Living and Nonliving Things

Big Idea: What classifies as a living thing and a nonliving thing?      

Focus question: What is a living and nonliving thing?

Prediction: 

·        If something is living, it has to eat and drink to stay alive because I know I am a living thing and I have to eat and drink to stay alive.

·        If something is nonliving, it can survive anywhere because it does not need food or water to say alive.

·        If something is living, it will grow because I am living and I grow.

Planning: 

Materials:  earthworms, gummy worms, soil, journal, pencil

First, we observed the earthworms. Then, we observed the gummy worms. Next, we compared and contrasted the earthworms and gummy worms using our senses. Finally, we classified the earthworms and gummy worms as living or nonliving things based on our observations.

Data : Earthworms and Gummy Worms Comparison

Data Chart

Type What does it feel like? What does it smell like? What do you see? Living or Non-Living Gummy Worm Squishy Sweet, sugar Colored- blue/yellow, red/blue, red/yellow Non-living Earthworm Slimy, soft, moist, cold-blooded Dirt Brown, red Moving through the dirt Goes into the dirt and then comes back up Living

Claims and evidence:

I claim that living things need oxygen to survive. I know this because the earthworms would come out of the dirt. I claim that living things grow. I know this because the earthworms were different sizes. I claim that all living things need some form of food and water to survive. I know this because the gummy worm does not need food or water because it is not a living thing. I know the gummy worm is not living because it does not move, it does not eat or drink, and it does not grow as living things do.

Conclusion:

I learned that living things need oxygen to live and nonliving things do not because the earthworm would come out of the dirt instead of staying in the dirt. I learned that living things grow and nonliving things do not because the earthworms are many different sizes, some looked like babies and others old and rubbery. I learned that not all nonliving things survive anywhere just because it does not need food or water like living things to stay alive because I eventually ate the nonliving gummy worm, but not the earthworm. Therefore, all my predictions proved to be true but that one.

Reflection/ Questions:

We learned that living things need oxygen, water, and food to stay alive and that they will grow. We learned that non-living things do not need oxygen, water, and food and do not grow.

·       Do all living things need oxygen, water, and food to stay alive?

·       Do all living things grow?

·       What else can we learn about living and non-living things?

Literacy Connections:

Is it living or nonliving? (Living and nonliving) by Rebecca Rissman

Classification of Living and Nonliving Things (Life science library (Powerkids press)) by Elizabeth Rose

The magic school bus plants seed:  A book about how living things grow by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen

Balancing a Paper Crayfish

Big Idea: Force and Balance    

Focus question: How can we balance our crayfish?

Prediction: 

·        If we put a clothespin on the tail of the paper crayfish and balance it from its tail, it will balance.

·        If we put a clothespin on the nose of the paper crayfish and balance it from its nose, it will balance.

·        If we put a clothespin on the side of a crayfish and balance it on its side, it will not balance.

Planning: 

Materials:  clothespins, paper crayfish, journal, pencil

First, we brainstormed how we would balance our crayfish with the given materials. Then, we decided to balance our crayfish with a clothespin on its side. Then, we balanced our crayfish with a clothespin on its tail. Finally, we balanced our crayfish with a clothespin on its nose.

Data:

How did you balance the fish?	How did you balance with clothespins?	What happened?
Side	Side	Fell Over-did not balance
Tail	Tail	Stood-balanced
Nose	Nose	Fell; stood-both

Claims and evidence:

We claim that if we put a clothespin on the tail of the paper crayfish and balance it from its tail, it will balance. We know this to be true because we did this during our investigation and the crayfish balanced. We claim that if we put a clothespin on the nose of the paper crayfish and balance it from its nose, it will balance. We know this to be true because we did this during our investigation and it balanced. We also learned that if you do not put the clothespin directly in the center of the nose, it will not balance and fall over. We claim that if we put a clothespin on the side of a crayfish and balance it on its side, it will not balance. We know this to be true because we performed this during our investigation and the crayfish fell over. We confirmed our predictions, but learned that you must put the clothespin center to the object to balance as well.

Conclusion:

We learned that something is balanced when it stays in position on its own. We learned that the clothespins work like weights and can pull the object down if not balanced. We learned that when we put the clothespins low and center of the object, it helps balance our crayfish. We also learned that the weight must be equal on either side to balance.

Reflection/ Questions:

We learned that we can balance our crayfish on its nose and tail as long as our clothespin is centered and low on the object. We learned that we could not balance our crayfish on its side.

·       What else can we learn about gravity and balancing objects?

·       How does this information apply to our lives?

