Stem Week 9

Presentations:

Here is some of the delight driven presentations we heard about today: Trees, Venus Fly Trap, Earthquakes.

Presentation Reminders:

• Provide an image or a hands-on example.  
• Highlight key-words, or use bullet points on an index card.
• Practice presenting before you come
• Project your voice, so that everyone can hear you.  (I usually say to bounce your voice off the back wall.)

Science Time:

We started our unit on Simple machines this week.  We started with levers.

This is the video we watched about levers.  It is silly but kept their attention.  It would be well worth watching again if you can fit it in.

In our lab time we placed a long board on a fulcrum (jack-stand) and placed our load on one end (a concrete block)  We adjusted our beam in different ways to explain how a lever helps to overcome the resistance of the load.  

Here are a couple of links about levers:  http://eschooltoday.com/science/simple-machines/what-is-a-lever.html , http://www.pkphysicalscience.com/article/433/1/what-is-a-lever

Math Time:

Keep up the good work mastering facts!

We played a great game today called zap it math. This is a fun easy way to help kids memorize their facts.  Here is a link to the game:  https://logicroots.com/MathBlog/zap-it-math-game/

We finally have a belt method that works.  Hopefully everyone has their belts now.

Please note: It is okay to stay on a level as long as it is necessary to master the material. Perhaps some students it will need to take several weeks to master +1 and +2 addition before for moving on to +3 and +4. That is perfectly fine and as it should be. The belts are a helpful way to reward hard work and give incentive to mastery at each and every level.

You will find flashcards, skip counting videos, and drill sheets to aid your child in the mastery of the four basic operations. http://stonetablestemclub.blogspot.com/p/black-belt-math.html (Also linked at the top of this blog.)

Optional homework:  

 Scholastic Slideshow: 

http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/forces-and-motion/simple-machines.htm


Text and Videos: CK-12
https://www.ck12.org/c/physics/lever/

Here are the videos from prior weeks if you missed them or would like to review:

http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/forces-and-motion/force-and-motion.htm

http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/forces-and-motion/fgravity-and-inertia.htm http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/forces-and-motion/inertia.htm

http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/forces-and-motion/acceleration.htm

motion.) http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/matter/energy-and-matter.htm

http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/energy-light-sound/magnetism.htm