Category: Science

Jan 22 2018 January 22, 2018 April 26, 2018 NoComment by David

2nd Grade Seasonal Adaptations Comics

Posted in 2nd Grade, Language Arts, Science

Second graders at Trevvett Elementary have been learning about ways that animals adapt to the changing seasons (camouflage, hibernation, migration, etc.)(SOL2.7a). Today students in Ms. Myers’ class created comics showing an animal of their choice adapting to the fall, winter, and spring. First we discussed different types of animals and what they do in winter. I demonstrated how to do a Google search if they didn’t know what their animal does. For example, I asked Google, “What to ladybugs do in winter?” (ANSWER: They hibernate in groups). Once we had our information, we went to StoryboardThat to make our comics. Since there are three panels in the comic, we made the first one fall, the second one winter, and the third one spring. The students dragged down scenes to represent their animal’s habitat. I showed them how to click the blue “Edit Scene” button to change the weather for the seasons. Next we clicked the Characters tab and went to Animals to find our animal. The Animals have an “Edit Pose” button that could be used to put the animal into different positions and change its colors. Finally we added “Textables,” or speech bubbles, with complete sentences explaining what the animals do to adapt to the different seasons. To save our comics, we took a screenshot using the Snipping Tool, then posted them to Schoology. You can see them all here.


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Jan 22 2018 January 22, 2018 April 26, 2018 NoComment by David

4th Grade Space Animations

Posted in 3rd Grade, Science

Fourth graders at Trevvett Elementary have been learning about the causes of Earth’s seasons (SOL4.8b) and the phases of the moon (SOL4.8c) in Science. A great way to demonstrate understanding of these concepts is to create animations of the movements of the Earth and moon. That’s exactly what students in Ms. Towns’ class did today using ABCYa!Animate. First, we reviewed the four seasons and the eight phases of the moon with their respective vocabularies (revolution, orbit, rotation, axis, waxing, waning, gibbous, etc). We discussed the position of the Earth relative to the sun to cause the different seasons and the position of the moon relative to the Earth to cause the different phases. We also asked some questions to stir their curiosity… What season is it on the other side of the Earth? Do other moons have phases? Do other planets have seasons? Why does the same side of the moon always face the Earth? Does the Earth move clockwise around the sun? Does the moon travel counterclockwise around the Earth? Those last two questions are important for drawing the animations correctly (ANSWER: both move counterclockwise when looking down from above the orbit, but clockwise when looking up from below the orbit). Once we had our facts straight, we drew the first image of our animation. I instructed them to include a drawing of what phase or season is happening at that position. For the subsequent frames we copied the drawing, then moved or redrew the objects. When we finished all the steps, we turned on looping and slowed down the speed. Then we exported our animations and shared them on Schoology. You can see them all here. (UPDATE: I added some animations from Ms. Hirth’s 4th grade class at Holladay Elementary as well).


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Jan 16 2018 January 16, 2018 April 10, 2018 NoComment by David

3rd Grade Loopy Cycles

Posted in 3rd Grade, Science

Third graders at Holladay Elementary have been learning all about cycles: animal life cycles, plant life cycles, seasons, and the phases of the moon (SOL3.8). Today students in Ms. Ambrose’s class used a website called Loopy to demonstrate how one of these cycles works. First we reviewed the steps in each cycle and pointed out that most of them have four parts. The students could choose which cycle they wanted to illustrate. I explained that a cycle is kind of like a circle because it continues around and around. Then we went to Loopy and I showed them how to create each step of the cycle by drawing circles and labeling them. The students could also change the colors of each circle. Next, we drew arrows to show the order and relationships between each step. We discussed why the order was important. Could the steps happen out of order? The way Loopy works is you click up or down arrows in each circle and see how having more or less of that part influences the other parts (it was designed to study simulations). So it illustrates life cycles best. If there are more eggs there will be more butterflies or frogs, but if the number of eggs goes down, so does the number of adults. You can change the relationships, too, by making the arrows positive or negative. That would be great for illustrating food chains and food webs (if there are more predators, there would be less prey – a negative relationship, but if there are more prey, there would be more predators – a positive relationship). When we were finished, we published our Loopy projects, and it provided a link to shorten with Bit.ly. We shared our links on Schoology, but you can see them all here.