Literacy Connections:

Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh

Balances (Science Tools) by Adele D. Richardson

Balancing Act (Go-for-gold gymnasts, The ) by Dominique Moceanu

Building An Egg Carrier to Sustain Force of Impact

Big Idea: How can an egg sustain force of impact?     

Focus question: How can you build a carrier for an egg that will sustain the force of impact?

Prediction: 

·        If we use the materials to cushion the entire outer shell, the cushion will protect all parts of the egg from cracking from the force of impact.

·        If we do not secure the carrier on the egg, the carrier will detach and the egg will break from the force of impact.

·        If we drop our egg from a higher distance, then we will need more support from materials to protect it from cracking from the force of impact.

Planning: 

Materials:  uncracked boiled egg, 4 cotton balls, 1 small sponge, 1 straw, 1 piece of yarn, 1 pipe cleaner, 2 square pieces of aluminum foil, journal, pencil

First, we wrapped the egg with both cotton pieces by spreading them. We put one on top of egg and one on bottom for cushion. Then, we tied the cotton and sponge crisscross the egg and down with the yarn twice around the egg. Then, we wrapped a straw and pipe cleaner around the egg where the shell was visible and secured through the yarn. Finally, we covered with both pieces of aluminum foil tightly.

Data:

Test	What you did?	What happened?
Carrier 1	Secured the outside completely with cotton and sponge and  then covered with remaining materials and dropped it from arm length down to ground	Did not crack when dropping from arm length to floor
Carrier 2	Created a parachute with foil to slow or decrease force	Did not have enough materials to secure parachute so unsuccessful/no attempt
Carrier 3	Created a base under the egg using the sponge and cotton with other materials surround the remaining part of the egg and dropped from tabletop to the floor	We thought that if we dropped the egg with the base facing the floor, then the egg would land on its base like a trampoline. The egg tilted as it fell and landed on part of the base and part of the rest of the egg. When we unwrapped the egg, we found that it had cracked in the part that hit the floor.

Claims and evidence:

We finally decided that if we cover the entire egg to cushion it all the way around with the cotton and sponge and then with the remaining materials, then it will sustain our egg from the force of impact and prevent it from cracking. Using our materials to cushion our egg all the way around before dropping it, prevented our egg from cracking. This confirmed our prediction that if we built a carrier for the egg that cushions it all the way around, it will sustain the egg from force of impact and essentially from cracking.

Conclusion:

We learned that we could not build a parachute to slow our egg during a fall if we did not have enough materials to make and secure it. We learned that if you build a carrier to only cushion one side of the egg and you drop the egg from that side, the weight of that material forces the egg to change position as it is dropping and keeps it from landing on the cushioned side. This caused the egg to crack. We learned that if you build the carrier with something soft and with cushion around the entire egg, it will break the fall. This confirmed our prediction of how to build a carrier for an egg that will sustain the force of impact and prevent it from cracking.

Reflection/ Questions:

I learned that we could build our egg carrier to include cushion support all around to sustain the force of impact and prevent it from cracking. We were unsuccessful with building a parachute carrier to support the egg’s fall with the given materials.

·       What materials can we use to create a durable parachute carrier that will slow an egg’s fall and sustain it from the force of impact and cracking?

Literacy Connections:

Parachuting Hamsters and Andy Russell by David A. Adler and Will Hillenbrand

Gravity (Fantastic Forces) by Chris Oxlade

National Geographic Little Kids First Book of Why (National Geographic Little Kids First Big Books) by Amy Shields

Forces of Gravity on Helicopters' Flight

Big Idea: How force of gravity can work on an object such as a helicopter? What is the force of gravity on a helicopter?     

Focus question: How does the force of gravity affect the flight of the helicopter?

Prediction: 

·        If the helicopter does not spin really fast, then the force of gravity will pull it down.

·        If the blades spin really fast, it will keep the helicopter in the air.

·        If the helicopter is higher off the ground, it will be more difficult for the force of gravity to pull it down.

Planning: 

Materials:  helicopter template, scissors, paper clips, chair, journal, pencil

First, we used our templates to make a paper helicopter. Cut a slit in the middle on each side. Fold one side toward each other from the slits. Then, fold a portion of the piece above it to create a T-shape for the leg. On the side not folded cut down the middle until the folded top of the T-shape for the rotor blades. Next, use the paper clips to add weights to your paper airplane. Then, perform three tests to experiment how the force of gravity affects the flight of your helicopter considering the following variables:  number of paper clips, size of rotors, height, and standing-proximity. Finally, record data for each test including what worked and what did not.

