GOODBYE TROUT!!!!

Friday was our final day with our trout! What a journey it's been! We've studied them since they looked like this:

Now they are all 3-4 inches long and are ready to be released into the Cayuga Lake watershed. Luckily, 6-Mile Creek is right in our backyard! We put our trout in buckets,
and hiked out to the creek behind Caroline.

Bill did some exercises with us, like examining the plant growth, insects, temperature, and pH of the stream environment we were to be releasing our trout into.

Finally, it was time to release the 40-50 trout we had! (We used to have around 80-90 but had a horrible low pH problem last Monday which caused us to lose half the fish).

Goodbye fishies! Good luck in nature!

8 Square School House

We had a blast at the 8 Square Schoolhouse today! Here are some of our experiences:
(click on any photo to get a closer look)

As soon as we got there, the teacher had the students form a semi-circle around the flag to raise it and pledge allegiance to it.

Once inside, the boys were instructed to sit on one side of the room and the girls on the other. "Backs against the back of the chair and both feet flat on the floor. Gentlemen, if you cross your legs, you will sit with the girls."

Later, on this HOT day, the students learned how to pump water from the well. Here, Ilana pumps for Bailey.

The teacher thought the boys deserved to have the bucket of 42 degree water poured on them. They actually loved it!

The teacher also warned that this was their bathroom break. Here, Rosa and Tieana check out the outhouse:


After recess with one swing, stilts, ball and cup games, and the nature around us, we went back into the schoolhouse to work on our "penmanship," with real bottles of ink!

Here's a group photo in front of the school: 1892.

What should we wear to the 8-Square School House?

Fun Drum Assembly!

Finding Volume

Volume= the amount of 3-dimensional space an object occupies
Meniscus= the curved upper surface of a liquid standing in a tube, produced by the surface tension

Mass

In science today we studied another metric measurement: mass! Using balance scales, we calculaed the mass of six different objects by balancing the scales and then counting the grams on one side.

The Scientific Method

Today we studied the scientific method with the experiment "Sink or Float"
We learned that the 5 steps of the scientific method are:
1) Pose a question.
2) Make a hypothesis (an educated guess that can be tested).
3) Test the hypothesis.
4) Analyze the results.
5) Make a conclusion.

We wondered whether certain balls would sink or float. Given a tennis ball, golf ball, ping pong ball, marble, wooden ball, rubber ball, styrofoam ball, ball bearing, and a clay ball, we hypothesized about each ball's outcome. Then we tested them in a container of water! After taking data on a chart, we analyzed the results, finding that the tennis ball, ping pong ball, wooden ball, and styrofoam ball floated while the golf ball, marble, rubber ball, ball bearing, and clay ball sank. Lastly, we concluded that objects that were light, hollow, or had air pockets floated while objects that were solid, dense, and heavy sank.

The Ithaca Art Project

Check it out!
Ithaca Public Art Project

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to the women of our lives. In class months ago we decorated flower pots and planted zinnias in them and watched them grow. Unfortunately, the paint (even though sprayed with a sealer) peeled off and some students' flowers didn't make it. But it's the thought that counts, right? We love you moms!!!

Artwork at the Mall!

Go to the Ithaca Mall to check out Ithaca's talented artists! Artwork from all of the schools in the Ithaca City School District (elementary through high school) are posted outside of Old Navy and AC Moore. I checked it out last night and found Niskua, Bailey, and Natalie's work!

Beetle Pull!

Today we found the mass of our beetles. On average, each beetle was a gram or two. We were surprised to find out, however, that they could pull up to 30 times their weight in our experiment today! In a safe, humane way, we looped dental floss around the strongest part of the beetle and one by one attached paper clips (about a gram each) to the loop to see the maximum number the beetle could pull. Check out one group below!

New York State Math Test

For the next 3 mornings we will be taking the New York State 4th grade math test.

Students need to:

1) Go to bed early.

2) Eat breakfast.

3) Bring several sharpened #2 pencils to school.

4) Get to school before 8:00am.

The Grade 4 Test is divided into three books: Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3.

Book 1: May 5th, 50 minutes

-contains 30 multiple-choice questions; students will record their answers on a bubble sheet

Book 2: May 6th, 50 minutes

-short-answer response and extended response questions; students will show their work and write their answers directly into the test book

Book 3: May 7th, 50 minutes

-the same as Book 2

Webquest

Simple Machines are devices that make work easier!

Click on this link to read all about and view each of the 6 simple machines.

Then fill out the packet.