Science Experiments Everywhere!

Over the past few weeks students have been exploring two different units in science. The first had to do with Nutrition. We were able to do science experiments throughout this unit, which was great for the students because it was hands on for them. I was not able to get pictures of the first few experiments, but we started off by testing for fats and sugars in foods that we eat. Surprisingly, even I learned a few lessons from these experiments. Then we moved onto testing for acids in fruit juices. The students had a lot of fun with this experiment!

Lots of fruit juices to choose from!

My mentor helping a student get some fruit juice.

Two students saw that their juice contained some acid.

Later on, we moved onto learning about what our plates should look like when we are eating our meals. We learned that the average consumer uses a plate twice the size of what they need. Students were split up into groups. One group worked on creating a "MyPlate" and the others were able to go on a nutrition website to learn more about what goes into healthy eating. 

Exploring the nutrition website on the laptop.

Two students working on their laptops to create healthy meals. 

Cutting out sales ads to create a "MyPlate."

A finished product!

This past week we were able to start a new unit on the "Reasons for the Seasons." Students have been learning about why we have different seasons, why we have day and night, and why there are timezones. Today we were able to create "Earthmallows" as my mentor put it. We used marshmallows to create models of the Earth.

Drawing the equator on the Earth. The straw represents the Earth's axis.

Drawing the equator.

Seeing how the Earth rotates on it's axis and revolves around the Sun!

Creating day on Earth!

Night on Earth!

Day on Earth!

There were definitely some tricky parts to this lesson when it came time to drawing the countries on the marshmallows. Even though they had jumbo marshmallows, they just couldn't get all the countries on the marshmallows in the exact spots. Although, they had fun trying! The students really enjoyed this lesson and best of all, they were able to eat their marshmallows after the lesson was over!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog site! In this blog I will talk about my journey throughout Student Teaching! I am currently five weeks into my first placement at Old Town Elementary School and I am loving every second of it! I have a wonderful mentor and students that love having me in the classroom. I do not know what I am going to do when I leave my students for a second placement in three weeks. Be sure to check back later for more details on my experience in a fifth grade classroom!