 Data:

	Number of paper clips	Size of Rotors	Height	Standing-Proximity	What Happened?
Test 1	2- 1 on each rotor	Normal length	Adult height from floor	Bent arm-length	Fell quickly-didn’t work
Test 2	4-2 on each rotor	Same length	Stood on chair	Held out arm-length and forced a spin	Spun longer before falling to ground
Test 3	6-2 on each rotor and 2 on leg (1 toward top & 1 toward bottom to balance)	Same length	Stood on chair on tippy toes	Held out arm-length and forced a spin	Spun even longer and faster before falling to ground

Claims and evidence:

I claim that the number of clips, height and standing proximity affect the flight of a helicopter relative to the force of gravity. We know this because the higher the height changed the number of spins. Adding weight using the paper clips changed the force of the spin and kept it spinning longer before hitting the ground. When holding the paper plane as far out as I could before dropping it, it spun faster and longer than holding it closer in proximity to myself. I claim that if the helicopter does not spin really fast, then the force of gravity will pull it down. I know this because when the helicopter had less spins, it fell to the ground faster. I claim that if the blades spin really fast, it will keep the helicopter in the air. I know this because I observed it happen opposed to win the blades spun less it fell to the ground. I claim that if the helicopter is higher off the ground, it will be more difficult for the force of gravity to pull it down. I know this because it took longer to fall to the ground when holding it from higher distances (i.e., standing on the chair and then on tippy toes on the chair) than when standing on the ground. Therefore, my predictions proved to be correct.

Conclusion:

I learned that gravity, height, and weight affect the flight of a helicopter. I learned that the higher the height changed the number of spins. This affirmed my prediction that if the helicopter does not spin really fast, then the force of gravity will pull it down. This also affirmed my prediction that if the blades spin really fast, it will keep the helicopter in the air. I learned that when a helicopter is lower to the ground the effect on the force of gravity has a greater effect on the flight of the helicopter. This affirmed my prediction that a helicopter is higher off the ground will be more difficult for the force of gravity to pull it down, hence will spin longer in the air.

Reflection/ Questions:

I learned that gravity, height, and weight affect the flight of a helicopter.

·       How much do helicopter blades have to weigh relative to the body of the helicopter to lessen the force of gravity and its effect on the flight of the helicopter?

·       How fast do helicopters actually have to spin to fly in the air?

Literacy Connections:

Helicopters by Emily Bone and Staz Johnson

Helicopters (The story of flight, 12) by Ole Steen Hansen

Helicopters on the move (Lightning bolt books TM-vroom-vroom) by Jeffrey Zuehlke

Classifying Leaf Shapes

Big Idea: What shapes are leaves?      

Focus question: How can we classify our leaves by shapes?

Prediction: 

·        If leaves are compared to shape cutouts, we may see that leaves match different shapes.

·        If we can match leaves to different shape cutouts, then we can classify leaves by shapes.

·        If leaves have different shapes, then we can group them.

Planning: 

Materials:  different types of leaves, journal, pencil

First, we collected leaves. Next, we observed each leaf and its shape. Then, we compared the cut out shapes to the leaves’ shapes. Finally, we matched or grouped our leaves by the shapes.

Data : Grouping Leaves by Shape

 

Shape	Week 4
Heart	3
Oval	1
Rectangle	0
Diamond	6
Triangle	4

Claims and evidence:

I claim that leaves can be different shapes including heart-shaped, oval-shaped, diamond-shaped, and triangular-shaped. I know this because I compared leaves that I had collected with shape cutouts. I was able to group the leaves by all shapes but rectangle. Therefore, I claim my hypothesis to be true that we can classify leaves by shapes because we were able to group our leaves by shapes.

Conclusion:

I learned that leaves can have different shapes. I learned that there are possibly more diamond-shaped leaves than any other shaped leaves. I learned that there are not a lot of rectangular-shaped leaves. My hypothesis proved to be true that we can classify leaves by different shapes.

Reflection/ Questions:

We learned that leaves have many different shapes after grouping and classifying them.

·       Are there really more diamond-shaped leaves than any other leaves, or is that data that we collected based on the trees we collected leaves?

·       Are there rectangular-shaped leaves?

·       What do the shapes of leaves mean?

Literacy Connections:

We’re going on a leaf hunt by Steve Metzger

Leaves (Spot the difference:  Plants) by Charlotte Guillain

Catching sunlight:  A book about leaves (Growing things) by Susan Blackaby

Leaf jumpers by Carole Gerber