Geometry (Shapes)

Point--an exact location in space    

Line segment-- has a beginning point and an ending point

When you connect points together, you create a line segment.

Points need to be named in order to know which points to connect.

Line segments are named according to the points.

Line segments can be names forwards or backwards.

Ray-- has a beginning point but no ending point

 A ray keeps going through all the other points.

A ray is names by the beginning point and the point that it goes through.

 A ray can only be named forwards.

Line--continues in both directions into infinity

A line can be named both forwards and backwards.

Parallel lines--lines that are side by side, but never touch

Parallel lines have the same slope (same distance apart).

An angle is formed when rays, lines, and line segments intersect.

3 Kinds of Angles:

Right Angles 

(square angle or 90 degree angle)

Obtuse Angle 

(more than 90 degrees)

Acute Angle

(less than 90 degrees)

Lines are perpendicular if they intersect at exactly 90 degrees.

Fossils

Hello all!

This week we are learning about fossils! We are reading five articles and answering the questions that go with them. When all the articles are completed and the final assessment is finished the articles get to go home so that the whole family can learn all about fossils!

Want to get a leg up on the Fossil Vocabulary Words?! Well here's the list! We'll be reading all about these soon!

• extinct - no longer found alive
• fossil - the preserved remains of plants or animals that lived long ago
• organisms - living things such as plants and animals
• paleontologist - a scientist who studies fossils and organisms that lived long ago
• imprint - a mark on a surface such as mud or rock
• decay - to rot or decompose
• sedimentary rock - rock formed by sediment deposits; usually forms in layers
• preserved - in its original condition
• amber - a hard orange-yellow substance formed from tree sap
• climate - weather conditions in an area over a long period of time
• ferns - flowerless plants found in tropical regions
• carnivore - an animal that eats other animals
• herbivore - an animal that eats plants
• ecosystem - all of the living and nonliving things that interact in an area

Equivalent Fractions

Fractions are simply equal pieces of something. Any object can be broken into equal pieces - even thousands or millions!

   3=Numerator==Part of whole
   4=Denominator==Whole

Equivalent Fractions have the same value, even though they may look different.

These fractions are really the same:

1/2  =  2/4  =  4/8

Why are they the same? Because when you multiply or divide both the top and bottom by the same number, the fraction keeps it's value.

Here is why those fractions are really the same:

       x2     x2
1/2 = 2/4 = 4/8

      x2      x2

3 ways to find equivalent fractions:

1. Model 

2.  Multiply    

   x2     x2
1/2 = 2/4 = 4/8

      x2      x2

What ever you do to the numerator...You do to the denominator.

3. Divide

(simplest form)

(reduce)

   divide by 2     
4/8 = 2/4 = 1/2

     divide by 2

What ever you do to the numerator...You do to the denominator.

Soil

• Mineral - a solid object formed in nature that has never been alive; they are identified by their hardness, color, and shape
• Rock - a hard object made of one or more minerals; these make up the majority of the Earth
• Soil - the loose material in which plants can grow in the upper layer of Earth
• made of weathered rock which contains minerals, humus, and water and air pockets
• Humus - a part of soil made up of decayed parts of once-living things; it is dark and soft and contains much of what plants need to grow
• Layers of Soil
• Topsoil - the top layer made of the smallest grains and containing the most humus
• Subsoil - layer under topsoil that is made of larger grains and some humus
• Bedrock - solid rock under soil; weathering breaks this down into soil
• Bedrock will be made of different minerals depending on where it is and this will affect what minerals are in the soil

• Different Types of Soil
• Clay soil - small grains, holds water and becomes sticky, dries up into hard clods that can be broken into powder
• Sandy soil - large grains, large spaces for water to easily pass through, less humus than others
• Loam - a type of topsoil that contains a lot of humus, water, and air which makes it ideal for growing plants
• Soil is an important resource, or material that is found in nature that living things use 
• Soil is used to grow food, and is held in place by the roots of plants 
• Many things humans do harms soil (i.e., cutting down too many trees without replanting)
• Soil Conservation
• Conservation - saving resources by using them carefully
• Strip Cropping - planting strips of thick grass or clover between strips of crops; this helps keep water in the soil and keeps the soil from being washed away
• Contour Plowing - planting rows of crops around the sides of hills instead of up and down; this keeps water from running off in straight lines, so the soil won't be washed away

The soil is washed away because there are not enough roots to keep it in place when heavy rain comes.

Strip Cropping used to produce more crops and prevent soil erosion

Contour Plowing keeps water from flowing down in straight lines and carrying away the soil.

What is Time? What is Time Intervals? Elapsed Time?

What is time?

Time is what is happening and how long it takes to do something.


