Testing Tolerance

No, not my tolerance! Though some days really do test that…. This is a science experiment. But I’ll come to that later.

We began today by giving the students who needed to complete the social studies test or the check step on last night’s homework. Those who did not need this extra time got a chance to work on the Unit 3 crossword puzzle, one of tonight’s homework assignments.

We then turned our attention to Science. Our latest investigation tests tolerance for water. This is a simple example of isolating a factor, one of the key scientific method skills. The students planted four different types of seeds in four cups. The only difference from one cup to another is how much water was placed in each. One cup was not watered, another received a mere moistening, and third received a hefty amount of water, and the fourth was really drenched.

The students hypothesized that the dry soil would be the least productive and that the moist soil would be the best environment. We will be checking back on our seeds regularly to see what the optimal water tolerance for each kind of seed is.

After recess, we read about the advent of the stagecoach, the Pony Express, and the telegraph in California. After lunch, we did a little time with Charlie Brown. Parts will be assigned next week.

• Students interested in Charlie need to learn the “lunchtime” monologue on the top of page 3.
• Students interested in Lucy and Linus need to learn the “queen scene” – middle of page 6 to the middle of page 7.
• Students interested in the part of Patty and Linus need to learn the “rabbit” scene on pages 10 to 11.
• Finally, anyone interested in Schroeder should learn the “crabby” monologue on page 13.

We talked about rounding decimals in math. Students then had the rest of the day to work on the mosaic art project that we started last week. This one will still need work; it is a slow project which tests their tolerance for slow methodical work. That’s why it’s so great!

Homework:  (1) Study spelling for tomorrow’s test. (2) Complete the Unit 3 Vocabulary crossword. (3) Do the “New Links to the East” study sheet and the worksheet about Morse Code. (4) Do “Rounding Decimals,” envision Math pages 293-294 and the enrichment activity on the back of the answer page.