mrs. M

Natural Resource Chart

Today we learned all about the natural resource chart. Students are required to memorize the chart and will be tested on it randomly throughout the year. The first test is this Friday!

The chart is displayed on our cabinets for the kids to see everyday!

Today we found pictures in magazines of renewable, nonrenewable, and inexhaustible resources. We also found insulators, conductor, mixtures and solutions as a review!

love,

Mrs. M

Earth Science Begins!

Earth Science tends to be a topic that fifth graders struggle with. I promise to make Earth science understandable, memorable, and fun!
We started the unit off with discussing natural resources. These are the basis for everything we study about in Earth Science. Tomorrow we will see the chart that has to be memorized!

Renewable Resource: Resources that can be replaced
plants
animals
water
soil
Air

Nonrenewable Resource: Resources that cannot be replaced
oil (fossil fuel)
coal (fossil fuel)
natural gas (fossil fuel)
minerals

Inexhaustible Resources: Resources that will not run out
Sunlight
Wind
Tides

Just another fun day in science!
Mrs. M

Week Nine words

Week Nine Vocabulary
Ocotber 26th -October 30th
Your spelling and vocabulary test will be on Friday, October 30th . You will be responsible for knowing how to spell each word correctly and the definition for each word.

1. Natural resource- resources that are used by humans, such as minerals, water, fossil fuels, and food sources.
2. Renewable resource- natural resource that can be renewed or replaced by nature.
3. Nonrenewable resource- a resource that can’t be replaced in nature.
4. Inexhaustible resource- resources that cannot be used completely.
5. Fossil fuels- come from the bodies of dead organisms that lived many years ago. Material from these organisms are pressed together to form coal, oil, or natural gas.
6. Coal- solid fossil fuel formed deep within the Earth.
7. Natural Gas- a fossil fuel, flammable odorless gas found in Earth’s crust.
8. Oil- fossil fuel and material resource that formed deep in the Earth from remains fo ancient plants and animals. It is also known as Petroleum.
9. Pangaea- super continent

Solar Cooking!

Friday was a blast! The kids got to try out the solar cookers they made at home. It took about 2 hours to cook the hotdogs and gobble them up! We had fun learning about solar energy! I loved seeing all of the creativity in my students!

Just another Sunny day in fifth grade!

Mrs. M

Yet another foldable...

We discussed the three buzz words transparent, translucent, and opaque. These words deal with the way the light reacts when it interacts with a material.

Transparent material allow light to pass directly through. If light can pass directly through it, we can see directly through it!
Translucent materials allow some light to pass through and reflects other light rays. These are materials that you can kind of see through, but won't see a clear image on the other side.
Opaque images don't allow any light to pass through. These are materials that we can't see through at all.


Leave a comment listing examples of each!

Just another creative day in Science!
Mrs. M

Reflection and Refraction

Today we did several lab activites to study reflection and refraction of light! It is important to know these words.

Remember:

Reflection = bouncing of light waves (mirrors, tinted windows)

Refraction = bending of light waves (water, rainbows)

First, we had to use a mirror to read the instructions on our cards. The words were written backwords!

Next, we poured water into a glass jar and drew an arrow on an index card. Look what happened when we put the index card behind the jar of water!

After that we sat a clear plastic cup on top of a smiley face sticker. As we slowly poured water into the cup, it looked like the sticker was rising to the top and then it dissappears!

Last, we put a pencil in a cup of water. Doesn't the pencil look awesome!

Try these at home and teach your famiy about reflection and refraction!

And...you got your suprise today! Lab coats for all! By the end of the week, we should have enough lab coats for every student to wear while they are in the lab doing experiments! We are going to look like official scientists!

Mrs. M loves her job!

Symmetry~and a suprise!!

Today we talked about symmetry! When a shape has a line of symmetry, it can be folded and match up perfectly! Alot of letters of the alphabet have lines of symmetry!
A B C D E H I K M O T U V W X Y...are the letters that have a line of symmetry. Some of the letters have more than one line of symmetry!
Leave me a comment to tell me which letters have more than one line of symmetry!

Announcements!

• Solar cookers are due tomorrow!
• We will be cooking hot dogs with our solar cookers on Friday afternoon. Wednesday I will be asking for volunteers to help bring all of the food and condiments!

And...one more thing!

Boy! Do I have a suprise for you! Can you guess it? Here are your clues:

• white
• safety
• buttons

love yall!

Mrs. M

Week Eight Vocabulary

Week Eight Vocabulary
Ocotber 19th -October 23rd
Your spelling and vocabulary test will be on Friday, October 23rd . You will be responsible for knowing how to spell each word correctly and the definition for each word.

1. Reflection – the bouncing back of light waves from a surface.
2. Refraction- the bending of light rays as they move from one material into another material.
3. Concave lens- a lens that is thinner in the center and thicker at the edges, a shape that bends light outward.
4. Convex lens- a lens that is thicker in the center and thinner at the edges, a shape that bends light inward.
5. Symmetry- having matching parts around a point or on both sides of a line through the middle.
6. Absorb- to capture. In this case we are discussing matter that captures light energy.
7. Transmit- light passing through a clear surface.
8. Transparent- matter that light passes directly through
9. Translucent- matter that some light passes through
10. Opaque- matter that light cannot pass through

Energy!

Today we discussed the five types of energy that we will be learning about this year. We discussed light, heat, solar, sound, and electric energy! We learned that energy can be transferred and transformed. Those words sound so much alike, so we discussed the difference and came up with examples of each!
Transfer: For this word we discussed transferring to a new school. When you transfer to a new school, you just move from one school to another. When energy transfers, it moves from one object to another. Today our lab activity showed us that heat transferred from the first chocolate chip all the way down the row to the last one.

