Monday:

Students will be assigned 3 restoration projects to research and fill in a note catcher about.  Then, students will be getting together with other kids to share what they have learned when researching.

Tuesday-Thursday:

Students will be researching a local ecological problem.  They will be filling in a note catcher as they go:

• What is the ecological problem?
• Where is it happening?
• What is happening?
• Describe the science involved.
• Who are the organisms that are most affected?
• When did it happen?  Is it still happening?
• How is biodiversity affected?
• Are people affected?  Does it affect our food supply or the local economy?  Are you directly affected?
• What are some other interesting facts?
• What have people already tried to fix this problem?  Is it working?
• What is your idea to address the problem?  Describe in detail!

On Thursday, students will be finalizing their note catchers or slideshows and will be presenting their ideas to other students in the class.

Friday:

No school- Teacher Professional Development

This week, we will be working on learning about specific species that have been impacted by human activities.  Students will become "experts" on two specific species and how they have been impacted by human activities.  Then, we will be doing a "jigsaw" outside so that students can share what they have learned, and collect information about other species who have been impacted by human activities.  Students will also be researching different restoration projects and then will be sharing with other students at the end of the day.

Monday-Tuesday:

Students will be researching two species that have been impacted by human activities.  On Tuesday, we will be doing a "jigsaw" outside where students will be sharing their research with other students and also collecting information from students who researched something else!

Wednesday-Thursday:

Students will be researching 3 different restoration projects that are currently going on in the world today.  On Thursday, students will be sharing in a "jigsaw" formation about what they researched and will be collecting information about what their classmates researched.

Friday:

Students will be writing a brief reflection about which human impact they are most interested in and why.

This week, we will be wrapping up with our reflections on human impacts on the rainforests and jungles.  Students will be starting to learn about  invasive species and the impacts that they have on their environment.  We will be looking at zebra mussels and how this type of invasive species has grown in population and affected their environment.  Students will be graphing data about this type of invasive species and will be analyzing the data on their graphs to make inferences about how this species will impact the environment in the future.

Monday:

Students will be finishing their 3 paragraph reflection on how human activities have impacted the rainforests.  We will be using our outlines to help us to write these 3 paragraphs.

Tuesday:

We will be starting to look at invasive species.  Students will be reading about zebra mussels and the impacts that they have had on the environment.  Then, students will be graphing data about how the populations of zebra mussels have increased.

Wednesday:

Ms. Schneider will be coming to our class to deliver a Changing Bodies lesson for 5th grade students.  We will be splitting students into groups based on their identified gender.  One group will go outside for recess and the other will listen to the lesson.  Then, we will switch.  If you have any questions about this or would like to opt your student out, please let me know by Monday!

Thursday:

We will be analyzing data and information about the zebra mussels in order to make inferences about their populations in the future.

Friday:

Students will be choosing their own invasive species to research.  They will be looking at the impacts these species have had on the environment and on the native species.

This week, we will be looking further at human impacts on the rainforest.  Students will be watching a documentary about how humans have impacted the rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia.  On Friday, students will be writing a short 3-paragraph essay about how human activities have impacted the earth's rainforests.

Monday:

No School!

Tuesday:

We will be watching a documentary about the impacts of the palm-oil industry on the rainforests of Asia.  Students will be taking notes as they watch.  If a student is asynchronous that day, they should watch the class video when it is posted (after school).

Wednesday:

Students will be writing a 3-paragraph reflection about how human activity has affected the environment.  They will be using information from the documentary and from the maps activity from the previous week to cite as evidence in their reflection.

Thursday:

We will be doing our post-experiment observations for the decomposition lab that we started before testing.  Students will be looking at the growth of decomposers on the pieces of bread that we had set up in different conditions.  If students are in Zoom, they can observe the growth of decomposers on bread during Zoom.  They can also look at the pictures posted in the assignment.

Friday:

Students will be going through the food items in their pantry and house.  They will be labeling how many contain palm oil and how many do not.  Students will then create a pie chart of how many items in their household contained palm oil verses how many items did not.

If students are not able to find anything at home, they can use Google to search for different processed food items.  Some examples that students could look up:

   -Chips

   -Cookies

   -Canned soups

   -Chocolate

   -Margarine

   -Other items as well

Students should aim to find at least 20 processed food items to determine whether they contain palm oil or not.

This week, students will be working on creating a food web of the biome they chose last week.  In their food webs, they will be briefly describing the biome that they have chosen (where it can be found, the climate, and other features that are unique to the biome).  They will also be going in depth with 3 of each: producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and decomposers within the biome they have chosen.

Students can show their food web as an informational poster, a slideshow or a booklet.  If they have another idea, they can float that by as well!  Students will be presenting their biome food webs as a flipgrid on Friday.

Monday-Wednesday:

Work on biome food web presentations

Thursday:

What factors influence rates of decomposition?  This will be front loading for a lab that we will be doing next week in which students test different factors that affect decomposition on a piece of bread.

Friday:

Create a Flipgrid of your Biome food web.  Then, watch two other Flipgrids and leave a positive comment and a piece of constructive feedback!

This week, we will be starting to research biomes.  Students will select one biome in order to create a food web of the different producers, consumers, and decomposers.  

Wednesday:

Students will be learning and taking notes about the different biomes.  Once we are finished with our slideshow, students will select the biome that they would like to research.

Thursday and Friday:

Students will be researching the biome they have chosen.  They will be taking notes about the producers, consumers, and decomposers found within that biome.  General information will be provided about each biome, and students will also be finding resources to research further about each organism that they are focusing on.

