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Oien - Science 2 (Section Wed 5)

Instructor
Mrs. Amy Oien
Department
Science
Terms
2019-2020 School Year


Assignment Calendar

Course Description

 

Class Title:

Science 2

Code:

E215

Text:

Various Resources

Rating:

2

Prerequisite:

None

Grade:

5-6

Fees:

None

Max:

15

Can be repeated? Yes

Description: Digging deeper into scientific practices and concepts, this science class will give students the chance to discover, explore and understand science at the next level. Science for the elementary grades will be all hands-on and inquiry based. Topics will be studied in units from life science, earth science, physical, engineering science at a grade appropriate level. Students will learn to think and talk like scientists as they construct scientific explanations backed by evidence collected during investigations. This class will help prepare students for more advanced classes by recording observations and evaluating and discussing data. There may be some homework and quizzes. They will be inspired by stories of famous scientists during each unit.

Upcoming Assignments See all

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Posts

Science 2 update and upcoming assignment

We're having fun with our new unit, Engineering/Newton's Toy Box, where students are exploring Newton's 3 laws of motion through making and playing with familiar toys. We're also comparing the behavior of these toys on Earth with their behavior in a microgravity environment by watching clips of astronauts playing with toys on the space station. It's fun to see how a lack of gravity makes playing with toys so unpredictable!
 
This week in class, I'll be discussing an upcoming assignment. Students are expected to demonstrate a simple science experiment in front of the class, and give an explanation of how it works. Students will give their presentations the weeks of March 9th and 16th, (the 2 weeks before spring break). 
 
The experiment presentation/explanation should last 3-5 minutes, and can demonstrate any scientific topic. You can show a chemical reaction or optical illusion, or share the results of a longer-term experiment you've been doing at home. Past demonstrations include: making a lemon battery, baking soda and vinegar volcanos, explaining why a straw in a glass of water looks bent (refraction),  growing plants in different soil and water conditions, and lots of mentos and Coke.  It can be as simple as rubbing your feet on the floor to produce static electricity. The important thing is that the student can give a detailed explanation of how it works in their own words, not reading from a card. The explanation should last about 1 minute and they should be prepared to answer questions to the best of their ability.
 
If the demonstration has to be done outdoors, or if it involves fire, you may make a video and I will share it in class. The student will still need to give an explanation to the class in person.
Let me know if there are any questions!

Upcoming Conferences

I will not be available during Mon-Weds conferences, as I will be accompanying students on the Mountain Lab School overnight field trip.  If you wish to speak with me, I will be available during Thursday and Friday's conferences, or you can email me and we can set up a time to talk.  
If I do not contact you, rest assured your child is doing just fine in robotics and science, but please feel free to come chat with me on Thurs or Fri. during conferences if you want to see what they've been up to.

New unit in Science 2

We started our new unit on the Human Body this week by drawing what students already know about different body systems.  We'll be spending just 6 weeks on this unit, learning about how our brain controls our body, as well as touching on the respiratory, circulatory, and muscular systems.
 
This week, students self-assessed their science notebooks up to this point according to this rubric
They also took an open-note vocabulary matching quiz. In going over the quizzes, I noticed that one of the answers is confusing, which was my fault and I apologize. We will go over the quiz together next week. This quiz, as well as their notebooks up to this point, won't count towards their final points. The first 3 weeks were spent learning basic science process skills and getting acquainted with expectations for this class. 

First week of science

I'm so excited to explore science with your students this year!  This week we're learning about how scientists work together to solve problems and discover how things work. We're practicing being scientists by recording our observations, making claims backed up by evidence from our observations and communicating our results with each other. Our first investigation involves working as a science team to come up with a claim about what was on the bottom of a "Mystery Cube".
 
Please bring a composition or spiral notebook to the first day of class. It will stay in class and serve as your student's lab notebook.
 
We will spend the first 3 weeks learning basic science concepts, including the following terms:
  • Hypothesis- an explanation that can be tested
  • Prediction -What you think will happen based on past observations and experiences
  • Properties- traits of a material that can be measured- size, shape, color, odor, texture, temperature, etc.
  • Variables- factors that may affect the outcome of an experiment. A good experiment only changes one variable at a time, so we know how each factor affected the outcome.
  • Observe- using the senses to learn about something
  • Data -observations, measurements
  • Scientific claim- Statement that answers the original question
  • Evidence- Data that supports your claim- observations or results of experiments. Not just information acquired from other’s experiences.
  • Reasoning- explanation that connects your claim to the evidence that supports it
In 3 weeks, Science 1 students will start learning about our Senses, and Science 2 students will learn about Human Organ Systems, focusing on the Brain and Nervous system.