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Jan 11 2018 January 11, 2018 April 9, 2018 NoComment by David

4th Grade Moon Phases with Scratch

Posted in 4th Grade, Science

Fourth graders at Varina Elementary have been learning about the phases of the moon (SOL4.8), so today, students in Ms.Stevens’ class used Scratch to illustrate the phases. First, we signed into our Scratch accounts and created a new project. I showed them how to click on the background button at the bottom and select a space image from the library. Next, we deleted the default Scratch sprite (right click on the cat sprite and choose “Delete”). The students went to the sprite library and chose a character to be the “instructor” who would identify the different phases of the moon. Then we created a new sprite for the moon and just painted different costumes showing the phases in order. To cycle through the costumes, I demonstrated how to use the “Looks” and the “Control” code blocks to command the sprite to switch to the next costume every second forever. We also had to make sure that it always started at the correct place, so our first bit of code set the “Looks” to the first costume. Once our moon was cycling through its phases, we had to make the instructor identify each one. Again, we used the “Looks” and the “Control” code blocks to control it. We set it to “Say” the moon phase for 1 second (since our costumes were cycling every second) forever. However, we discovered that after a couple of cycles the timing was off, so we changed the time for saying the last phase to 1.3 seconds, and that seemed to fix it. Finally, we published our projects and shared the links on Schoology. You can see them all here.


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Jan 11 2018 January 11, 2018 March 28, 2018 NoComment by David

3rd Grade Plant & Animal Measurements

Posted in 3rd Grade, Math, Science

Third graders at Varina Elementary have been learning about plants and animals in Science (SOL3.6) and about measurement in Math (SOL3.9). Today students in Ms. Hummel’s class created a 3-D scene where the visitor can estimate the measurement of a plant or animal, and check their answer. First, we created the 3-D scene using CoSpaces. I showed them how to choose a background with the Environment button and add objects with the Library button. Since there is a limited number of plants and animals in the Library, the students had to choose one of those to measure. Next, they opened a new tab and searched the Internet for the plant’s or animal’s actual measurements. Back in CoSpaces, they added two panels from the Library and typed the correct measurement on one panel, and a different measurement on the other (maybe with a different unit or amount). I showed them how to right click on the objects in the scene and activate them to be used in Blockly (the coding language). Finally, we clicked the code button and programmed the objects so that when the visitor clicks a panel, something lets them know that they are right or wrong (maybe a person says something or an object turns a color). The student’s posted the links to their scenes on Schoology for their classmates to explore, but you can see them all here.


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Jan 11 2018 January 11, 2018 March 29, 2018 NoComment by David

5th Grade 3-D Cell Models

Posted in 5th Grade, Language Arts, Science

Fifth graders at Varina Elementary have been learning about cells and their different parts in Science (SOL5.5a), and they have been learning how to use adjectives and adverbs in English (SOL5.8b). Today, students in Mr. Williams’ class created 3-D models of cells and wrote descriptive sentences of some of the parts using adjectives and adverbs. We used a great site called CoSpaces to create the 3-D models. First, we logged in using our Google accounts, and I showed them how to pick a background from the Environment tab. Next, we clicked the Library and built a model of a plant or animal cell using the cubes, spheres, and other shapes from the Library. We right clicked on each shape to change its color and activate it for use in Blockly (the coding language). Finally, we used blocks of code to program the cell parts to identify themselves when clicked. The students typed sentences with adverbs and adjectives describing each part’s function. You can see them all here. (UPDATE: I taught this lesson in a couple of other classes as well, so I’ve included some student samples from those lessons on the document. In one class we made the cell parts actually speak by recording ourselves in Vocaroo and uploading the MP3 audio files to CoSpaces).


