Multiplication Methods and Food Chains

Announcements:

• Bring your 2L pop bottles (rinse first) ASAP!!
• Orange Shirt Day tomorrow - please wear an orange shirt to recognize survivors of residential schools

Math:

36 x 21 = ?

We learned three methods for multiplying today including long (the more traditional method), lattice, and box multiplication. Another student suggested the lines and dots method.

Students are encouraged to choose the method(s) that make the most sense to them.

We also continue to practice word problem solving and students can go to IXL or Khan Academy for additional practice.

Question of the day: use one of the methods in the pictures above to solve 37x56=?

Science:

We played the food chain game on computers and drew two four organism food chains in different habitats, such as the ocean and the desert. We watched the remainder of the food chains crash course. 

Mad Minute & Predator and Prey

Announcements:

• Bring in your 2L pop bottles!
• Orange Shirt Day on Friday
• Yesterday's Fort Calgary Field Trip was a success and students learned a great deal about Canadian History in a hands-on and experiential way. 

Math:

Mad minutes started today to encourage students to develop their quick facts / multiplication tables. Tricks we discussed include:

• Anything times 0 = 0
• Anything times 1 = itself
• 9 times table using hands
• Start with 2’s, 5’s and 10’s when this is a new practice

Students graphed their success and will continue to do so in the next couple weeks. Hopefully this will be motivational as they will see their improvement.

Question of the day: A carpenter bought a piece of wood that was 7.5 metres long. Then she sawed 6.7 metres off the end. How long is the piece of wood now?
***Visit IXL or Khan Academy for more practice

Science:

We reviewed key terms:
predator, prey, consumer, producer, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, decomposer, food chain and food web

We then went outside to play Predator and Prey (or the food chain game). Playing the game outside was a fun way to solidify some of these concepts. 

Question of the day: What did we see on top of the St. Patrick’s Island sculpture on yesterday’s lunchtime walk on the Fort Calgary Field Trip? 

Field trip tomorrow!!!

Announcements:

• Field Trip to Fort Calgary tomorrow!!! (If you didn't get a chance today, bring your forms in first thing in the morning!)
• Homework: Adaptations Poster if not complete last week

Math:

We practiced adding and subtracting decimals using using Plickers and Puzzles.
Keys to success:

• drop the decimal straight down
• fill in empty place values with 0's

Science:

We reviewed adaptations by learning about a cool creature that few students have heard of, the Pangolin. 

Question of the week: What are three unique adaptations of the Pangolin? Email Ms. Bowen with your answers at lebowen@cbe.ab.ca

Have a great long weekend!

Announcements:

• Please bring back field trip forms Monday!!
• Field Trip to Fort Calgary Tuesday, September 25th, 2018
• Bring 2L pop bottles for upcoming Science experiment

Math:

Students continue to work on solving addition and subtraction problems. They have also been developing their word problem solving skills and remembering to include these steps in their solutions:

1. know/don't know chart
2. equation
3. solve
4. sentence

Khan Academy can be a great site to practice solving word problems along with many other math skills.

Questions of the weekend: 

• Tom was weighing the amount of candy he received for Halloween. If he received 8.30 kg and his brother received 1.8 kg, how much candy did they get all together?
• During a science experiment, Mary found the mass of two rocks to be 41.4 grams and 74.3 grams. What is the total mass of these two rocks? 

email Ms. Bowen at lebowen@cbe.ab.ca with your solutions or show them on Monday

Science:

Today we finished our Adaptations projects (refer to yesterday's post for project details). Students were also given extra time to set goals on Iris and finish any incomplete work. Projects need to be shared on Google Drive to lebowen@educbe.ca or emailed to lebowen@cbe.ab.ca. Hard copies will also be accepted.

Enjoy your weekend!!! See you Monday!

Decimal Addition and Subtraction & Adaptations Poster

Announcements:

• No school on Friday, September 21st
• Please return Forms and School Fees
• Field Trip to Fort Calgary on Tuesday, September 25th - please return forms ASAP

Math:

After the Front-End and Relative Size (rounding) Estimation quiz on Monday, we have been working on Adding and Subtracting Decimals this week. Students are encouraged to use their estimation skills to ensure the decimal is correctly placed and their answers make sense.

Students worked in groups last week to practice estimating and calculating addition and subtraction problems, as shown in the photo. They were able to correct their misunderstandings as they worked through the problems. All group members had to make sure their felt colour was represented on the poster.

Science:

Students are working on an Adaptations poster. They had the opportunity to go to Switch Zoo to create a creature of their choice. They had to decide what environment or habitat the organism lives in and come up with at least five adaptations (minimum 1 behavioural and 1 physical adaptation). The assignment requirements are outlined in the photo titled "SciJournal - Adaptations." 


Question of the week: The Gircheekey (part Giraffe, part Cheetah, part Spider Monkey) in the photo lives in the Savanna of Africa. What is one physical adaptation and one behavioral adaptation that will help the Gircheekey survive in this habitat?

If students created their Adaptations poster on Google Drive they share it with me at lebowen@educbe.ca. Some students chose to print their organism photo and write the rest of the details by hand and others drew their organism and did the entire poster by hand. All three methods of showing their understanding are excellent. If not using Google Drive they can hand in a hard copy or email their project to lebowen@cbe.ab.ca. 

