Dance Party!

Dance Party! from Stephen MacLellan on Vimeo.

We conducted the first half of our first science experiment of the year! We wondered what would happen to raisins when we put them into bubbly water. Some of our colleagues predicted they would pop out of the water and fly through the air. Some predicted they would turn into grapes again! Some predicted they would float on the water.

To make this a good experiment, we conducted a fair test. We will be talking a lot about fair tests as the lab year goes on, but in a nutshell, a fair test involves a repeatable, specific procedure, so that all results are controlled for external variables and everyone's data can be compared. For this experiment, we decided to use the same quantity of water, the same containers, the same number of raisins (8), and to drop the raisins into the cup one at a time from the height of the rim of the cup.

Tomorrow, we will conduct a control test, with plain water, to see if the bubbles make the raisins act differently than they would in normal water. We also had other questions we were wondering about, such as: Will the raisins plump up into grapes eventually? Why do the raisins that float to the top then sink? How come some of the raisins never float?

The First Day of School

Our class had a fun and busy (and very hot!) first day of school. We made clay animals, sang "Down By the Bay," wrote about our summer vacations, used a magical tool, and learned what makes a happy marker. We read Kevin Henkes's Chrysanthemum, watching for the problem in the story, his use of interesting words, and how much he loves the number three.

A lot of the beginning of the year involves setting up a common base that we build off of for the rest of the year. We work on establishing a class culture, norms, and community. We develop rules and learn procedures and structures that keep our day flowing smoothly. We learn about each other and build relationships and trust. And we challenge everyone to do their best, setting high standards for everything from passing the door to the person behind you to writing narrative nonfiction. As Paula Denton and Roxann Kriete say in The First Six Weeks of School, "The first week is a time to help children see their school as a place where they belong and where they know and can meet expectations. They need to feel comfortable and supported, excited and challenged."

All of the teachers and staff at the Lowell School are looking forward to all of the learning and growing that lies ahead. We have a lot to do, and we are excited to do it!

Foamy Fountain

Want to try a fun activity with some chemicals? Do a foamy fountain at home. If you want to make it an experiment, change one of the variables and see how the fountain is different!

You need:
- 16 oz plastic bottle
- 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide
- 1 tablespoon yeast
- 3 tablespoons of warm water
- 1 tablespoon dish soap
- food coloring if you want to make it a fun color
- small cup
- safety goggles

Start by putting on those safety goggles. Hydrogen peroxide isn't something you want in your eyes or in your mouth!

Also, you probably want to do this outside, in a sink, or in a plastic container to catch all the foam you are about to make.

1. Pour 1/2 cup of hydrogen peroxide into the bottle.
2. Add 8 drops of food coloring.
3. Add ~1 tablespoon of dish soap.
4. In a separate small cup, combine the warm water and the yeast and mix for 30 seconds, or until the yeast is all mixed into the water.
5. Pour the yeast mixture into the bottle.

If you want to read more, check out this website: http://sciencebob.com/fantastic-foamy-fountain/

Rocket Day!

On Friday, June 19th, we had rocket day! Some of the launches worked well, some had some difficulties. That's just how things are in life.

If you want to build your own rocket launcher, I based most of my design on the instructions on this website:
http://www.sciencetoymaker.org/waterRocket/buildWaterRocketLauncher.htm
and the variations here:
http://www.sciencetoymaker.org/waterRocket/waterRocketVariations.htm
A good video is at the Ask This Old House website:
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0,,20263020,00.html

Rocket Day 2015 from Stephen MacLellan on Vimeo.

Marble Roller Coasters

Lab 204 experimented with physics and gravity and built marble roller coasters. Here's what we made:

Marble Roller Coasters from Stephen MacLellan on Vimeo.

Field Day

Field Day was a lot of fun! We played beach volleyball, had a relay race around the baseball diamond, raced on bouncy balls, horses, and chariots, played "drip, drip, drop," shot goals in soccer, tossed chickens, knocked over cones and picked them up again, and made a parachute tent. After lunch, the K-2 teachers faced off against the 3-5 teachers in a close game of kickball.

Memorial Day Assembly

During this year's Memorial Day Assembly, we heard the 4th and 5th grade chorus sing "The Star Spangled Banner," some fifth graders read poems they wrote about the holiday, and our class sang "This Land is Your Land."

Thank you to Ms. Peca for this picture!

Thank you to Ms. Garabedian for this picture!