Simple Machines - Great Website

One of my fourth grade cohorts, Mrs. K., found this great website for Simple Machines! You pick a room in the house and then find all of the Simple Machines. When you click on an item, it asks you a silly multiple choice question about how that item is used. Once you get that correct, it asks you to identify which simple machine it is. Finally, it shows you how that item works and why it is that type of machine. Great, right??

There is also a tool shed full of compound machines. Once you click on each, you must identify what other simple machines make up the compound machine. When you have correctly identified each Simple Machine, it shows you how they all work together to form the compound machine.  

We did this as a whole class on the ActivBoard, but it could also work great as an independent assignment as well. When you finish, there is even an option to enter your name and print out your score.

Be aware, though, that this site identifies the gear as a simple machine, and KY core content does not. Also, some of them are pretty tricky!!

Field Trip - BRIMS/WKU

Friday the fourth graders took a science field trip to Barren River Imaginative Museum of Science and WKU. We all had so much fun!!

At BRIMS, the students watched several demonstrations and were then able to be set loose on their own to "play" with all of the science exhibits in the museum. This was my first trip to BRIMS, but I was very pleased! The man who presented was very knowledgeable, but still able to take it down to their level. He was entertaining and kept the kids' attention.

After BRIMS, we went to WKU to perform some more science experiments. The students made their own glue, which they then used to complete an organizer about physical and chemical change. Then, the highlight.... With the help of WKU student lab assistants, my fourth grade students dissected frogs!!! They handled it so well! I only had one student who absolutely did not want any part of it. A few were hesitant at first, but really got into it after they got started. Every two-three students were partnered with a WKU student who walked them through the dissection, but my students actually got to do a lot of the cutting and measuring themselves. They learned about body systems in a way that I could never teach them. It was awesome!

Big Red even stopped by!!

Chex Mix(ture) - Mixtures and Solutions

Thanks to Mrs. R for the idea!

To demonstrate for my kiddos the difference between a mixture and a solution, I used two things they were familiar with - ChexMix and KoolAid. We brainstormed good ingredients for ChexMix and then the kids volunteered to bring in the ingredients. I mixed the ingredients together in front of them and we discussed how pieces could easily be picked out if you didn't want them to be part of your Mix. Then, I mixed some Cherry Koolaid together and we discussed how this was a solution because the substances are spread evenly throughout and are a little harder to separate. (We discussed that if you boiled out all the water, the solids would be left behind.)

Our ChexMix Ingredients:

1. Pretzels


2. Sunflower Seeds (just the insides)


3. Marshmallows


4. M&M's


5. Raisins

Mobile Science Lab

Every year we schedule the Mobile Science Lab for a visit for our third and fourth grade students. Our fourth graders make lip balm and GLOOP and have a really fun time! This year, we made the newspaper! The Daily News did a wonderful job and I am so proud of my kids for giving good quotes! You can read part of the article below.

Real-life applicationsEducators reinforce science lessons with traveling exhibits, hands-on activities
JENNA MINK, The Daily NewsPublished: February 2, 2011

It wasn’t an ordinary science class for Myron Salvador and a slew of other fourth-graders at Alvaton Elementary School.
Last week, the 9- and 10-year-olds clustered inside a small trailer, pounding handfuls of slimy substances.
“We’re learning this stuff in science,” said Myron, 10, of Alvaton. “It’s pretty cool because it’s a good activity for everyone, and you can play around and squish it.”
The Mobile Science Activity Center, sponsored by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, travels across the state, letting students conduct experiments about topics they’re learning in science classes.
It’s one of many techniques teachers are using in science classes. As they implement hands-on learning, teachers are striving to apply science to real-life situations.
“It’s very important for them to have hands-on learning so they can see science in the real world,” said Angel Borland, a fourth-grade teacher at Alvaton. “It makes it real for them.”
The most recent data from the national report card show that Kentucky fourth-graders outpaced the nation in science in 2009, according to information released last week from the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Faculty members at Alvaton Elementary schedule the mobile trailer for a visit. It has traveled to the school for the past four years, bringing new science experiments.
“It is such a valuable learning experience,” said Cynthia Rider, a fourth-grade science teacher who initially scheduled the visit. “Anything that’s hands-on in science is a plus.”
Students make lip balm and ice cream. Last week, they were learning properties of matter – solids, liquids and gases – by making gooey globs that resembled Silly Putty.
“Everything we do ties to science curriculum they are teaching in the classroom,” said Jason Hodge, program coordinator for the mobile science lab.
The Department of Agriculture started the program about 10 years ago. Schools can reserve the trailer for up to three days for $100 a day, and slots fill up quickly – Hodge’s schedule already is full for next year, and he travels only to the western part of the state.
“It’s amazing how upset the kids get when they find out they were going to get to do this and then they don’t get to,” Hodge said, referring to cancellations due to snow days. “It’s the only thing that makes kids want to go on a snow day.”
Several teachers try to schedule the mobile science trailer before the state testing window in the spring. Several teachers say test scores improve after students visit the mobile lab, Hodge said.
“You can take students who don’t quite understand something in the classroom,” he said, “then they get here, and they hear somebody else explain it.”
Students bounced in and out of the trailer throughout the day, chattering about their projects and toting their experiments back to their classrooms.
“You can be out of the classroom,” said Kayla Thomas, 9, of Warren County. “You can listen and learn new things.”

Copyright 2011 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)