Fourth Grade with Mrs. Connell

THE WETLANDS

This fall we sloshed through Hammonasset at high tide, looking for fiddler crabs and exploring the variety of life that is supported through the wetlands.  Students learned all about food webs and adaptations that plants and animals have in order to survive in this salty and wet environment. We created imaginary creatures and a food web based on the various roles and adaptations that are necessary.

CONCEPTS WE LEARNED:

producers – are organisms that can produce, or make, their own food

consumers – are organisms that consume, or eat, their food

decomposers – are consumers that decompose (by eating) dead plant and animal material

GOOD WEBSITES FOR RESEARCH!

http://www.saltmarshlife.com/

http://www.oceaninn.com/guides/marsh.htm

http://www.fws.gov/northeast/Wetlands/

http://www.enature.com/home/ You can use this one to search specific animals or plants once you have some in mind that you’d like to model yours after!

If you find any other websites that are useful to you and would like to add them, please add a comment to this page with the link so your classmates can also check them out!

THE PHYSICS OF SOUND

Who knew so much happened to create all the various sounds we hear.  A sound must originate from a source, or object that creates vibrations and be interpreted by a receiver (like our ears).  These vibrations create wavelengths that can be measured with special tools (oscilloscopes).  The frequency of these waves can alter the pitch, while the amplitude of the waves will determine the volume.  We also learned that sound must travel through a medium, such as solid, liquid, or gas.  Sound can’t happen in space!  Lastly, we investigated the effect that tension, size of sources, and using amplifiers has on the sound that we hear.  As you can imagine, it’s quite a noisy unit of study

Cool websites:

http://www.pulsethemovie.com/main.htmlexplore the sound lab.

http://www.frontiernet.net/~IMAGING/play_a_piano.html a piano oscilloscope you can play to see frequency and amplitude

http://www.fossweb.com/modules3-6/PhysicsofSound/index.html a link to the science module we use in Madison

http://www.virtual-oscilloscope.com/simulation.html# another oscilloscope to try

http://www.creatingmusic.com/ here is a site where you can play a few games to practice your sound discrimination, pitch and song matching abilities, create your own music, etc.

EARTH MATERIALS

This is a fun hands-on geology unit.  First, the kids explore and take apart mock rocks with a pick.  This taught us about the difference between rocks and minerals, as well as the many different ways a geologist may use to determine the ‘ingredients’ of a rock.  Next, we look at a number of unnamed minerals and discover the best ways to identify them using their properties and other types of tests.  We investigate the rock cycle, both through some websites and a game that simulates the various effects that weather, pressure, and erosion have on rocks over time.  Finally, we each do research on a particular mineral or rock and create wanted posters for them.

Some neat websites with more to come:

http://www.fi.edu/fellows/payton/rocks/create/index.html
has animations for each type of rock, examples, a quiz, etc

http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/curriculum/MISmart/ocean/rocksong.htm
a song to the tune of row row row your boat

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002289/snacks.html
sedimentary rock cookie recipe

http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/thezone/rocks/cycle/index.htm#map
rocky’s journey around the rock cycle

http://www.uky.edu/AS/Geology/howell/goodies/elearning/module05swf.swf
the three rock types with an interactive diagram

SPRINGTIME INVESTIGATIONS:  MAGNETISM AND ELECTRICITY