Transform: For this word we discussed transformers. When you play with transformers, it starts out as a robot then turns into a car. It changed into something completely different. When energy transforms, it turns from one type of energy to a completely different type of energy. Electricity can turn in to light, heat, sound, and magnetism. Our lab tomorrow will prove this!


Our new song! (to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad) Light, heat, solar, sound, electric are the forms of energy light, heat, solar, sound, electric -its easy you will see! light can bend and bounce off objects heat will keep us warm solar comes from the sunlight and sound vibrates in horns! electric current flows through circuits to transform energy electric current flows through circuits to make light, and sound, and heat!


It was super day in Science!
Mrs. M

Weekly words!

Week Seven Vocabulary
Ocotber 13th -October 16th
Your spelling and vocabulary test will be on Friday, October 16th . You will be responsible for knowing how to spell each word correctly and the definition for each word.
1. Energy- the ability to do work
2. Electrical energy- energy that is produced when electrons move from one place to another.
3. heat energy- the energy of moving particles
4. light energy- a form of energy that travels in waves.
5. solar energy- energy that the sun provides
6. vibrations- rapid back and forth movement that produces sound
7. transfer- to move from one place to another.
8. complete circuit- a complete path of conductors that an electric current can flow through
9. electromagnet- a temporary magnet created by a flow of electric current around an iron bar
10. incomplete circuit- a broken path of conductors that will not produce electricity.

CHick-Fil-A Extra Credit!

I took Chloe to ChickfilA for lunch recently. She was very hungry for "Chicken Lake", that is what she calls it! The toy in her kids meal was a science flask! I think my heart skipped a beat when I saw that Chloe was now the proud of owner of her first piece of science equipment! Mad Science is hosting the kids meal toy right now. The toys include magnifying glasses, graduated cylinders, goggles, flasks, and maybe a few more items! If you go to chick-fil-A and get a happy meal, bring me your toy for EXTRA CREDIT!!

Enjoy your chicken!
Mrs. M

flu

Well, it seems that the flu has hit the M household. My little girl has the flu. Poor little girl! I should be back tomorrow, as long as Mr. M can get off work!

I miss my students :(
Mrs. M

Anchors Away!

Today, in order to review for our upcoming unit test, we created anchor charts! Each chart illustrates a topic that we have learned. The charts will be hung all around our classroom in order to "anchor" our learning!
Science was fun today!
Mrs. M

New Vocabulary!

Week Six Vocabulary
Ocotber 5th -October 9th
Your spelling and vocabulary test will be on Friday, October 9nd . You will be responsible for knowing how to spell each word correctly and the definition for each word.
1. Evaporation- the process of changing from a liquid to a gas

2. Condensation- the process of changing from a gas to a liquid

3. Precipitation- water that falls to the earths surface as rain, sleet, snow, or hail

4. mixture- a combination of two or more substances that is easily separated

5. solution- a combination of two or more substances that is not easily separated

6. energy- the ability to do work

7. sun- the earths most important source of energy

8. solar energy- energy from sunlight

9. dissolve- the break down of a substance into another substance

10. water cycle- the change of water from one state to another as it moves between earth’s surface and atmosphere.

Ready for the week!

I am ready for this week! It will be a good one. One thing that I was reminded of while at my conference last week was that we can choose to have a good day or a bad day. It really is up to us. Well, I am choosing to have a GREAT week! We will do some review of the last six weeks and even take a unit 1 test! We will be introduced to our new unit - ENERGY! I love teaching this unit! Get ready for a project!
I can't wait to see my smiling little students in the morning!

Mrs. M

By the way! I ran into my first principal this weekend! He hired me 8 years ago and I am so grateful! He was instrumental in my teaching career and I am forever grateful! It was so nice to see him and introduce him to my little girls! Thank you Mr. Osborne for having so much confidence in me and for supporting me as I became the teacher I am today!

Hi Class!

I am back...and boy, did I miss you! I will see you Friday!

Mrs. M

Edible Science!

To sum up our unit on mixtures and solutions, we enjoyed a treat! We all got to taste a mixture and a solution.

Some students even demonstrated that the mixture can be separeted!

I will be compiling all of the "mixture recipes" that the students brought to school. Each fifth grader will recieve a recipe book full of mixtures that they can make at home.

Just a yummy day in science class!

Mrs. M

Crazy...mixed up...

Today we mixed! Students were given 8 different mixtures to make in class. They had to decided if the mixtures were solutions or not. If something dissolved, it was a solution. I would say the kids had fun doing this.
Of course, it wouldn't be safe if we didn't wear our goggles to do this experiment! :)




We also learned ANOTHER song! I told the kids we would sing a new song for every topic they learned this year...little did I know, I would become a songwriter! There just aren't too many songs out there about mixtures and solutions...in fact, I don't think there are any at all! So, here you go, the mixtures and solutions rap song! Enjoy!

I love my job!
Mrs. M

Mixtures and solutions!

Today we are continuing on with our mixtures and solutions study! The kids all brought their mixtures to school today! Some of them were yummy, gross, and interesting...to say the least! It was fun to see what they came up with! The students presented thier homework to the class and explained if it was a mixture or a solution.

We also made a foldable today. The students had to cut out pictures and decide if it is a mixture or a solution.

Here are the pictures we used!

Here is a foldable that was completed in class.

Remember students, if you did not finish your foldable in class, it is homework! Please complete it and bring it to school tomorrow!

Homework Assignment! ( Can you believe it? 2 in one week!!!)

Students are to bring a recipe to school tomorrow. The recipe must be for a mixture! Remember, a mixture is easily separated and you can see most of the ingredients! Spaghetti is a mixture because you can separate the noodle, meat, and sauce! But, don't use that one!

I can't wait to see your recipes and put together our mixture cook book!

Love,

Mrs. M