BEAR PROJECT- DUE WEDNESDAY

Hi, Everyone!  Your child's BEAR folder and project are due on Wednesday.  They should have finished their biography book and should be working on their project.  If they finish early, they are welcome to turn it in ahead of time.

Matter Unit

This week we began our matter unit in science.  We began to explore different solids, liquids and gases and defined what matter is.  The students were given several balloons filled with different substances.  Each child was asked to make a prediction about what they thought was inside the balloon (a solid, liquid or gas).  Then we opened them up and found out what was inside.  Two balloons had gases inside of them and the rest are pictured below:

Dishwashing Liquid

                                                  Water

Flour

                                                 Rice

FIELD MUSEUM TRIP

We had a great time at the Field Museum today.  We visited the Pawnee Lodge and learned how the Pawnee people adapted to their environment.  Thank you to the parent chaperones who came with us.  We had a great time!

BEAR Project

Your child should be working on their BEAR folder at home.  The genre this term is biography.  It is due December 18th.  A description of the project is in their folder.  Remind your child that they need to complete the top ten list about the person the chose and then write a letter to convince others of why they should be in the Hall of Fame.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Welcome Back!

Hi!

I am so excited that we are back.  I hope everyone had a wonderful and restful week off!

30 Star Party

The class has earned another star party.  They have chosen a pajama day and movie party.  They are allowed to bring in a pillow and stuffed animal and an additional snack.  We will be having the party Friday, December 6th.  Please encourage your child to bring in rated G movies for our special event.

BEAR

Your child should be working on their BEAR folder at home.  The genre this term is biography.  Please encourage your child to work on their project over Thanksgiving Break.  It is due December 18th.  A description of the project is in their folder.  Have a great Thanksgiving!

What is the oldest mountain range? by Morgan

      I learned that the oldest mountain range in the world is Barberton Greenstone Mountain Range.  The Appalachian  Mountain Range is the oldest mountain range in the U.S.  The Appalachian Mountain Range is the fourth oldest mountain range in the world. The Appalachians are 480 million years old. The Barberton Mountain Range is 3.5 billion years old.  The Appalachians are located in the US. The Barberton Mountain Range is found in Southeast Africa in Kaapavaal Craton, Africa. The Appalacian Mountain Range is one thousand five hundred miles wide.  Did you know in the 1700s and 1800s Swazis and their livestock lived in the area of the of the Barberton Greenstone Mountain Range? The Appalachian Range is 6,684 feet tall. Learning about these two mountain ranges was so cool!

Where would you be at the most risk of dealing with earthquakes on regular basis By:Annabelle

The pacific plate is moving northward toward Alaska. There are more earthquakes in Alaska then volcanos.  It is subducting under Alaska and the Aleution islands as well as the eastern most end of Siberia.  Alaska is known for oil, so lots of oil rings are located there.  With the oil rings they dig really deep changing the faultlines constantly, and the faultlines scrape against each other causing vibrations underground.  Alaska can have 24,000 earthquakes in one year.  Alaska is situated in a unique and complex tectionic setting.  At the southern edge of the state lies the boundary between the North America and Pacific plates.  In Southeast Alaska the plate boundary is defined by a series of strike-slip faults known as the Queen Charlotte-fairwether faults and continue through Canada and back into Alaska, creating some of the largest faults in the United States.

Have there ever been cities that have disappeared because of a volcanic eruption? By Owen

On the 24th of August, 79 A.D. lava and ash came out of Mt. Vesuvins covering towns of Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum.  Mt. Vesuvins killed around 3,000 people and 20,000 people were injured.  Some of the Pompeii people survived because they were farther away from the eruption.  The Roman towns in the Bay of Naples were buried in lava and forgotten for more than 1600 years.  Pompeii is about 8km (5.0mi) away from Mount Vesuvius.  Pompeii covered a total of 163 acres and was a major city.  The town was founded around the 6th-7th century BC.  The town of Pompeii became an important passage for goods that arrived by sea and had to be sent towards Rome or southern Italy along the nearby Appian way.  Pompeii has been a tourist destination for over 250 years.  Pompeii has approximately 2.5 million

visitors a year.

How do earthquakes only shake one area? by Maya

Well, I found out that a earthquake is caused when two tectonic plates slide past each other.  The reason is because you can't take the middle of a plate and slid it with another.  Some places where earthquakes are a big problem are Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Washington. California, San Francisco 1906 there was a huge earthquake! About 3,000 people died! Why was that earthquake caused? That earthquake was caused when the Pacific plate slid past the North American plate. The plates can move by coming close together, pulling apart, and sliding past each other. The edge of a plate is called a plate boundaries, that's where earthquakes, mountains, and all that cool stuff happen. That's why we don't get a lot of earthquakes, we are in dead center!

What is the oldest mountain range in the world? by Meghan

           The oldest mountain range in the world is the Barberton Greenstone Belt.  The Barberton Greenstone Belt is located in South Africa.  It is also in a part of Swaziland witch is next to South Africa.  Only a small part of the Barberton Greenstone Belt is in Swaziland because most of it is in South Africa.  The Barberton Greenstone Belt is over 3.5billion years old.  Lots of fossils have been found on the mountain that date back to very, very, very, very long ago.  Once a man found gold on one of the mountains and that led to a gold rush.  Of course the gold rush eventually ended.  The mountain is called a greenstone belt because of the green like coloring of some of the minerals in the mountains.  There are more then just the Barberton Greenstone Belt that are greenstone belts.  The Barberton Greenstone Belt is not very big because it has been weathered down but that doesn't stop it from being the oldest mountain range on planet earth.

Why does flooding occur? By Phillip

I have learned that flooding can occur with or with out warning and there are many flood levels like the major and minor flood warnings.  All these flood warnings have threat levels like the minor which is the lowest threat level.  Plus the major flood warning is the highest flood warning. The flooding can occur when is rains or snows.  Then the snow melts and it rolls down a hill that the core is bed rock.  The the water can't go to the nearest river and a flood occurs by the water building up and that's how a flood occurs.

How many volcanoes are there in the world? by Nolan

On this project I researched how many volcanoes are in the world and the answer is unknown, but I do know there is 15 to 20 volcanos erupting right now while your reading this. Scientists are thinking there are 15000 volcanoes in the world.

Another question is how do underwater volcanos form? Its like a normal volcano, but when it erupts it looks like an underwater bomb.  They are called submarine volcanoes.  When Hawaii was made it was because of underwater volcanoes.

How many volcanoes have erupted each year? by Lily

I learned a lot more about volcanos like how many erupt each year (60-70). I also learned about the most damaging volcano. Some volcanos can erupt big time and some can not. I changed my answer because on one website ,it said Yellowstone's volcano can cause the most damage, but I learned later that Mt. Pinatubo can cause the most damage. When I was thinking what to research I thought of  volcanoes. I also learned that without volcanos we would not have the Hawaiian islands.  That is my research.