Once we got the basics down, we learned about conductors and insulators by testing a variety of objects and seeing which allowed for the energy from a battery to power a motor. We also learned a lot about parallel and series circuits.
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As part of our "Sharing the Planet" unit, we are focusing on a few resources. One of those is solar energy. To truly understand experiments regarding solar energy, we began with experimenting with circuits in general. We used a battery and wires to learn about circuit basics. We read about different types of energy and about the law of conservation. We used motors and light bulbs to see how energy moves and changes After a deeper focus on fractions, we transitioned our understanding of tenths and hundredths by beginning our unit on decimals. We are into decimal basics, will then compare decimals, and complete the unit with operations with decimals.
Spring is here (almost) and the garden is getting started. As always, every single student participated in setting up the garden. We are now moving into our new unit of study, called Sharing the Planet. The focus is on resources in general, and our lines of inquiry are on how harnessing and using this resources can be both incredibly beneficial and sometimes can create a great deal of conflict.
We began by learning about resources in general. We talked about how most of these resources are used and on whether they are renewable or not. Then we read many articles to investigate current conflicts of interest regarding specific resources. For example, one of our articles was on how the growth of cacao beans used for chocolate is creating conflicts because of deforestation and illegal 'dirty' cacao being harvested. We read about fossil fuels and the Dakota Access Pipeline conflicts as well. |
AuthorMrs. Heinlein is excited to document what happens in this great year of learning! Archives
September 2019
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