Have a great Spring Break!!!

Announcements:

• Hope you have a wonderful Spring Break!!! (see you on April 8th, 2019)
• There are extra Math and Science practice opportunities in the sections below

Math:

We finished Patterns and Relations this week. If students would like to review this chapter over the break (chapter 10) they can do practice questions on Khan Academy or IXL or they can review the textbook chapter. 

This week students practiced graphing from equations and noticing differences in graphs as equations change. We looked at graphs on Desmos and students learned how y = x is different from y = x + 3 or y = 2x. They learned that the number next to x (that multiplies by x) is called the numerical coefficient and changes the slope (steepness) of the graph and the number added or subtracted to x is called the constant and determines where the graph crosses the y-axis (y-intercept).

Some of the skills students learned in this unit include:

• Describing visual patterns (how is the pattern changing from one figure to the next?)
• Creating tables of values from these patterns comparing one variable to another
• Determining the rule (expression or equation) for the pattern
• Graphing the pattern from the table of values
• Creating a table of values from an equation using substitution

Science:

Students completed their Ice Box designs and tested them to see how well they would keep an ice cube from melting in one hour. All projects were quite successful! 

We measured how much water was in their baggies after the hour using a graduated cylinder and recorded the results. They then reflected on what they would do to improve their projects were they given the opportunity to rebuild. 

These projects will be marked over the break and marks will be on PowerTeacher. 

Thank you to the students for doing a really good job with this project!!! 

When we get back we will study types of energy. Students who would like to get ahead are welcome to research pros and cons of different energy sources including:

• fossil fuels
• solar power
• wind energy
• nuclear energy
• hydro power

Email lebowen@cbe.ab.ca if you have any questions over the break.

See you April 8th. Have a great Spring Break!!!

Linear Relations, Math week, and Ice Box Designs

Announcements:

• Thank you to students and families who came to Parent-Teacher Interviews this week!!! If anyone was unable to attend and would like a meeting please email (lebowen@cbe.ab.ca) or call the school to book a time
• Spring break begins Friday, March 22nd (No school Friday) - Have a great break!!!!
• This week was Math Week and we had fun activities in the studio at lunch and we had fun celebrating Pi (3.14...) Day on March 14th 
• Please do some Math practice (Mathletics, Khan Academy or worksheets - see Ms. Bowen for more information) over the break!
• We are also recommending that students read at least 15 minutes a night to increase their literacy skills as well as vocabulary

Math:

Students continue to work on understanding patterns and expressing patterns in tables, graphs, and rules (equations). This week much of the focus has been on graphing. Students observe the changes in a pattern, make an input/output (x/y) table and graph the coordinates (x, y). Their graphing skills have really been improving! They are beginning to be able to graph in all four quadrants of the Cartesian Plane. We will continue to practice graphing next week.

Science:

Show and Tell: A relative of mine just came back from New Zealand with black sand. This sand is magnetic and students really enjoyed playing with it! This was a good connection back to the Planet Earth Unit.

Ms. Baillargeon, our literacy coach, taught two classes on visual note taking in the past two weeks. Students learned many techniques and then applied some of them to heat transfer concepts. It was really impressive to see how well they were able to connect and personalize key ideas.

Ice Box Challenge: After practicing drawing simple 3D shapes, students learned to draw 3D diagrams and cut diagrams of their Ice Box Challenge projects. They completed their design blueprints this week and will begin building on Monday. 

**** Make sure to bring in any recycled materials you may need for Monday!! 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Algebraic Thinking

Announcements:

• Parent teacher interviews are next Thursday, March 14th - Sign up is online (instructions went home in a letter last week)
• Students who have not completed the Heat Story or Atomic Comic can come in for extra help at lunch or after school
• Jelly Bean Fundraising sheet is due back next Monday, March 11th

Math: 

Recently week we started a new unit, Patterns and Linear Relations. 

Students have been observing visual patterns (http://www.visualpatterns.org/) and describing how the pattern changes from one shape number to the next. The more specific they can be the better. 

Try at Home:

• Can you describe in words what is happening from one figure to the next?
• Can you draw the fourth figure? 
• What would the first figure look like?
• Make a table of figure number (input) to number of squared
• Can you make a general rule that would work for any figure number? 

Today we played a game where we generated tables with multiplicative rules (e.g. output = input x 3). Each student played the robot, or rule generator, and the other students guessed the rule from the table values.

Students who would like more practice solving in/out tables or figuring out the rule to tables can go to IXL https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-5/multiplication-input-output-tables-find-the-rule or Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-fifth-grade-math/cc-5th-algebraic-thinking/modal/e/write-a-2-variable-relationship  

They can also get a membership for free at https://solveme.edc.org/Mobiles.html and practice mobile problems that teach algebraic logic.

Science:

We are learning about Heat Transfer, Particle Matter, and States of Matter. Yesterday we watched Bill Nye "Phases of Matter." 

Eureka also has some good videos about heat transfer and heat concepts. 

Today we did an Ice Cube Experiment. The question was:
"Which ice cube will melt faster, the one on the frying pan (at room temperature) or the one on the laminated wood desk?"

Students wrote a hypothesis including If, then, because method. They then watched the experiment and made observations and wrote a conclusion that stated if the hypothesis was correct or incorrect, why what they observed occurred, and any experimental errors.

This is something you could easily try at home!

Later in the week we will begin the Ice Box Challenge project and students can apply some of the heat transfer concepts they learned today to their designs.