Moon Phases

The moon is always changing its appearance in the sky.

This is because the moon is going around the earth, just like Earth orbits the sun. When it starts it's orbit, you cannot see it. It's called a New Moon. As it continues to move around the earth, it gets brighter adn brighter. You start to see half of the moon which is called First Quarter. and then the entire face of the moon is illuminated. This is called a Full Moon.

It's half way around the world when it's a Full Moon. As the moon goes through the second half of it's journey, it starts to get darker and darker. You can only see half of the moon again, which is called the Third Quarter. As it comes back to it's starting point, you can't see anything at all. The moon has made on full orbit around earth, and it's a New Moon again.

The moon goes through a cycle. The phases of the moon change, and it takes one month for the cycle to happen.

How would you describe the moon's pattern of phase changes in your own words? Write down your answer in your journal!

The reason for the seasons

Earth is unlike any other planet. We have water, oxygen, plants, animals and an atomosphere. We also have 4 different seasons that cause weather changes. Have you ever stopped and wondered why it's cold during the winter time, but warm and sunny during summer?




What about the middle seasons, like Spring and Autumn? During the Spring time, the flowers begin to bloom the animals migrate back to their warmer habitat. It begins to warm up during Spring. After summer, we begin to see the leaves change colors and the temperature begins to cool down as we enter into Autumn. Crops are ready to be harvested before the winter.


















Right now, we're experiencing Winter. There are more clouds in the sky, and the temperature has dropped since summer time. Houston's winters are usually rainy and cold, but every once in awhile, we get snow or ice!

The reason we have seasons is because the earth is tilted on it's axis. During our summer, the top half (Northern Hemisphere) of the earth is pointed towards the sun, so we are exposed to the sun's warmth more. The bottom half (Southern Hemisphere) of the earth is pointed away from the sun, so they are experiencing winter.

When we orbit the sun, we will sometimes be pointed towards the sun, and we will sometimes be pointed away from the sun.




1. Why do we have seasons on the Earth?

2. How are seasons in the Northern Hemisphere alike and different from those in the Southern Hemisphere?

3. What would happen with the Seasons if the Earth never orbited around the Sun?

Practicing multiple choice questions

Let's try out some warm up questions! We have a benchmark tomorrow, so we need to practice reading and understanding tricky questions!


Mary conducted an investigation three times. The results were about the same the first two times, but they were different the third trial. What should she do next?

A. Change the variable
B. Conduct additional trials
C. Start a new investigation
D. Trust the first set of results



At what temperature will an ice cube start to melt into liquid?
A. 40°C
B. 0°C
C. 10°C
D. 30°C


Directions: The chart below shows how long it took a seed to sprout at three different temperatures.

Temperature---------- Days needed to sprout
20°C --------------------------15
25°C --------------------------13
30°C --------------------------11

Based on the information in the chart, how long will it take for the same kind of seed to sprout at 40°C?

A. 9 days
B. 7 days
C. 6 days
D. 5 days

Where do shadows come from?

Click here to watch an animation of shadows!


Have you ever wondered why your shadow looks really tall in the morning, but when you go outside for lunch, your shadow looks short? When it's getting close to dinner time, your shadow looks long and tall again!

Let's think about this for a minute...

We know that sun isn't really moving. We know that the Earth is rotating (spinning) on it's axis every day, and this causes one side of the earth to always be on dark side, and the other side to always be on the light side. This is why we have day and night!

While earth is spinning, the sun's position in the sky changes. The sun's light points in different directions as it moves across the sky. This causes shadows to change and look different.






Click on the sun to play a game about shadows!

1. Does the sun move?
   
2. What is the relationship between the length and direction of a shadow and the sun?
   
3. Why are the shadows at night if there is no sunlight?

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Sun, Earth and Moon

Everything goes around the sun. Click here to watch an animated picture of our solar system.

These three objects in the sky are both similar and different in many ways! Let's put our heads together and figure out what we already know about the Sun, Earth and Moon!

___________________________
Click here: The Sun

• What is the sun made out of?
• How big is the sun?
• Is the sun moving?
• What kinds of energy does the Sun provide for Earth?

____________________________________
Click here: The Earth

What can you find on Earth (things that we use to live, landforms...etc.)?

• What does the Earth revolve around?
  
• Does Earth have an atmosphere?
  
• Is Earth bigger or smaller than the sun?
  
• Is Earth bigger or smaller than the moon?

