6th grade update

At the beginning of the school year, 6th graders investigated the properties of the mysterious substance called Oobleck.  Just as professional scientists do, they proposed, discussed, debated, and decided on laws to define the properties of Oobleck.

More recently, the 6th grade has been learning about The Scientific Method.  We conducted a few experiments before starting to design our own.  For the students' independent investigations, I brought in sow bugs, a species of isopod that is related to shrimp.  Click on this link for more  Information about isopods.

A few questions that 6th graders have created and investigated:
What are isopods' food preferences: Cheerios, hot dogs, or bacon?
How quickly can isopods walk?
Do isopods prefer red or white?
Can isopods climb up rough surfaces?

We should know the answers to these questions by the beginning of next week!

Pictures from last year's Molecule Fair...

...plus one photo of 6th grade's Earthquake-Proof Structures

Egg Drop Challenge: Part 3

The Egg Drop Containers designed and constructed by the Guilford Middle School had a 84 % success rate! (Success was defined as the egg surviving the 4.9 meter drop completely intact, with no cracks.) Successful designs had already been tested with hard boiled eggs before the Competition Day.
Ballots have been counted; here are the winners in the following categories:
Most Sturdy/Solid: Jerry the III
Most Creative/Innovative: Jello-skill and the Springonator (tie)
Most Simple: The Survivor
Most Complex: Popsicle Stick
Most Attractive: The Pink Panther

Egg Drop Challenge: Part 2

Egg Drop Challenge: Part 1

6th Grade's 1st Challenge

The 6th grade began their year in science with a challenge: Construct the tallest stable tower you can using only uncooked spaghetti and marshmallows. Many of this year's projects will involve designing, creating, and testing products; the Spaghetti & Marshmallow Tower was an introduction to product design and distribution of forces, as well as cooperative group work.

Newton's Laws of Motion

Check out this interactive website all about the 3 Laws of Motion--

http://science.discovery.com/interactives/literacy/newton/newton.html

We'll be studying Newton's Laws and doing experiments to further investigate them.