Room 221 will celebrate awesome authors on Wednesday, June 19 at 9:00. Third grade authors will share their amazing writing with their guests. Extended family is welcome! Please plan to stay for 45 minutes or an hour to enjoy the festivities. A formal notice will be sent home as the event gets closer.
Enjoy the beautiful spring weather! :o)
Friday, April 26, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Electricity
Third grade scientists are having such fun as they explore electricity. They have made a motor run using just two wires and a battery. Ask your scientist how they got the motor to spin in the opposite direction...
Lighting a small bulb using only a battery and two copper wires was tricky. All students were able to make the bulb light, and the process helped us realize that the light bulb and the battery have "critical contact points." These are points that must be connected in order to create a complete circuit.
The very bottom of the light bulb, (we call that the base terminal) must be touching (directly or through metal wire) the metal part of the top or base of the battery. This must be connected (directly or through metal wire) to the opposite end of the battery. The wire must be connecting with the metal side terminal.
Why is everything attached using so much metal? Your third grade scientists can tell you because we learned about conductors on and nonconductors!
Lighting a small bulb using only a battery and two copper wires was tricky. All students were able to make the bulb light, and the process helped us realize that the light bulb and the battery have "critical contact points." These are points that must be connected in order to create a complete circuit.
The very bottom of the light bulb, (we call that the base terminal) must be touching (directly or through metal wire) the metal part of the top or base of the battery. This must be connected (directly or through metal wire) to the opposite end of the battery. The wire must be connecting with the metal side terminal.
Why is everything attached using so much metal? Your third grade scientists can tell you because we learned about conductors on and nonconductors!
Today, the kids worked cooperatively to create their own switch. The goal was to turn their lightbulb on or off by just moving the switch. They used a small cardboard card, two metal brads and a paper clip. Ask your third grader how they made it work and to explain what they know about open and closed circuits that allow a switch to work.
Geometry Vocabulary
Geometry is a unit filled with vocabulary! It all comes at once, so it can be challenging for children to remember all the different words and meanings.
Ask your mathematician about these words:
polygon
quadrilateral
rectangle
square
triangle
pentagon
parallel
perpendicular
You can even sort these words together!
Not sure what some of the words mean yourself? Click here for a wonderful, illustrated math dictionary.
Ask your mathematician about these words:
polygon
quadrilateral
rectangle
square
triangle
pentagon
parallel
perpendicular
right angle
acute angle
obtuse angle
line
line segment
ray
You can even sort these words together!
Not sure what some of the words mean yourself? Click here for a wonderful, illustrated math dictionary.
Angles
Right angles are everywhere! They're on your stairs, on the tiles of your floor, the corners of your ceiling. Everywhere you look you'll find a right angle. Third grade mathematicians have begun studying geometry. They used straws and glue to create quadrilaterals with different numbers of right angles. Ask your third grader the name of an angle that is smaller than a right angle, or an angle that is larger than a right angle.
Monday, April 15, 2013
On This Sad Day
Some thoughts that I find helpful when I think about what to say to my own children. May they be helpful to you as you talk to yours.
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