February 10, 2017

Changes Unit- Enduring Understandings:

-All life is interdependent and interacts causing change
-All things change over time.
 -Patterns and interactions change over time and help us learn about our earth and its culture.
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This second trimester, students will study the changes in power, economy, industry and our earth's features.    Through the course of our studies, they will discover how natural and human processes change societies and our environment.  They will make connections between technological advancements and changes within society and will analyze how human activities can impact watersheds and oceans.      Ultimately, the students will gain a deeper understanding of how humans interact with the environment causing change which can effect our industry, economy and our natural environment positively and negatively.

ELA
Our class novel, Among the Hidden is a hit! You know it’s good when the kids are begging you to read!! This is a compelling novel about our protagonist, Luke Garner, a shadow child, a third child, a forbidden child. He lives his entire life in hiding due to a population law imposed by the government. A housing development is replacing the woods around his family farm, and he is no longer allowed to go outside……I can’t tell you anymore, you will have to ask your child about  it! As we read, we are focusing on self-questioning, exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. We are working on finding the main ideas and summarizing important information.  Students are also making bigger connections to the real world and the different types of government and change that goes on in different societies while reading the book. 
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Math
 This trimester students have been hard at work discovering the changes that occur to numbers when estimating and rounding decimals. These changes make it so much easier to solve math problems mentally. One way students can apply estimating and rounding skills in real life is by thinking of how many items they can buy while on a budget. For example, when they are in Washington, DC shopping for souvenirs, they will have to round the prices of items before they go to the cashier to make sure they have enough money. 

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Science
        In Science, students have been exploring how matter can CHANGE states and have been investigating the properties of the different phases of matter.  
     We have been learning how to measure the volume of solids, liquids, and gases and how all three states differ in volume.  To conclude states of matter,  students designed their own experiment on solids, liquids, and gases and communicated their findings in a formal lab report. 
         This week students began learning about mixtures and explored several types of mixtures and pure substances.  They then were given the task of designing a healthy snack mixture for kids.  They learned to use the triple beam balance to weigh the ingredients of their trail mix mixture and had fun creating a container, designing the containers, and marketing their creation! 

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Social Studies
​Our 5th grade big idea, Growth and Power, has proved evident as students discovered how our country grew in both size and power at the turn of the century. With the acquisition of Alaska and Hawaii and a victory in the Spanish American War, our country emerged as a  World Power. A solid government, strong military and stable economy all led to this rise in power.

With the perspective of the U.S. as a powerhouse, our studies led to WWI.  We discovered the causes of the war, but have an understanding of why the U.S. didn't really want to enter at first.  Students are learning about how propaganda was used during the war and will have the opportunity to analyze WWI propaganda posters. Students will then use this knowledge to integrate with ELA and create posters that would support/oppose the third child law from the novel, Among the Hidden.  Once complete, come by and take a look!

To wrap up our Industrial Revolution unit, students created individual cartoons which depicted one of the topics we have been studying in class (women's rights / suffrage, mail order catalogs, urbanization and mechanization just to note a few).  The students' hard work definitely paid off.  Please enjoy a slideshow highlighting a few of these masterpieces!