Minerals

We started out today with the students imagining how they might survive if their plane crashed into the Arizona desert. They wrote diary entries about how they survived.This was not completely morbid as the students had been studying in the Treasures reading this week how different animals survive in the desert. We had some good responses. We also reviewed the “Walk in the Desert” story and practiced Annie.

After recess, we split into Science groups. Each group was give pieces of calcite, quartz, gypsum, and fluorite, though they did not learn the names of those minerals until later. First the students observed the stones carefully looking for properties like color, mass, and texture. 

After discussing the limitations of some of those properties to help identify minerals, we discussed how hardness might be a good property to explore. I explained the scratch test to them, and they attempted to scratch each of the minerals with fingernails, pennies, and a steel paper clip. 

In the afternoon, we looked at how rectangles can have the same perimeter but different areas. 

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 14-20 ten times each and a sentence for each. (2) Do pages 262, 263, and 264 in the Practice book. (3) Do the summary and questions 1-4 on pages 563. Students should study the questions. The students had 25 minutes to work on this in the morning. (4) Read “Mining for Minerals” in the Science Resources book and answer the study questions. (5) Do Multiplying Decimals 3. Be sure to show all work. (6) Do “Same Perimeter, Different Area” on pages 368-369 in the math book.