How do we tell time?
  clock                                    calendar


Small Units of Time:
seconds
minutes
hours

Big Units of Time:
days
weeks
months
years


A.M  = At Morning                       P.M.  =  Past Morning


Days of the Week:  
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday

Months of the Year:
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December 

Unit Conversion:

60 seconds = 1 minute

60 minutes = 1 hour

24 hours = 1 day

7 days = 1 week

1 month = about 4 weeks

1 year = 52 weeks, 12 months

and 365 days

1 decade = 10 years

1 century = 100 years

1 millennium = 1000 years

The Moon

The Phases of the Moon

• Phases- the different shapes the moon seems to have in the sky
• It takes about 1 month for the moon to revolve around Earth and to rotate once, so the same side of the moon is always facing Earth.

Moon Phases in Order

1. New Moon- you can't see the moon because the Sun is shining on the other side
2. Waxing Crescent: very small part of the right side is lit
3. First Quarter: the right half of the lighted side can be seen
4. Waxing Gibbous: all but a little bit of the left side can be seen
5. Full Moon: The entire lighted side can be seen
6. Waning Gibbous: all but a little bit of the right side can be seen
7. Third (Last) Quarter: the left half of the lighted side can be seen
8. Waning Crescent: very small part of the left side is lit

Waxing Phases are getting MORE light (Wax on)

Waning Phases are LOSING light  (Waning off)

Eclipses:

There are times where the Earth and the Moon may cast shadows on each other and these are called eclipses.

Lunar Eclipse: happens when Earth’s shadow falls on the moon; the moon appears red during a full lunar eclipse.

Solar Eclipse: happens when the moon’s shadow falls on Earth; this hides some to almost all of the sun from view

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Moon Project: 

Directions:

1. Create a poster of the 8 (eight) moon phases.
2. Label each phase.
3. Title your poster.
4. Be creative while creating the poster.
5. Write 3 (three) facts about the moon and the moon phases.

This project is due on Friday, March 24, 2017.

Quick Reminders

  Tomorrow will be our test on Physical and Chemical change. A study guide for this was sent home today, but if your child is absent or misplaced their guide I will have it linked below.

  The 3rd 9 weeks math study guide was sent home today. The test will be next week on Wednesday. We will be going over a review packet on Monday and Tuesday, so please help us to get all of the students prepared for these tests!

  The 3rd 9 weeks science study guide will be sent home tomorrow as we did not want it to get confused with the guide for tomorrow's test. The science 9 weeks test will be next Friday and will be reviewing on the days prior.

  Ms. Mason's and Ms. Smith's class will be opening the class store where students can buy prizes using their classroom behavior money. Donations would be greatly appreciated as the students have been working very hard to earn their money. Students may also earn some extra classroom bucks by donating these much needed classroom supplies: paper towels, Clorox wipes, and Expo Spray.

  Thank you and have a wonderful afternoon!!

--- Ms. Mason

Click Here for Physical and Chemical Change Study Guide

Physical and Chemical Change

Changes everywhere!!

Physical Change- change to matter in which no new kind of matter is formed

• Examples:
• Origami (art of folding paper)
• Cutting Paper
• Ice Melting

• Mixture- a substance that  contains two or more different types of matter
• These types of matter CAN BE SEPARATED!! That is very important!
• Examples:
• Alphabet Soup
• Trail Mix
• Marbles and Beads in a bag
• Solution- a mixture in which the particles of the different kinds of matter mix together evenly.
• This is different from a regular mixture because you CANNOT SEPARATE the different kinds of matter BY HAND!!
• Examples:
• Salt Water
• Sweet Tea
• A Penny (this is a solution of two metals called an alloy. A penny is made of zinc and copper)

Chemical Change- change that forms a different kind of matter

• Examples:
• Cooking Food
• Rusting Nails
• Burning Wood
• What are some ways we use chemical changes in our lives?
• Burn fuel to power our cars.
• Cook food so we can eat it.
• Digestion
• FUN FACT: Plants use chemical changes to make their food!

Perimeter of Regular and Irregular Shapes

Perimeter---the distance around  a figure

Regular shapes-- squares, rectangle, triangles

Irregular Shapes--any shape that does not have equal sides

To find the Perimeter of shapes that provides side lengths...ADD ALL THE SIDE LENGTHS.

4 + 5 + 8 + 3=  20                The perimeter of the shape is 20 inches.



To find the Perimeter of a shape that does not provide side lengths, but does provide units...COUNT THE UNIT SEGMENTS.

UNIT SEGMENTS---THE OUTSIDE OF EACH UNIT

Area and Distributive Property

Area-  The surface of a shape or the region of a shape.

