Science Test Chapter 1

Here is the study guide that was sent home today.  The students have red flashcards for each of the vocabulary words.  They should also have a flower label/bean seed label worksheet to help them study.  The test will be on Thursday, November 14th.

Science Study Guide Chapter 1

Know vocab, parts of a flower and the life cycle of a bean for the test on Thursday Nov. 14th

reproduce- to make more of the same kind

classify- to sort into groups based on similarities and differences

conifer- a plant that makes seeds inside cones

spore- a tiny cell that can grow into a new plant

sepal- one of the leaflike parts that protects a flower bud

      that is usually green

pistil- part of a flower that makes the eggs that grow into seeds

stamen- part of a flower that makes pollen

pollen- tiny grains that make seeds when combined with a

       flower’s egg

pollination- the movement of pollen from a stamen to a pistil

ovary- the bottom part of the pistil in which seeds form

ovule- the inner part of an ovary that contains an egg

fertilization- the combination of sperm from a pollen grain with

            an egg to form a seed

embryo- tiny part of a seed that can grow into a new plant

monocot seed- a seed that has one seed leaf and stored food

             outside the seed leaf

dicot seed- a seed that has two seed leaves that contain stored

           food

dormant- the resting stage of a seed

Parts of a flower lab

As part of our science unit on plants, the students got to dissect a lily and label the parts.  The best part was finding the eggs!  After each part was labeled, the students got their creative juices flowing and created a picture or design with the extra parts. 

Book orders

4A book orders are due Friday, November 8th.  The new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book is in one of the book orders.  You can order online at scholastic.com/readingclub and search for my name. 

AR Second 9 weeks

25%-November 6th
50%-November 20th
75%-December 4th
100%-December 18th
*10 books need to be non-fiction books

AR reading

All 4th grade students need to be at 100% AR by October 16th.  They need to have read both fiction and non-fiction books. 

Soil Erosion

Today my students participated in two activities that demonstrated soil erosion and how we can prevent it from occurring.   For the first activity we went outside and watched it 'rain' (poured water from a watering can) on bare soil.  We observed the run off and determined that we lost quite a bit of soil.  Before the second rain, we brainstormed ways to prevent the erosion.  They decided we needed plants so we placed grass clippings on the bare soil.  The second time it 'rained', the run off was much cleaner. 

The second activity was a conservation play.  The objective of the play is to show the importance of conservation.  The students have different roles to play such as raindrops, soil, lake and conservation.  The first time through, there isn't any conservation so the raindrops move quickly and they take the soil with them.  When they end up at the lake, the soil stays in the lake while the raindrops end up in the ocean.  This makes the lake dirty and the plants die because the soil was washed away.  The second time through, the conservation student only lets the raindrops go one at a time so they can't pick up the soil students.  The lake stays clean and the plants survive.  After the play, the students watched a powerpoint showing various conservation techniques. 

The lake is clean!!! :)

AR Reading Goal Dates

25% April 3rd
50% April 17th
75%  May 1st
100% May 10th