Periodic Table Battleship

Teaching the periodic table of elements without being monotonous can be difficult. 

So with help from Teach Beside Me and Destination Imagination we created our own periodic table battleship game using the instructions on the websites. 

It was a surprising twist to a fun game!

The purpose of this game:

~To recognize the elements and their names 
~To learn how to read the periodic table
~To have exposure to the elements and the periodic table

"I sunk his ship!"

"Number 99. Wow that's Einsteinium!"

This activity incorporated a fun game while still learning the elements!

Clouds!

When the clouds are out and the sun is shining it is nice to go on an adventure to draw what we have been learning about!

Our class took a five minute walk to discover the cloud formations and draw them using chalk!

What type of clouds do you see?

What type of clouds did you draw?

She was using her finger to smear the chalk to make her clouds.

These are images from the sky, as students were drawing their cloud pictures!

Our class discovered that most of the clouds in the sky were cirrus clouds and some were cirrocumulus or cirrostratus clouds.

Weather Phenomena Projects

This year our overarching theme is Transitions and under that lens we are learning about weather. Students asked questions on how storms and different weather patterns form, so their first project was to select a weather phenomena and answer questions like: 

How does it form?

What causes it?

Where does it happen?

Can we prevent that weather phenomena?

Are their any safety precautions people can take?

When was the biggest one?

When did one do the most damage?

Are their interesting facts about that weather phenomena?

We enjoyed sharing our projects with our friends from the Transitioners class.

Saving Fred!

Saving Fred is a creative problem-solving activity using a gummy worm, life saver, a cup, and some paperclips. 

The Story: Fred has been spending his summer boating on the Great Lakes. But he’s not too bright (after all, the brains of worms are pretty small). He’s never learned how to swim and he never wears his life preserver. The worst has happened! His boat has capsized and he’s stuck! Fortunately, his life preserver is in the boat, but unfortunately he does not know how to reach it without falling off and drowning. Source

Problem: How can you and your partner save Fred using only 2 paper clips? You may not touch Fred, the boat, or the life preserver directly with your hands! 

The Rules: 

• Fred may not fall into the sea (table) more than one time. If he does, he drowns.
• You may not injure Fred in any way - Poor Fred.
• You may use only 2 paper clips to move Fred, the boat, and the life preserver. You may not touch anything except the paper clips.

We paired up with students from the 5th grade class to test our life-saving skills.

 The great news was that we came up with loads of different methods to save Fred.

 Remarkably, some of the groups came up with a process within minutes. 

The goal was to use teamwork and cooperation to figure out how to save Fred. Everyone was able to find at least two ways to save him which means, lots of Fred's got to carrying on with their boating excursions. 

Science Fair

At Seabury School science fair is the place to be! 

We love it!

It's an amazing opportunity for our students to show off all of their amazing learning, presentation skills, and vibrant personalities. We get to see them at their very best.

Each year, students prepare for the science fair by making a plan to have have a project with an experiment that provides results.

Students have learned how important it is to start with a question and to make a prediction or hypothesis and a PLAN before starting work on their experiment.

Catherine found out which food coloring looks the most vibrant in different liquids!

Enzo did a simulation about Stardust

The 5 second rule! Gross!

Will objects float or sink?

Ryver discovered how to grow crystals!

Trevin figured out which type of sugar people like better.

What do our lungs look like if we have been a smoker?

Triangle Art

This presentation was created for gathering to tell about our recent art math integration. 

Students said they really enjoyed this project!

*There are transitions on the slides, so you might have to click more than once to see the pictures.*

Engineering Ramps

Young students benefit from learning engineering skills because it allows students to critically think about the process to build something. The question posed was "Can you build a ramp to move objects from the top to the bottom?" Students used the design process of building, improving, and revising.  

A very intricate designed ramp.

Simple ramp

Tall ramp 

"What if I put my hand in front of the object?"

It is amazing how many different ramp designs can get the same result!

Do pumpkins sink or float?

Mentoring was hard work this week! Our class helped their buddies make estimates and measure the circumference and height of a pumpkin using string and unifix cubes. 

After measuring, students were asked to make a prediction: Do pumpkins float or sink?

Most students thought that pumpkins would sink. 

What do you think?

The results are in...pumpkins float!! 

"What? No, they are supposed to sink."

Well pumpkins are like ships, they are heavy but buoyant in water, so they float.

We also enjoyed a fall scavenger hunt with our buddies this week!