Kenneth D. Taylor, Grade 3 - Ms. Hargreaves

Another full day in Room 123.  We went from hearing and sound testing and experiments, to building our first prototypes, to Halloween riddles.  We used elastic bands to hear,  feel and see vibrations. We learned that sound travels in air and water in longitudinal waves (the wave is running lengthwise).  We noticed that the tightness of the stretch in the  elastic band changed the wave.  Here is a link to a video we watch to expand our thinking about the transmission of sound  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkNJvZINSEY The sudden  snowfall today provided us with another observation about sound, we noticed that the snow on the ground acted as a kind of insulator and diffused   the echoing of sound waves at recess.  It was like nature's sound muffler.  We couldn't have asked for a more fitting experience.   Next, on our learning journey was to start building our first prototype using cardboard.  You really proved ...

We have been expanding our identity definition by trying on our scientist hats this week.  Wondering Wednesday began with a question:  I wonder how a car horn works?  You used your background knowledge and the new knowledge we have been gathering to make some really clever inferences about the answer to this question.  I was very impressed how you communicated your thinking about this and how you recycled the science vocabulary accurately as evidence to back up your inferences. Here is some of the vocabulary we have learned.  We made some interesting inferences about how nature has inspired our understanding about sound waves. The video sparks even more questions about sound and biomimicry. Tell your parents about why sound travels at different speeds through different mediums such as air, water and rock. We are really beginning to understand how the ear works and that hearing is transferred into electrical currents that are sent to the brain.   H...

Wowza, your neurons were on fire today as you began sketching out your prototypes .  The 4 c's were swirling through the room.  You communicated your ideas, you collaborated with each other to spark each other's thinking.  You were creative with your prototypes and you thought critically about potential problems and solutions.  You thought and rethought the materials that you would use when we start to build these prototypes.  I am so impressed by your design skills.  Did you know you were doing the same jobs as real world designers, architects, scientists, mathematicians?   We jumped into measurement today as I asked you decide how big your design would be in real life which prompted us to add dimensions to your prototypes, we learned the difference between cm, m, and km.  You were all engaged in measuring objects in the room as a reference for your prototypes.  We learned that the door of the classroom is about 2 meters (m) tall for example...

It is Picture Day on Tuesday, October 25th Healthy Hunger Fun Lunch on October 26th

This has been a whole week of exploring hearing and sound.  This morning we experimented with  a new figurative language device called onomatopoeia . This technique is where writers use a word that imitates the sound of a natural thing.  The word is the sound that something makes for example (Buzz, Crash, Zoom, Rattle, Drip, Bong).   Share some of your creative sound words with your parents.  See how many you can come up with together.  Here is a video to further illustrate what onomatopoeia is:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1b5kCvVBo8 We discussed the connections between language and hearing.  Without the ability to hear you can not appreciate the sounds of words.  However, you can use your sense of sight to read them and these figurative language devices spark our ability to visualize the meaning. Here are some examples of onomatopoeia that we wrote this morning: " Zip , ran Porter across the soccer field at recess." " Crash ...

Oh my goodness, our creativity was sparking today as we began our second design challenge.  This challenge was inspired by two books, here they are: How creative can you get with a box?  A box is never just a box, what else could it be? Why are boxes such intriguing structures? A link for a read aloud of this book:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNqLbzvWyYw The main idea of the second book is that problems are opportunities for growing , learning , bravery and to make changes .  This book sparked so many connections, questions and inferences for us.  We really enjoyed how the illustrations showed the mood and struggles of the main character and it made us appreciate that your attitude and the approach you take to any situation directly impacts the outcome.  In other words, if you avoid problems and worry, then  they can become bigger, but if you decide to confront them and use flexible thinking to solve them, then they can be: ...

We are wondering what leaves are made out of.  A new vocabulary word we learned is sustainable , which means long lasting .  In the world today designers are looking for sustainable resources and materials that will not damage our planet.  We have been discussing renewable resources versus nonrenewable resources.  Nature is a place overflowing with design solutions.  We learned that this science is called biomimicry .  We are investigating the structures in nature for inspiration in our Design Challenges. The detailed sketches and connections Mindful sketching Today we got to practice our Field Scientist skills of observing, questioning  and recording specific details.  Using a microscope we zoomed in on the  structure of leaves.  It was your job to sketch exactly what you were seeing through the scope and to make connections to what this image reminded you of.  I was very impressed by how you paid attention to the...