Jan 26-29; Feb 2-4

Two Short Weeks

Because we had two short weeks back to back - I decided to wait and do each weekly update together. Although they were short weeks, there was still a lot happening in 3FM Science and Social Studies classes.

Science

Over the past few science classes, in between getting all of our musical instruments presented to the class, we also wrapped up our Hearing and Sound unit. 

Here are the last of our musical creations:

And here are all of our fabulous musicians together! Like I told the class - I am so proud of all of them - they did a marvelous job on their instruments!

And of course - we needed to form some bands and have a chance 

to perform a song together!

Over the last couple of classes students spent some time categorizing sounds into categories such as pleasant, and unpleasant - and what makes these sounds so. We discussed that things that are soothing, relaxing or enjoyable are often considered pleasant, while things that are loud, harsh or painful are often considered unpleasant. Students had a fun discussion about the sounds that they find most annoying - which included things like siblings whining, forks across plates, babies crying and many other creative sounds. 

We spent time examining the importance of hearing and sound in how we communicate with others. We explored the difficulties that may be experienced without the use of sound to communicate. We also studied how animals use sound, as well as compared animal hearing to ours. We learned that many animals have a much larger range of hearing than humans - meaning that they can hear sounds that we cannot - whether they are too low or too high for our hearing range. Students discussed the importance of sound to animals in regards to their safety, attracting mates, communication, as well as catching food (bats and sea animals especially).

Next week we will be beginning our Testing Materials and Designs Unit - which I think the students are really going to enjoy!

Social Studies

The past few classes in Social Studies we continued our exploration of Traditions and Celebrations in each of the four countries that we have been studying. We also spent some time reading some myths/legends from each of the countries. As we read and discussed the stories we talked about what we can learn about a country through its stories - whether about it's culture, their beliefs or even the land itself.

At the end of last week, we began looking at the topic of Services. Students explored the meaning of services and how they are important to a community. Students determined that a service is any work that is done for another person. To show this students were all asked what their parents do - and after we created our list - we determined if the job of their parents contributed to providing services to anyone. Students discussed how 

different services can make our lives easier, safer, healthier or more fun. We 

also determined that depending on the different needs of a community - there 

may be different services needed, too. 

From there, we will investigate the services in each of the four countries and compare them with the services that we have here in our community.

I hope everyone had a great long weekend! 

Is it crazy that I am looking forward to a full week of school???