5th Grade

Our fieldtrip to the California Academy of Sciences www.calacademy.org

Students here are checking out the new Earthquake exhibit and using the Scavenger Hunt worksheets for guided exploration.

 

End of the day! Relaxing against the Philippines Coral Reef exhibit. :)

STM would like to extend a HUGE thank you to the Academy of Sciences and the Rock Program for the generosity of the grant funded for 4th and 5th grades classes.

What a wonderful opportunity for students to learn through exploration.

SCIENCE is COOL!!

6th grade

Using a set amount of mini marshmellows and spaghetti, the tables worked as a team to create a structure that could withstand an "earthquake" on a "Shake Table".
Using the iTouches and an app called iSeismometer, the students were able to recreate various quake magnitudes and a check out the strength of the "seismic waves" on the apps measurable Richter scales.

It was messy and sticky and lots of stuff to put together and do, but it was fun.

Lots of detail and decisions to make in construction!

                                                      Check out the results of teamwork!

4th grade

More to explore...
Building a coral polyp.

3rd grade

What does "Absorption" mean?

Third graders develop a hypothesis about which material will absorb the best.
Now we really know what it means when something has been absorbed!

What is so cool for them to understand is that absorption doesn't just refer to water, we can also be referring to heat, sound, light, etc.

4th Grade

We are starting our HUGE unit on water. This unit will encompass a multitude and myriad of experiments and activities.
Water makes up 70% of the world and our bodies.
Water is the universal solvent and has all kinds of properties that make it unique and essential to life.
We started today with continuing to learn about some types of life that live in water - coral.
Check out the pictures as the 4th grade learn how coral IS an animal NOT a plant.

5th grade

Using microscopes. Not an easy skill to master. Students have to learn to manipulate the light source as well as use the coarse and fine adjustments to bring images into focus.

5th graders

These students also engaged in research and had fun finding answers and posting them on the board.