Before I get into Science I just wanted to add some notes for the week ahead.

1. Pumpkin Math: Next week, we will be doing our annual Pumpkin Math afternoon with Mrs. Goosen’s class! This is a fun event where we use Pumpkins to explore a variety of math topics. It’s lots of messy fun! We will be doing this on Oct. 25 in the afternoon. If you would like to join us, we would love to have you help out with the different groups. Students will also need to bring in an old shirt to wear on top of their uniform.
2. Memory Verse: Students have been doing really well on their memory verses! This week’s verse is Matthew 6: 13-14.
3. Friday P-D: I know it has seemed like there has been quite a few days of already this year. However, Friday is the provincial Pro-D day and Highroad will be closed while we attend lots of valuable sessions on improving education. I told the students today that just like they are continuously learning, it is important for us as teachers to be continuously learning

I just wanted to give an update on our Science. We’re rocking right along. Recently, we had been looking at the properties of Oobleck. Do you remember what properties are? We can find the properties of objects around us by using our 5 senses; what we see, feel, hear, smell and taste. So,

Properties are the things or words we use to describe different objects so we can tell them apart.

We played with and investigated the properties of Oobleck to help us understand what made Oobleck different from other substances like water or play-do. You had some wonderful properties you discovered as you worked with the Oobleck. You can actually make your own.

1. Mix two parts cornstarch with 1 part water. Get your parents to help you with the measurements. You may have to add more of each to get it perfect. You need to have more cornstarch than water though.
2. Add a couple of drops of food colouring.
3. Play and have fun.

Today was a blast! Literally! To end off our look at Oobleck we took a look at Mars. Now you may be asking what does Mars have to do with Oobleck? Well, that would be a good question!! We talked about Mars because the scientists who created the Mars Rover had to go through the same scientific process to create the Mars Rover that the students did to create their Oobleck Machines.

In the first part of our Oobleck unit, the students had to think about Oobleck, play with it, explore, discover, experiment, test, observe and use their senses. Scientists had to do the same thing. They had no idea what Mars was like and yet had to use what they had (pictures, etc) to come up with a machine that could withstand anything that might happen.

The scientists held a convention to share their ideas, discuss, argue, put ideas together and listen to each other. The students had to do the same thing to create their rules for Oobleck. Finally, both the scientists and students had to use all their observations and ideas to create and design a machine they thought would be able to function on Mars or Oobleck. We had an amazing time discussing and sharing ideas and pictures.

Here is the video we watched at the end of the day today! It was a great end to our Oobleck unit.