Week of February 18 - 22

Here's a review of what happened in the Science Lab this week:

• Kindergarten:We explored a different kind of energy today: heat energy! We performed a quick experiment to find out how heat affects hard and gummy lifesavers before playing a sorting game with heat source cards. Home extension: allow your child to join in the cooking fun with a meal that involves a microwave or oven. Seeing that heat helped transformed the ingredients into a delicious  meal will help solidify our knowledge of heat energy.
• 1st grade: We learned about heat energy in the form of friction today. We learned that rubbing our hands together creates friction, which creates heat. We tested various objects around the room to see which caused heat from the friction. Home extension: allow your student to continue this investigation at home by encouraging him/her to test various items for heat from friction. You can also play the mini-friction game we played online by clicking HERE.
• 2nd grade: We focused on light energy today and performed a series of activities to investigate it. You can view the activities by clicking HERE. Home extension: Play the Prezi presentation with your child close by, and ask him/her to describe the activities to you. Most can be recreated at home, which would be so fun!
• 3rd grade: We did an investigation about gravity today; we tested various objects to see which would fall first. We also learned a little bit about Isaac Newton and his 3 laws of motion. Home extension: allow your student to do some independent research over Isaac Newton to see how else he contributed to science. 
• 4th grade: We learned more about the water cycle, its source of energy, and the fact that water molecules are constantly moving through the water cycle by playing a game. Home extension: Ask your student to describe our water cycle movement game and what they learned. Do water molecules always follow the exact path of the water cycle? What makes the water in the water cycle move?

Green Thumb Club members: our next meeting is Tuesday, February 26. Hope to see you there!

Donations: We would greatly appreciate any Kleenex and/or empty syrup bottles that you could donate!

Week of February 11 - 15

Here's what happened in Science Lab this week:

• Kindergarten: We learned about light energy by focusing on sources of light. We went on a "light scavenger hunt" to find things that provide light, recorded our findings in our notebooks, and played a "light charades" game. Home extension: go on a light scavenger hunt of your own at your home. Try to find as many light sources as possible -- even the smallest light counts!
• 1st grade: We learned a little more about magnets this week by going "magnet fishing." Using a magnet tied to the end of a string, students were able to "fish" inside a baggie filled with "little fish" (small paper clips) and "big fish" (large paper clips) to see which would allow them to catch the most fish. We graphed our results and then just did some "fishing" for fun afterwards. Home extension: Using a refrigerator magnet and a bunch of paper clips, allow your student to conduct a quick experiment to see how many paper clips their magnet can hold. Is the amount different, based on which magnet you use? Hmm. I'd love to know your answers!
• 2nd grade: We focused on the moon this week. We learned why the moon looks so small when it is actually quite large, and we learned more about how it rotates around our Earth and shows different "phases" along the way. Home extension: Allow your child to track the moon phases each night. Are there any patterns?
• 3rd grade: We explored magnets by making magnetic cars today! We had so much fun pushing and pulling our cars -- without even touching them! -- around the room. Home extension: the students were able to take home all parts of the car except the magnets. If you have a couple of magnets at home, you could recreate this activity in the kitchen or living room.
• 4th grade: We learned more about the water cycle by creating an actual water cycle inside our room. Home extension: ask your child to describe our water cycle model from today, and see if you can figure out a way to recreate it using items in your house. Talk to your student about how this model mimics the real water cycle. 

Week of February 4 - 8

This was our last week in StarLab for 2013, and I think it's safe to say that everyone had a great time! StarLab is so much fun and a great learning opportunity for all that get to go inside. I can't get enough of it!

Students were able to see the constellations again this week -- both in the "real" sky and in the "dot to dot" version of the sky -- and hear some more fun stories about each. Students have been reminded that these stories are just pretend, much like Spongebob or Cinderella. Still, it's fun to learn the stories associated with each constellation.

Ask your student what constellations we were able to find the StarLab this week, and then take your student outside to see if he/she can spot them in the real night sky. I think you'd be surprised and impressed about how many constellations OUES students can name!

Green Thumb Club members: our next meeting is Tuesday, February 12. Hope to see you there!

Week of January 28 - February 1

StarLab is at Old Union this week! All students got a "refresher" on how the Earth rotates around the Sun before we went into our very own little planetarium. We got to see the "real" stars in the night sky, as well as what we call the "dot to dot" canister of StarLab. {The "dot to do" canister makes it easier to pick the constellations out of the sky because each shape is outlined for us.}


All students got to see a variety of constellations, including Orion, Cassiopeia the Queen, King Cepheus, Leo the Lion, and lots of others. Ask your student to tell you about the constellations we saw in StarLab this week. If possible, you could go outside with your student after it gets nice and dark, and go star gazing!

If you're interested in discussing these constellations with your student at home but are unable to go star gazing outside, you may consider downloading one of the following apps to your smartphone:

• Star Walk
• Pocket Universe
• Sky Orb
• Starmap
• Planisphere
• Stars New
• Star Guide