Spotlight On Saylesville Elementary
Science Investigations
Students in Lincoln participate in science investigations at every level.
All investigations begin with a question and the students form a
hypothesis-an educated guess about what they think might happen.
Students investigate their hypothesis during an investigation. They use
their claims-what they observe- to gather evidence to support that
claim. Then, they formulate another question and the investigation
continues.
We use kits provided by the East Bay Collaborative. Currently,
Kindergarten students complete one and 1st -5th grades complete two
kits during the school year. Check out the chart below to see what
topics your child will be investigating! Visit the website for more
information about the East Bay Collaborative: http://ebecri.org/ and
visit http://ebecri.org/content/kitspecificresources for additional
details about the various kits. Parents can support our scientists by
discussing the investigations at home.
Grade
K
Kit #1
none
1
Air &
Weather
Pebbles,
Sand & Silt
Water
2
3
4
5
Grade 4
NECAP Prep
Kit #2
Animals
2 X2
Balance &
Motion
Insects
Structures
of Life
Magnetism & Earth
Electricity
Materials
Environments Landforms
NECAP Prep:
Common
Task
Materials
First Grade Science
The First Graders are learning all about weather. In doing so, they
recently had a visit from T.J.
DelSanto from WPRI Channel 12.
From the students:
In science we have been
learning all about weather and
air. We already know a lot
about weather. We learned that
when a meteorologist predicts the weather, he uses a lot of different
tools. He uses thermometers, anemometers, a barometer to measure
air pressure, and a weathervane to show the direction of the wind.
Weather satellites can help meteorologists predict the weather. He
uses Doppler radar to track and measure weather conditions. Mr.
DelSanto used Doppler radar to predict a TORNADO! He said he helped
people and warned them right before the tornado!
Mr. DelSanto then took us outside to see his special weather van. He
showed us all the special equipment on the weather van. His van is
really cool!
We learned a lot the day Mr. T.J. DelSanto came to visit us! We also
learned that visiting schools to talk about the weather is Mr. DelSanto’s
favorite part of his job. Before going to college, he wanted to be a
teacher as well as a meteorologist so visiting the schools gives him the
best of both worlds.
Second Grade Science
Second Grade Geologists
Second grade students have been geologists, or scientists who
study solid earth materials, known as rocks. Observing is a
fundamental process in geology. Our budding geologists have
been observing rocks and sorting them into groups. Through
observations, students gather information about rocks. They
use their observations to make comparisons and to sort the
rocks into groups having similar properties. Most recently,
students have explored a river rock mixture containing earth
material particles of various sizes. Using screens to separate
and group river rocks by size, our “rock hounds” discovered
there is a continuum of rock size: large and small pebbles, large
and small gravel, and sand. They will further develop the
knowledge that there are rock materials larger than pebbles,
called cobbles and boulders, but some even smaller than sand.
Scientists are always wondering, so some of our geologists may
already be thinking about what solid earth material could be
smaller than sand!
Third Grade Science
Just last week, the students in Mrs. Fanning’s, Mrs. Goldberg’s and Mrs.
Avenia’s classes began an investigation on water vapor!
The essential question for the first part of the investigation is: What
happens when two paper towels are allowed to dry, one in a cup with a
lid and the other in an open cup? The students will observe a
demonstration in which two paper towels are soaked with equal
amounts of water and then left to evaporate, one in a cup with a lid
and the other in an open cup.
The second part of this investigation asks the question: What effect
does air temperature have on evaporation? The students will
investigate the effect of location and air temperature on the rate of
evaporation. They'll choose four different locations to place four cups
of water. They will monitor the temperatures at the locations for 4
days. They will also measure and compare the amount of water
remaining in the cups.
“MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!!”
Grade Four Science
In recent weeks, the students in Mrs. Cavanaugh’s, Mrs. Haddad’s, and
Mrs. Mellen’s classes have been working collaboratively with partners
and in small groups to learn about magnets and the magnetic
properties of materials. Using a bag of test objects, they had the
opportunity to investigate how magnets attract and repel, that most
magnets are permanent, and that certain objects can become
temporary magnets.
In addition, they measured the force of magnets using a balance scale,
and detected magnets hidden in boxes based upon the force detected
using iron objects.
Parents can extend these science activities at home by encouraging
their child to explore the many uses of magnets, and perhaps letting
her/him try to invent a magnet game with household items!
Grade Five Science
The fifth grades latest investigation is
focused on Aquatic Environments. The
focus question is: How do different
organisms affect the environment
they are in? Next up is an experiment
testing how acid affects aquatic environments. During the previous
investigation, the students were testing for Water Tolerance and the
focus question was: Do different plants have different water tolerance?
Why do certain plants have different tolerances?
In picture at the right, Mrs. Charlemagne
captured the fish at just the right "angle"...the
class had previously finished a math lesson
introducing angles and the kids thought the fish
were making an "obtuse" angle....they were
correct and she showcased this picture on the
ELMO document camera after she had taken it...
the kids were doing a GREAT job of integrating their science and math
lesson!!