We have a short week- no school or assignments on Thursday or Friday due to parent/teacher conferences.  This week, students will be sharing their slideshows that they made.  As students are watching others slideshows, they will be working on filling out a reflection about what they are watching.  For the reflection, students will be responding to:

• What did the presenter do well with their slideshow?
• What did the student do well with their style of presentation?
• What could the presenter do next time to improve on their presentation?
• What was something cool you learned from the slideshow?

Monday:

We will be going over the sign-up for slideshows and norms for presenting.  We will also be going over norms for the audience.  We will be watching slideshows and filling out reflections.

Tuesday- Wednesday:

Watch slideshows and fill out reflections.

No school on Thursday or Friday- Enjoy your spring break!

This week, students will be researching the kingdom of their choosing: Animalia, Plantae or Fungi.  They will be using their research to create an informational slideshow about their chosen kingdom.  Students can choose whichever one they would like to research, but it must be one of those 3.

This week, we will be looking at the biosphere and the kingdoms of life within this sphere.

Monday:

On Friday, each student read and took notes about precipitation, evaporation or condensation.  Today, students will be getting into breakout rooms to "teach" one another about the interaction that they read or learned about.  Students will be taking notes on what they have learned from their classmates in order to write a brief summary about these interactions between the atmosphere and hydrosphere.

Tuesday:

We will begin learning about the biosphere by reading a summary and answering comprehension questions.  Students will use the annotation strategies that we have been working on for the past few reading passages to take notes on their own reading passages and independently answer questions about the biosphere.

Wednesday:

Students will be learning about the different kingdoms within the biosphere.  We will be going through a slideshow and taking notes on the different kingdoms.

Thursday:

Students will be doing a "sort" in breakout rooms about the different kingdoms that they think a certain living organism might belong based on the features of that organism. 

Friday:

Students will be writing a short reflection about what they have learned about the biosphere.  Students will also have a sign-up genius to pick a topic for informational slideshows for next week.  Students will be choosing one of the kingdoms:

Eubacteria      Archaebacteria       Protista       Fungi      Plantae      Animalia

After signing up, students will be working next week on researching and presenting about the kingdom that they have chosen.

This week, we will be continuing our new unit in science: Earth's Systems.  We will be looking at the hydrosphere in depth, and then we will be analyzing the interactions between the hydrosphere and atmosphere.

Monday:

Students will be reading and annotating a text about the Hydrosphere.  Afterwards, students will write a 5 sentence paragraph about the main idea of the passage that they read.  They will need to have 3 pieces of evidence to support why they think this is the main idea.  

Tuesday:

Students will re-read the passage from yesterday.  They will then answer some comprehension questions about the Hydrosphere.

Wednesday:

We will begin to look at the interactions between the hydrosphere and atmosphere.  Students will review the Law of Mass Conservation: Matter changes but is not created or destroyed.  Then, students will jot down their observations as we watch a short video of a pot of boiling water.  (Link: 

Evaporating water on a stove top)

Students will write down their observations as they are watching.  Students will write their own explanation of what they think is happening to the water in the pot.  We will then watch a video that explains the process of boiling water, and students will write their Revised Explanation on their worksheet.  (Link:  Biggest Mistakes in Chemistry: Boiling and Evaporation)

Thursday:

Students will be "teaching" each other about one of the interactions between the hydrosphere and the atmosphere.  Students will either be reading about evaporation, condensation or precipitation.  They will take notes as they read.  Afterwards, students will teach their classmates about the interaction that they studied.

Friday:

Students will create a PowerPoint about the interaction between the atmosphere and hydrosphere.  A template for the PowerPoint will be available on Teams, but students can also make their own.

Monday and Tuesday:

No school for students- Presidents Day and Professional Development

Wednesday:

Students will be reading about the atmosphere and annotating the text that they read.  Afterwards, students will be writing a short summary about the atmosphere and its layers.

Thursday:

Students will be watching a short video- what if we did not have an atmosphere?  Students will then use evidence from the video to answer the question: Why is the atmosphere important to our earth?

Friday:

Students will be reviewing the text that they read on Wednesday and will be answering comprehension questions about the atmosphere.

This week, we will be finishing our unit on Earth and the Universe.  Students will be learning about the seasonal patterns that go along with constellations.  Students will also get the chance to draw what the night sky looked like when they were born.  Later this week, we will be reviewing our unit and taking the end-of-unit test.  Students will be taking a pre-test for our next unit: Earth's Systems.

Monday:

We will meet in class to watch a video about the seasonal patterns of the constellations: https://mysteryscience.com/astronomy/mystery-4/seasonal-patterns-earth-s-orbit/75#slide-id-1118 

Afterwards, students will be coming up with "theories" about why the night sky changes based on each season.  They will give their 2 theories names and will provide evidence to support each theory.

Tuesday:

We will meet up in class to watch a short video about the different constellations and how they might have gotten their names.  Afterwards, students will be using the website https://in-the-sky.org/skymap.php to put in their date of birth (including year).  This will generate a picture of what the night sky looked like on their birthday.  Students will then be drawing a picture of what they find.

Wednesday:

We will meet up in class to review our unit through a Kahoot.  Students will then be reflecting on what they have learned so far in this unit.  They will be answering the following questions:

1. What was something interesting that you learned about galaxies?
2. What was something interesting you learned about the earth's rotation and revolution?
3. What was something interesting you learned about the sun?
4. What was something interesting you learned about the moon?
5. What was something interesting you learned about constellations?

Students may refer back to their reading or video responses during this unit to answer the questions in their reflection.

Thursday:

Students will be taking their end-of-unit test for Earth and the Universe.  If a student is present in the building, they will be taking this test on paper.  If they are online for that day, they will be taking their test in the assignment on Teams.

Friday:

We will be beginning our next unit: Earth's Systems on Monday.  Today, students will be doing a short pre-test to show what they already know about this topic.