SLEUTh Academy

A gigantic THANK YOU to Bette and Sandy Baldwin for arranging an amazing donation from Rolf Kleinwort of a humongous seashell collection.  These shells (and the fantastic custom cabinets that house them) will be used at Eagle Point for years to come to learn to sort, classify, identify the organisms that used these “homes” and to think about how to protect our oceans.  Lessons in all grades are forthcoming — any ideas are welcome (please click on comments below!).

All those selected for Sci-Tech club look at the Science Club page to see more information.  First meeting is TOMORROW, THURSDAY, OCT. 1 at 2:05-3:00 in the Science Lab.  See you there!

Sci-Tech Club applications are available here if you did not get one from your teacher. They are due tomorrow (Sept. 21).  After you complete your application, Ms. Taggart, Dr. Weimann and I will meet to select club members and send you home with a permission slip.  First club meeting is after school (2:05-3:00) on Thursday, Oct. 1.  Good Luck — be detailed with your invention diagrams! sci club app09

We’re powered up and ready to get connected!

All 4th and 5th graders — did you do a summer challenge experiment?  Bring your notebook to the Science Lab for a cool prize!

Get connected with our 8 science teams named for scientists that embrace connections with technology (in no particular order):

Nikola Tesla (1846-1943)

Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Mae Jemison (b. 1956)

Grace Hopper (1906-1992)

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates (b. 1955)

Larry Page and Sergey Brin (b. 1973)

Les Paul (1915-2009)

I challenge all students in K-4 to do at least one experiment/investigation over the summer.

It can be

• a simple experiment (like one from the Celebrating Chemistry newspaper you brought home)
• a long term investigation (like a seed-plant growth chart),
• an observation of nature (sort and classify found items like sea shells),
• a bird watching journal,
• a new invention that you diagram, label, build and test out.

What ever you do – be sure to write about it and draw it (or photograph it) and bring it to me in August for a cool science surprise prize.  You can even email me or comment through this site if you want advice while you are experimenting!  This is a great way for 3rd and 4th graders to use all those blank pages in those Science Journals they are bringing home this week.

Have fun exploring and stay safe!

Tune in here later in the summer for hints about Science Lab in 2009-2010 . . .

It was wonderful to see Papa John’s at school today supporting our Learning Garden by sponsoring the Pizza Garden section.  This part of the garden also includes a banana patch — a small edible garden conveniently located near the cafeteria.  Additional vegetables have been growing wonderfully over near the West Wing – peas, tomatoes, cabbages, zucchini (prized for their delicious flowers), okra, cucumber, and salad greens.  Come visit our garden – The Learning Garden 2009!

Please go to http://www.nbcgreenerfuturecontest.com/ and vote for the Sci-Tech club’s recycle bin – it is the one with my name that looks like a “inspector” with an Earth head.  One vote per email/per day for the week (now through April 20)….so please VOTE OFTEN!!!!

Happy Spring!

The science lab is currently featured on the BECON TV show Broward School Beat broadcast often until mid-April on Channel 19 cable and Channel 63 DirectTV/Dish/U-verse.  Several classes were filmed doing experiments and making movies back in December.  The schedule is available at becon.tv.

Welcome kindergartners and first graders to Science Lab special!

Kindergartners are exploring the effects of force using marble racetracks and roller coasters.  Practice building your roller coaster here: Roller Coaster Design

First graders are investigating sound waves and how they travel through air.

Second graders are the tree detectives – reading a trees history from a “tree cookie” and learning about leaf structure and function (photosynthesis and transpiration).  Try out these TREE activities at home: Tree Games

Third graders are continuing their speed investigation using gravity and friction with Hot Wheels raceways and radar detectors.

Fourth graders are wrapping up their sunscreen experiments and bringing home ultraviolet light detecting cards and beads to use in at-home experimentation.  Learn how to be a Sunwise Kid!

Next, fourth graders will be modeling seed adaptations and trying to create a seed that can travel by wind.  Watch a video about the “Seedy Side of Plants”

or watch The Private Life of Plants here:

Fifth graders did a superb job preparing for their science FCAT and are now studying racetrack physics using wind-up Darda cars, raceways and loops.

There are a plethora of links on the right side of every page.  They are sorted by topic, listed alphabetically, and then alphabetical within each category.  EXPLORE!

Some specific activities to accompany our laboratory activities:

2nd grade:

A Walk through the Forest

Virtual Microscope

3rd grade:

Simple Machines

Insulators and Conductors Review

Heat Energy Game

4th grade:  Visit the Earth and Space game –>

5th grade:  FINISH FCAT Explorer: Go to  www.fcatexplorer.com and finish Science Station and be entered to win a great prize!

Happy New Year to all.  A brief update on what is going on in Science Lab as we start up again after a very relaxing winter break.  I went with my family to eastern North Carolina and we got a chance to learn about flight at the Wright Brothers Memorial.

First of all, we missed an important holiday when we were on break.  I hope you all enjoyed and celebrated the Winter Solstice. The amount of daylight will be getting longer now until we get to the Summer Solstice in June.   For those of you that read this post and tell me “Happy Winter Solstice” will get bonus “Super Scientist Tickets” for the next raffle (2nd quarter raffle is on January 15th)!

Second graders can look forward to finishing up fingerprinting and microscope skills.  We will then get down and dirty and explore soil and seeds using our microscopes.  Try a virtual microsope!

Third graders will be finishing up energy transfer and solving the mystery of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  They will then explore simple machines for making work easier – something we can all use.  Have fun with machines at edheads.com!

Fourth graders will be taking a virtual field trip to the far reaches of the universe as we explore Earth’s place in space!  Take a preview of our journey!

Fifth graders have brought home (or will very shortly) copies of their EXCELLENT Academy Award worthy Natural Disaster videos on DVD.  I really enjoyed watching all of them and learned something about you and the science behind the disasters.  Our next projects will be shorter but just as much fun.  We will be transforming energy many ways.  Visit FPL to learn about Green Energy solutions for our future!

That’s all for now — Keep Wondering and Exploring…. next post will be about places that are great family science field trips in our local environment — send me suggestions by clicking “comments”.