_________________________

Click here: The Moon

• What is the moon made out of?
• What kinds of landforms are found on the moon (hills, mountains..etc)?
  What can you not find on the moon that people need for survival (things that we use to live)?
• Does the moon have an atmosphere?
• What does the moon orbit?
  
  

___________________________

Now use your information you found and think about how the The Sun (red circle), Earth (green circle) and Moon (blue circle) are similar and different. Make this Venn diagram in your journal for Homework.

The Solar System- It's out there!

We're traveling away from our classroom and into outerspace!

Each planet, including Earth, has a path it takes around the sun. The path the planets go around looks like a circle. Everything in our solar system orbits (goes around) the sun. That's why it's called the SOLAR system, because the sun is in the middle!



Some planets don't take very long to orbit the sun, while others take a much longer time.
Click here to read about each planet.


QUESTIONS:
1. Which planet has the shortest year in our solar system and why?
2. Name the planets in order, and think of a way to remember their order!

For example: My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nachos.

Does light bend or bounce?

Play this interactive game online!

We've been learning about light energy this week. We demonstrated that light can bounce back like a basketball if you shine it on a shiny object, like a mirror. This is called reflection.

We explored how light can go through objects and look funny. It can make your pencil look broken if you stick in water. It can make things look larger if you look through a magnifying lens. This is called refraction.

That's shocking!

Last week, we studied heat energy. We decided that some items allow heat to travel through them, while others do not. Objects that allow energy to travel through them are called conductors. Objects that don't allow energy to transfer from one thing to another are called insulators.

This week, we are studying electricity and light!

Have you ever put your sweater over your head and your hair sticks straight up? Have you ever touched a metal door knob and received a painful shock on your hand? Have you ever changed the batteries in your flashlight or remote control? Have you ever looked out the window during a thunder storm and observed a bright flash of light? All of these questions have one thing in common...

Yep, you guessed it! They're all about ELECTRICITY!

Static electricty can make your hair stand straight up! It can also give a painful shock when you touch something made of metal. Lightening in the sky is another form of electricty, but we don't use it in our homes to make things turn on. We usually plug our appliances in the wall, or place batteries inside them to make them work.

We're building circuits this week and discussing how electricty travels from the battery, through the wires, and into the bulb. Kinetic electrical energy is always moving!

Questions:

1. Explain the difference between static electricty and electricty. Does static electricty turn your TV on?

2. Why does your battery have metal on both sides?

Homework:
Flow of electricty #1-4

Keep it hot or cold.

This week, we study about thermal energy. Thermal energy can make things hot or cold. Your hot plate, stove, freezer and ice cubes all make thermal energy. These things can also make some objects get hot or cold.

If you leave your aluminum coke can in the refrigerator, it's going to get really cold. If you go outside in the summer time with no shoes on, your feet will probably get burned on the concrete. If you pour hot chocolate into your glass cup, the cup will start to get warm. All of these objects get hot and cold easily because they are conductors. Thermal energy moves through them, and they can get hot and cold really easily. Energy from the sun transfers to the concrete, and it causes the temperature to increase.

When you go outside in the summer time, your car feels really hot, but the trees aren't as hot as your car. Trees are made out of wood, and wood is an insulator. When you hold a plastic spoon in your hand, your thermal energy from your hand doesn't make the plastic very warm. Plastic is also an insulator. Thermal energy does not go through insulators easily, so they don't get as hot or cold as conductors.

Look at the picture above. Which objects are the best conductors, and why? Which objects are the best insulators, and why?

Watch this brainpop video about heat!

CHALLENGE!

Challenge: Make the tallest free standing structure using only pasta sticks and gum drops!

We had 30 minutes to create a building, and we discussed why our structures kept falling down. Several students agreed that their buildings were too heavy, and couldn't stand by themselves. Other students said that they needed more gum drops. Some students said that gravity was pulling down our structure all the time, so we needed to create something that could stand by itself.

What do you think?

May the Force Be With You!

Today, we discussed different ways to make objects move or change speed. We moved our shoe boxes by pushing, pulling, and sliding it down an inclined plane, because gravity caused it to move. We also discussed why our boxes were harder to push up the slope when added rocks. We decided that we increased the friction in our boxes, which caused the shoe box to push down harder on our table. Friction causes things to slow down or makes things harder to move.

Here are some different examples of each force we explored today!

Pushing a basketball from your hands to make a basket.

