Oh my GOODNESS...

Now that I have spent about an hour trying to get a Spear It Sprint slideshow loaded...and it's still NOT RIGHT!....I'm not sure why I think I could be somewhat techie! Anyway...enjoy seeing the FIREBALLS run!

This week our VIP Cowboy was River.

Click HERE to see what makes River such an amazing little!  Video made by his sister!

We have had a lot of fun in science the last couple of weeks! I can't believe how long it's been since I've really BLOGGED...So I don't have pictures or audio of our introduction lesson to matter but it was amazing! The kids LOVED it.

 So moving on...we did a couple of things during this lesson...we talked about ingredients and what kind of SCIENTIST would use "ingredients"... of course a "cooker"! LOL  We eventually, came around to a chef, a baker and a cook!  Then we looked at the ingredients we were using for the day and decided what type of matter they were and made predictions as to what HEAT would do to them...

 I'm sorry sometimes Blogger does not like when I change the direction of the photos...

At this point we connected the lesson from the previous day to today's.  We thought about the balloon with ice in it...and when I took the frozen water out of the balloon it stayed the SAME shape.  So we concluded that the apples were solid since we had to cut them to change their shape and then when we poured them into the crockpot they stayed as "cubes".  We also classified the cinnamon sticks at solids since they didn't change shape when I put it in a different container.  BUT the water, just like when we cut the balloon open the previous day it did not stay in the same shape.  It fit itself into the shape of the container it was in!

After 5 long hours in the HEATed crockpot...our apples looked like this!

The apples had become more liquefied but the cinnamon sticks stayed the same!  We were not quite sure where the water went... was it mixed in with the apples did the heat change its state of matter as well?   What a GREAT question.  I think that is a TEK later on!  We've got some time to ponder! And then we ENJOYED our FALL applesauce treat!

Day Three...

We made a prediction about adding heat to the crayons!  

and recorded results!

There were lots and lots of SQUEELS of delight during this experiment.  Lots of great discussions and interest.  One question we asked ourselves was...Does heat change EVERYTHING?  Another good question that I explained we would not be answering during this unit...but Scientist are always wondering and testing out their questions!

Day Four...

 How was HEAT going to change this mixture of flour and water ?

We took notice of the bubbles...some scientist guessed that air was in those and heat was pushing the air up!  Wow!!!

This experiment...made us rethink that heat always changes a solid into a liquid. 

We did get to enjoy our pancakes with a choice of syrup or chocolate chips!

This week was all about classifying by properties.  I am so proud of my littles for their use of vocabulary during discussions.  I sometimes even over hear them using this vocabulary as they try to work it into their conversations during math or reading!  Some use it correctly and some are still working on it but it just amazes me!  

We used fruit!  We had to use our senses to describe the fruit by observable properties!  We used our sense of touch for texture, mass and weight. We used our sense of smell for the property of scent.  and we used our sense of sight for the property of size, color and shape.  

The next day was all about CLASSIFYING the fruit according to observable properties...

And then the final day of Properties of Fruit was sinking and floating...there were some big surprises!

Friday was an extra special Huddle! It was Spear IT Sprint PRIZE day!  

WOW…we earned some amazing awards today at Huddle.  River and Savannah ran the most laps in our class!  River was one of the TOP lap runners in the whole grade level!  Elizabeth raised the MOST in the ENTIRE school and will be Mrs. Bustillos for a day. (we are trying to convince her to let us have the day off) LOL!  And with that…the FIREBALLS raised the MOST for the ENTIRE SCHOOL!!!!  We earned an HOUR of jumping at URBAN AIR for our WHOLE class and TEAChER…OH boy…you won’t want to miss that!  I will be passing the organization of this party onto our wonderful Room Parents. (this is the first they are hearing of this…)

And somehow, my name got drawn for Below Zero Cryo…I’m not certain what this entails….hmmm if anyone has any advice please fill me in!!!

And then it was time for HUMAN HOTDOGS!!! Another reason to not leave the classroom! ;)  However, I can't wait to get to Urban Air!!!

Next week:

Red Ribbon week:

Monday: PINK OUT (for cancer awareness) Hats for red ribbon week Red Ribbon Assembly.

Tuesday: SWEATS and tennis shoes

Wednesday: Wear RED  First Grade teachers will be on campus but out of the classroom 11:30-2:45 for professional dev.  We will have subs.

Thursday: Wear your shirts inside out/Report cards go home

Friday: wear your spears SPIRIT wear and BOOTS Celebration of learning at 2:00