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Jan 03 2018 January 3, 2018 March 26, 2018 NoComment by David

5th Grade Southeastern State or Animal Websites

Posted in 5th Grade, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies

Fifth graders at Laburnum Elementary have been studying the southeastern states in History (SOLSE), and they have been learning about animal survival traits in Science (SOL5.5c). Today students in Ms. Hall’s class chose a southeastern state or an animal to research, and then shared their findings on a Google website. First I explained how to research their topic using books or the Internet. We discussed the importance of checking facts (seeing if the fact was repeated in multiple sources) and using reliable websites. I instructed them to find the answers to three questions they were curious about–like “What is the coolest place to visit in the state?” or “What is the most amazing survival trick of this animal?” Once our research was complete, we went to Google Drive and clicked New > More > Google Sites to create a website. I showed the students how to pick a theme, and how to use the buttons to add different features to their websites. Besides including their three facts, I also wanted them to include a header image, a photo, and a map. When our websites were finished, we published them and copied the links into Schoology. You can see them all here.


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Dec 13 2017 December 13, 2017 March 23, 2018 NoComment by David

5th Grade Programming Cell Parts

Posted in 5th Grade, Science

Fifth graders at Laburnum Elementary have been learning about plant and animal cells (SOL5.5a). Today students in Ms. Burgess’s class used Scratch to write a program that identifies the parts of a cell. First, we reviewed the cell parts and their functions and discussed ways that students could research additional information (using books, notes, or the Internet). I explained that we would be writing code today, which is similar to the code that is in each cell. DNA gives directions for things to happen inside the cell, and our code will give directions for things to happen in our diagram. Just like in DNA, if one piece of the code is wrong, it can create a problem. That’s why we teach elementary students to code, because it requires logic and problem solving skills to make sure their code works. After we set up our Scratch accounts, the students created a new project, clicked the background icon, and painted a background image of a plant or animal cell. Next, we deleted the Scratch sprite (the default cat character) and created our own. I showed them how to take their photo with the camera button and turn themselves into a sprite. Finally, we used the coding blocks to build a program that moved our sprite to different parts of the cell and identified their names and functions. You can see all their projects here.


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Dec 12 2017 December 12, 2017 March 16, 2018 NoComment by David

1st Grade Earth & Sun Pixie

Posted in 1st Grade, Science

First graders at Holladay Elementary have been learning about the relationship between the Earth and the sun (SOL1.6), so today students in Ms. D’Antonio’s class used Pixie to create a diagram showing that relationship. First, we opened Pixie and used the Paint Bucket to fill the page with the blackness of space. Next, we used the Paint Brush to sprinkle a bunch of stars across the sky. I showed them a picture of the sun compared to Earth so they could see the incredible difference in size. Based on that information, we used the Shapes tool to draw a huge yellow circle for the sun. We made it so big that it didn’t even fit on the page. I also showed them how to use the Smear tool to smear rays from the sun (they liked that a lot 🙂 ). Then we searched the Stickers for an image of the Earth and added it to our picture. Of course, the students could add other stickers to make their pictures more creative. I asked them to identify the day and night sides of the Earth based on which part was facing the Sun. A cool, interactive way to demonstrate this is to go to Google Maps, switch to satellite view, click the 3-D button, zoom all the way out until you can’t zoom anymore, and click and drag the Earth around. You will see the sun and the day/night side of the Earth. The students used the Text tool to type “day” and “night” on the correct sides of the Earth sticker. Finally, we exported our Pixie files as JPG images and uploaded them to Padlet. You can see them all here.


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Dec 05 2017 December 5, 2017 February 22, 2018 NoComment by David

4th Grade Planet Books

Posted in 4th Grade, Language Arts, Science

Fourth graders at Holladay Elementary have been learning about the planets in Science (SOL4.7), and they have been identifying nonfiction text structures in Language Arts (SOL4.6a). Today, students in Ms. Anthony’s class used BookCreator to make books about the planets with nonfiction text structures. First, they chose a planet to research and spent a few minutes exploring websites and books about the planet. Next, we reviewed nonfiction text structures they observed in their research: bold print, photos, captions, diagrams, etc. I explained that they would need to include some of those features in their planet book. We signed into Book Creator with our Google accounts and entered the teacher’s class code. Then they clicked the “New Book” button to get started. I showed them how to add text with the + button and how to modify the text font, size and color with the i button. They made their important words bold. We also added images with the built-in image search and typed captions. Some students took photos and video with the webcam feature, but we found that those seemed to take a long time to load. Hopefully that feature gets upgraded in the future. We didn’t use the drawing tool, but that is also available. Finally, we published our planet books, and I linked them all into one book. You can read their finished book here.


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