Distributive Property--Break up the larger factor/number

Light Report Confusion!

There has been some confusion about the light report.

This is an in class assignment that does not need to be worked on or completed at home. We are working on the students' informative writing abilities to better prepare them for the writing test. Due to this we are not accepting "Final Drafts" from home. 

We will be meeting with each student to read and edit their rough draft in order to explain the writing process and correct any misunderstandings they may have about how to write the report. 

Thank you and sorry for any confusion! If there is ever any project or assignment to be completed at home, information will be included in the newsletter.

Have a wonderful evening!

-Ms. Mason

Light

There are no real notes for light this week because the students are watching light videos and taking notes on the information provided. The students are sharing their information by interviewing each other, and using these facts to complete a 5 paragraph report on light for their test.

The videos are The Magic School Bus Gets a Bright Idea which can be found on Netflix, and Science Video for Kids: How Does Light Travel? which can be found on YouTube. I will also post the link to the second video on the fun videos and websites page.

Area

We are going over area again in math with our focus being on finding the area in "square units." 

Please help your child to carefully count squares in a shape, and to mark or number each square so they do not lose track.

Please quiz them whenever you have a free moment about whether a unit square should be counted as 0, 1/2, or 1.

A square that has less then half shaded/within the boundary is counted as 0.

A square that is exactly 1/2 shaded/within the boundary is counted as 1/2, and two 1/2 units are counted as 1 unit.

A square that is more than half shaded/within the boundary is counted as 1.

Thank you and have a great week!!

Kinetic and Potential Energy

Energy - the ability to cause change

Potential Energy - the energy an object has because of where it is and its shape

Ex. A ball sitting at the top of a hill.

Kinetic Energy - energy of motion

Ex. A ball rolling down a hill.

Kinetic and Potential energy almost constantly convert from one to the other everywhere. A child on a swing has potential energy at the top of the swing, and kinetic as they go down and back up again. The child is constantly converting their energy from potential to kinetic and back again.

Fractions on a Number Line

Force, Motion, and Simple Machines

Vocabulary

• Force- a push or a pull
• Motion- a change in position
• Speed- the measure of how fast something moves over a certain distance
• Gravity- the force that pulls objects towards each other.
• Weight- a measure of the pull of gravity on an object
• Friction- force of resistance between two objects rubbing against each other
• Work- the measure of force it takes to move an object a certain distance
• Simple Machine- a tool that helps people do work
• Lever- a bar that moves on or around a fixed point
• Inclined Plane- a flat surface set at an angle to another surface

There are many forces in the world such as wind blowing on an object, you pulling a wagon, or water pushing on sand.

How much force it takes to pull something is measured with a tool called a spring scale.

When a strong force is applied it can cause an object to move, but not all forces cause motion. Sometimes they are not strong enough.

An example would be an ant trying to push a toy car vs. a child pushing a toy car. Which one will make the car move?

An object will only move if a force is applied to it, and the more strength the force has, the faster the motion will be. This is called speed.

The object will then only stop if another force is applied to it.

So, why does something like a rolling ball eventually stop without you putting your foot on it?

The reason the ball will eventually stop is because of gravity and friction.

These are invisible forces that are acting on the ball as well.

Gravity pulls the ball down against the ground, and friction begins to build between the ball and the ground.

This will eventually cause the ball to slow down and stop.

There are many simple machines in the world that we use without even realizing it.

Many of the things we use in our daily lives have various simple machines in them.

Fractions

What is a fraction?
   -A number that can represent part of a whole.

   Number of Shaded Parts: 3
   Total Number of Parts: 5
   Fraction in Words: Three-fifths

   Model B shows 1/3 that is shaded. 
   This is because when you are modeling fractions, you have to make sure that the object is divided into equal parts.
   When doing this you're actually creating Unit Fractions.

What is a unit fraction?
    - Any fraction with a 1 as the numerator.
      Ex. 1/2     1/3    1/5    1/7    1/100

You can create fractions by adding unit fractions.

1/5 + 1/5 +1/5 = 3/5

When the numerator and the denominator are the same number, it equals 1 whole.

Mass and Weight

Weight and Weight

Vocabulary:

• Mass - the amount of matter in an object
• Weight - the downward force of gravity on an object
• Balance - a tool used to compare two masses

Mass vs. Weight:

   If an object has more mass then it will have more weight.
   This is why a marble made of wood would float, but a marble made of glass would sink despite the fact that they are the same size.

Total Weight:

    When you have an object made of multiple parts, the weight of the object will depend upon the individual weights of each part.
    If you have one part that weighs 3 pounds, one that weighs 2 pounds, and one that weighs 1 pound, how much would the object weigh?
    If we were to put it together in a different way, would the weight change?