Fatty!

So this week, we wrapped up our unit on nutrition!  As a way to wrap up/jet on to measurement... I decided to try the fat test with my kids.  This is a lesson I found somewhere out in blogland.  (If someone could tell me where that would be great!) 

Each child brings in a small sample of any kind of snack they want.  Which is basically like the best thing in the world for a ten year old.  And, to make that better, they had to bring it November 1st... the day after Halloween.  So you can imagine the kind of food that rolled in.  I asked the kids what would happen when we put the food on the bags and left it for 24 hours, and heard all sorts of responses:

"It will mold!"

"There will be cockroaches!"

"It will turn brown!"

"Ewwwwwwww"

"but... can we still eat it?!"

We also ranked the foods, whether they were healthy choices or not.  We set out all of our bags, and let the magic happen:

The next day, there was A LOT to look at! 

Yuck!  From here, we had to calculate the amount of grease that was left on the bag.  We had all sorts of measurements going.  Some were using transparencies to outline the stain and calculate the area, others were using a string to measure the perimeter of the stain... which led to great conversation about fat AND measurment.  Viola!

And I don't think I can ever eat a cheese puff again.  WOOF!



I’M THE SQUEAK UPON THE STAIR...

by

Greg Pincus

I’m the squeak upon the stair...
Yet when you look, there’s no one there.

I’m howling winds, groaning floors,

Extinguished lights, slamming doors.

I’m flitting shadows, darkening skies,

Piercing screams, distant cries.

I’m all your fears – heard, felt, or seen.

I’m in your head. I’m Halloween.

I love Halloween!  Now... on to the next holiday:

Totally making one of these bad boys.

The more you eat...

*Studying Nutrition*

Student:  "Miss K, I have a question."

Me:  "Yes, ma'am?"

Student:  "Well... I've been wondering..."

Long Pause

Student:  "What exactly is in beans that makes you fart?"  

Boo-humbug!

So I went to the store after a very busy day, to buy all the supplies needed to make these: 

All you need is chocolate, nutter butters and mini chocolate chips.  Melt the chocolate, dip the NB, add the chips and BAM, ghosts.  Seems easy enough huh?  Well, I just burned the chocolate (in the microwave) and now everything is ruined.  Whoops. 




....Maybe I'll shop for books instead. 

BUT WAIT!

We have been studying simple machines in science and how those machines make our lives and the work we do easier.  We have discovered simple and compound machines all around us and have done experiments that investigate the six simple machines.  As a wrap up to the unit, the fifth graders are creating their own infomercial posters that advertise a product that uses a simple machine to make the work we do easier.   Here is our inspiration:

The EZ cracker.  The lever that puts cracking an egg by slamming a fork into it in the past. A genius idea really.. who wants egg shells in their muffins anyways? 

We have all sorts of ideas flying around Room 210, such as: 

The catapult that launches you into a remote island for vacation

An automatic snow shovel for the winter

An escalator for your house (call now and get two for the price of one)

So, watch out world... these kids are planning to make your life even more easy!  Now, who wants to actually buy me the EZ cracker?? 

The Future.

Today we had the chance to watch Barak Obama's back to school speech.  You can watch it here.  Now whenever we watch something in fifth grade, it becomes second nature to scan the audience and move around the room to startle kids who are playing with their shoelaces, or who have their heads down, or who might be drawing cartoons in their notebooks.  But today as I scanned the room, I noticed that every set of eyeballs was glued to the SMARTboard.  And more than half of the fifth graders were taking notes.  Not because they had to, or were asked, but because they felt it was important.  In a country that is full of controversy, bias and debate, it was refreshing for me to see and hear their feelings about the speech...even at a young age. 


 "[Teachers] don’t do it for a fancy office.  They don’t -- they sure don’t do it for the big salary.  They do it for you.  They do it because nothing gives them more satisfaction than seeing you learn.  They live for those moments when something clicks; when you amaze them with your intellect or your vocabulary, or they see what kind of person you’re becoming.  And they’re proud of you."

Finally!

So, if you have been reading my blog at all, you know that I am mildly obsessed with crayons and all things crayola.  I currently have four large coloring books that I turn to religiously as a stress reliever.  (Just purchased The Lion King one.)  Anyways, I have been DYING to try the craft on Pinterest where you melt crayons using a hair dryer on canvas.  See below: 

Magical.  Anyways, I decided tonight to give it a try.  After purchasing my supplies (and new box of 64 crayons) my roomie and I arranged the crayons.  Actually, she did this whole process.. mathematically calculating the ratios of color.  (I do not have the patience for that.)

Then we got the blow dryer. Note: Make sure you lay out newspaper or plastic bags.  Wax splatters EVERYWHERE. 

As soon as you start blowing, the crayon starts to melt.  The instant gratification is overwhelming.  The wrapper gets a little darker, but still looks sweet.  And if you know me, you can get a chuckle out of the fact that halfway through I realized the blow dryer was sucking my hair into the other end and I had to rip it out.  But besides that, LOOK! 

Awesome, huh? Now I thought about going the whole flower route like the one above, but I think this looks great as is.  Who knew I was such an artist?  Not I!