Pulling coke tab open with your fingers

Skiing down a mountain because gravity is pulling you down.

Sliding into 2nd base and slowing down because of friction.

Watch this video about Forces on BRAINPOP. Start at 2:00.

Homework for Tuesday:
Find objects around your house that work, use, or can make these different forces. Write 3-5 examples down in your journal for each force (Pushing, Pulling, Gravity, and Friction).

How does it work?

Today, we learned about different types of energy. We observed different objects, and decided if they used light, thermal (heat), sound, mechanical (moving), or electrical energy. We realized that most objects use one or more types of energy to work, and they create different kinds of energy when they are operating.

1. What kind of energy would you use to make this pinwheel spin?

2. What kinds of energy can you create when the pinwheel is spinning?

3. Did one form of energy turn into another form of energy?

Watch this video about energy. Do they discuss other types of energy that we didn't review today in class?

Does it Dissolve?

Today, we mixed together different ingredients with our water. Some mixtures dissolved, while others did not. We added 1 tablespoon of citric acid into 100Ml of water. The citric acid broke apart into little pieces when it was mixed with water. You couldn't see the citric acid, but there was still 1 tablespoon of it inside the water. The pieces were so small because they dissolved in the water. The salt also dissolved in the water. The sand, pebbles, oil, and baking soda didn't dissolve.

Look at this picture of lemonade. Some ingredients dissolved in the water, while other ingredients did not dissolve. Which ingredients dissolved, and why? Which ingredients did not dissolve, and why? How could you separate all the different ingredients in your lemonade?

Separating Mixtures and Solutions

Today, we mixed water and salt together. The salt dissolved in the water, and we couldn't see the little pieces anymore. We separated the salt from the water by putting it on a hot plate.

The water evaporated and the salt stayed in the cup.

The salt and the water made a special mixture, called a solution. The water chemically changed when we added salt to it, and it was harder to separate than trail mix.

Mixtures and Solutions

Today we made different mixtures. If you mix to solids together, you make a mixture. If you mix a solid and a liquid, or if you mix different liquids together, you create a solution. A solution is a special type of mixture. It's harder to separate a solution, because the solids have dissolved in the liquid.

Play this game below to separate mixtures and solutions!

Mixtures and Solutions Game

Reflection questions:

1. What are different ways you can separate a mixture?

2. How could you create a mixture and separate it?

Why does it sink or float?

Our pumpkin floated today because the stuff inside has lots of space, and there is a large cavity in the pumpkin!

Reflection questions:
What can you do to change the mass of an object?

Why did the density cubes have the same displaced volume in the water?

Changing the State of Matter

Play this game below and try to change the matter into different states. What causes the matter to boil, freeze, or melt?

Homework: Write a response to your prompt about the different phases of matter that you see in your picture.

Electromagnets

Today we made electromagnets by wrapping an iron nail with copper wire and attaching it to a battery. The nail became a magnet, because the battery sent energy through the copper wire, and gave the nail magnetic energy.

Reflection questions:

What is magnetism?

What does it mean to attract?

What does it mean to repel?

How do we use magnets?

How can you classify metals based on their magnetic properties?

Accessing Science Websites

TAKScopes
Username: Ridgecrest
Password: rge

Brainpop
Username: springbranchisd_13
Password: brainpop

Discovery Education
Username: springbranch
Password: libraries

Magical Magnets!

Today we will be testing objects to see if they are attracted to magnets. Watch this video about the magic behind magnets.

Watch this video about the magic of magnets!

Phases of Matter

Today, we made a flipbook that explained how the phases of matter can change. We melted ice cubes and wax crayons, boiled regular water and salt water, and froze water inside a plastic bag by using salt and ice cubes.

Homework assignment: Finish your flipbook. Make sure you write your own definition for "Phases of Matter", "Boiling", "Melting", and "Freezing".

Oobleck!

We've been studying solids, liquids and gases in class. Yesterday, we made something really unique called oobleck! You mix 2 teaspoons of cornstarch together with 2 teaspoons of water.

We decided that oobleck acted like a solid and liquid, and here's why.

You can hold oobleck in your hand, so it acts like a solid.

BUT...

Oobleck moves like water when you shake it in a bowl. It also spreads out in your hand, like a liquid.

So, what is it? It's both a solid and a liquid! Scientist are unable to understand why oobleck acts like two different states of matter, but they can have a lot of fun with it. Watch this video from mythbusters, as they attempt to walk across oobleck.