IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

Tags: community, friendship

As you know, we have been watching three different lima beans grow- one in soil, one in sand, and one in a paper towel. After carefully watering for a week, we have started to see some results! We noticed that our lima bean seed in the paper towel has split open, and we can see a tiny sprout. We also noticed that the lima bean in the sand looks like it may be emerging to the top, by note of a small bump at the top of the sand. As scientists, we want to record all of our observations in our lima bean experiment. Today, we started a small journal where we draw pictures of each seed in their growing medium. We will document the seed growth each day, noting the fastest, healthiest, etc. It was not only exciting to see how much detail the kids put into their drawings, but also their use of adjectives and words to help them describe in their small notebooks what was happening in each picture.

Tags: curious, garden, project

Our day was filled with science today in preparation for our field trip.

During morning meeting, we tested our hypotheses from yesterday about the different liquids in the jar.

A few students decided we should try mixing salt, water, and glue and then put it on paper to see how it dries.  They want to compare our papers to the note we got to see if we can learn any more about what is in the leak.

We had another science meeting where we worked on reading thermometers accurately.  The scientists discovered that thermometers are similar to number lines and you skip count by 2 to figure out the exact temperature.

This week, we have been discussing how to use critiques that friends give us to revise our writing. This is an important part of the writing process and something we want students to understand!

On Tuesday, students were divided into groups and asked to create an observational drawings of various objects around the classroom. They worked very hard on these and they turned out great. We talked about this as the first step of a three part process that we would utilize when creating these sketches.

With the help of our Butler friends on Wednesday, we critiqued each others work. Each child offered two specific praises for their partners work and one thing they wished for. This reinforced the idea of constructive criticism, while still offering students some areas for improvement.

Today, we revisited our drawings and revised the work based on what our parter offered us as a wish. The students really took their feedback to heart and the results were impressive! Next week, we will learn how to transfer these ideas from drawing and use the during story workshop to help us become better authors! This work is displayed outside our room, so stop by and see!

Earlier in the week I mentioned that we explored a new tool called a hydrometer.  Many of the students theories about saltwater being related to the hydrometer were right on track.  We now know that hydrometers measure density.  We have been exploring the concept of density and we started by using our bodies as an example.  When only 2-3 are on the carpet, the carpet is not very dense.  The students can move around easily and freely.  As we keep adding more and more students the carpet becomes more and more dense and it is harder to move around! Saltwater is more dense than regular water because we are adding salt into the water just like adding bodies to the carpet.

This morning the students were observing a jar with three liquids in it.  One liquid is a dark brown, one is clear, and one is yellowish.  The liquids form layers in the jar.  The students observed the jar and made hypotheses about what liquids they thought it could be.  Some students thought coffee, syrup, lemonade, water, and oil are possibly in the jar.  The students are also curious about why the liquids look separate.  Tomorrow in morning meeting we will test our theories and figure out which liquids we are looking at as well as how this relates to density.  Our scientists are going to be very prepared for our investigation at the Children’s Museum next week!