They will have more class time on Thursday to complete this poster along with time to set goals on Iris. 

Adaptations Poster is due Thursday.

Terry Fox Run Tomorrow!

Make sure you dress warmly for school tomorrow so we can enjoy a chilly Terry Fox Run!

Math:

Students worked in teams to estimate addition and subtraction problems. They worked incredibly well together! They then answered multiple choice questions using their Plickers cards.

There will be a quiz on Estimation Monday. Students are welcome to ask for extra help tomorrow and can take practice home for the weekend. They will be assessed on Front-End and Relative Size (rounding) Estimation.

Science: 

Students completed an assignment in class the past few days where they had to identify the type of symbiotic relationship.

Next week we will be learning about Adaptations and doing a visual journal page using Switch Zoo.

Estimation & Symbiotic Relationships

Math:

We learned about estimation today. Here is the Estimation Presentation to view if you missed today's lesson. Students practiced Front-End Estimation and Relative Size Estimation (Rounding) and played Plickers, a multiple choice game where students answers are scanned into a computer program, to determine how well they understood these concepts after the lesson.

With the help of a student, the classroom has a new games centre for students who finish early. Students are welcome to play these games when they finish early and are also welcome to bring additional math and science games to contribute to this area.

Question of the day: Which method of estimation (front-end or relative size) is more accurate? Explain your answer. Is there any reason we might use both methods in math class?

Science:

Students continued to work on a Symbiotic Relationships inquiry assessment to ensure understanding of Mutualism, Commensalism, and Parasitism. 

Question of the day: Which type of symbiotic relationship is shown in this image? Who benefits (gets something out of the relationship) and what do they get?

Email Ms. Bowen at lebowen@cbe.ab.ca with your answers!!

Ordering Decimals and Symbiotic Relationships

Math:

Today we reviewed place value, played place value Yahtzee, and began learning to compare and order decimals. Students had great questions and the discussion promoted a better understanding of number sense.

Science:

We learned about the three kinds of symbiotic relationships: mutualism (both organisms benefit - ++), commensalism (one benefits and one neither benefits nor is harmed - + =) and parasitism (one benefits and the other is harmed - + -).

Watch the videos below to learn more:
Question of the day: What keeps the clown fish safe from the anemones? What kind of relationship do the clown fish and sea anemones have?
*** Send Ms. Bowen an email at lebowen@cbe.ab.ca with an answer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSmL2F1t81Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMG-LWyNcAs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TECuS_XnxW0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbmKqoAYbdo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdC0Akpa2ts

Place Value, Math Practice, and Science Catch up

Math:

We reviewed place value and practiced saying numbers correctly and writing them in written form (three hundred twelve and two tenths), standard form (312.2) , and expanded form (300 + 10 + 2 + 0.2).

Weekend question:
In the number 3,465,289.175 (see if you can say this number out loud with only one AND for the decimal) what digit is in the ten thousands place value?
*** Email Ms. Bowen at lebowen@cbe.ab.ca with the answer!

Students also chose worksheets to practice skills they found difficult on the Monrow Sherman numeracy assessment. If anyone has trouble with a skill or finds a worksheet too difficult they can get extra help on Monday. This is supposed to be an opportunity to get better at a skill that they understand but occasionally make calculation errors.

Science: 

Students evaluated their Interactions and Ecosystems word posters on Stem 3 (inquiry and communication) criteria that they agreed upon. Their word posters were mounted on a wall in the class so that they have access to the unit vocabulary. Students are encouraged to develop a picture dictionary for any words that they are unfamiliar with. 

Homework: If students did not complete their community visual journal page this is due Monday or as soon as possible. 

Math Assessments

Math:

Tomorrow we are doing a math assessment (Edmonton Public Schools) that students do not have to study for to see which concepts and skills from grade 6 they have retained.

We will also look over our Monrow Sherman numeracy assessment and students will identify areas of strength and areas of growth in their numeracy skills. When marking this assessment I discovered that students have many methods for understanding and solving operations and we will use these strategies to help students approach problems with greater ease.

Science:

Students are designing a community of their choice with at least 5 populations and 5 species. They can choose a very inventive place, like space or Fortnite world, but they have to be sure to show how the "living things" in their community interact.

Good start to the week!

Math:

Today students did a brief numeracy assessment called the Monrow Sherman to give me information about where they are each starting with adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, number sense, and operations with decimals and fractions.

We also reviewed Geometric Construction skills, as tomorrow they have a hands-on assessment that asks them to identify parallel lines, perpendicular lines, and draw a perpendicular bisector and an angle bisector. Today they were given time in class to practice these skills and ask questions.

Science:

We read about and discussed terms and students put these in their Interactions and Ecosystems vocabulary tables. These are the five terms:

• organism
• species
• population
• community
• ecosystem

Tomorrow we will design a community (real or imaginary) visual journal page with species and populations labelled and community defined.

Homework:

1. Study for your math assessment (practice the above skills)
2. Brainstorm a community (e.g. space, Fortnite, a forrest, etc.) and the living things (species and populations) residing there and interacting
3. Bring back forms!!!