Sixth Graders Partner with Colorado University on Study of Invasive Species

The Marshall Sixth Graders are working with Akasha Faist, a Ph.D. candidate from Colorado University, on a joint study over the effect of invasive species on native plants.   The study will emphasize experimental design and compare the results found in our classroom at Marshall with the results from the study site located in Davis, California.   Ms. Faist will use Skype to deliver background information on vernal pools and goldfields, the native plant that is being studied.  She also will instruct students on the experimental procedure that they will use.   She sent the seeds and plant litter that includes the invasive seeds to Eureka for use in the experiment.   After four weeks the results will be analyzed and compared, not only to the results in California, but also to the results of former sixth grade classes at Marshall who conducted the experiment in the past.   Ms. Faist is using the information to write a case study that will be published in a scientific journal.  The information will be posted and shared on our class blog as soon as we have it.

Reading, Thinking, and Writing About Natural Disasters

Students have been practicing research skills while learning about natural disasters.
They have used the ePals program for their pathfinder.  The first skill emphasized by this project was for students  to give a strong commitment to the quality, significance, and accuracy of the information they borrowed from research.  The second skill emphasized was for the students to effectively paraphrase the material into the student's own style and language.  The third skill was to make sure that all borrowed material was fully documented and cited.

Sixth graders continue to practice these skills as they are complicated and take a lot of hard work.  They will make a broadcast of the final draft that will include pointers on how to prepare and stay safe during one of these severe storms.

Heat Transfer Experiment

In our study of how heat transfers, students conducted an experiment with equal volumes of hot and cold water.   A thermometer was placed in each insulated cup and the temperature of the cold and then the hot water was taken every minute. 

As the hot water cooled and the cold water warmed, the two temperatures converged toward a common point on the thermometer. 

An aluminum bar was placed between the two cups and students were able to feel the heat move from one cup to the other.

In science, it is often necessary to predict and measure energy flow.  Heat is a form of energy that cannot be measured directly, so scientists study heat by how it affects matter.