6th Graders Convert and Narrate Digital Books for Technology Projects

The sixth graders have been working on a project with Mrs. Countryman.  They are converting books about bullying into digital movies.  The students have used the app, "Book Creator", to capture the images from individual books using their iPad cameras. They narrated the books using references from the 6th grade speaking standards and converted them into a video file for sharing.

Sixth Graders Go Global With International Documentaries

 

International Documentaries?

The sixth graders have been researching, writing, and presenting information on countries from all over the world.   While the finished products may not be considered full-blown documentaries, all students have learned a lot while preparing for the presentations and listening to the presentations of their classmates.

Each student picked a country to learn about.  They used three online resources to find out about the geography, economy, government and people of the country.   The information was written in essay form and then transferred to Microsoft PowerPoint where students added pictures that helped tell the story of their country.

The videos have been placed in each student's google drive for them to share with their families. 

Interactive Rock Cycle

      

Two heads were better than three today, when students in 6A teamed up to learn about the rock cycle.  Students used an interactive diagram to learn about the processes that recycle rock from the Earth's core, to the surface and back again.   Arianna and Autumn were the high scorers of three classes.  They realized that they had to explore the virtual collection of rocks to be able to identify the characteristics that would help them.  Try your luck at completing the final quiz by visiting the website -  http://www.learner.org/interactives/rockcycle/diagram.html

Field Trip to the Hutchinson Salt Mine

Sixth graders took a field trip to the Hutchinson Salt Mine on September 23, 2014.   The students were able to ride a shaft elevator into the underground mine that is located 650 feet below the surface of the ground.  Tour guides described the rock formations and gave some history on the sea that used to cover Kansas.   Students were easily able to see the layers of sediment that had formed into the sedimentary rocks after the water evaporated.   Guides described the mine that is still in operation and gave examples of products that were exported from the facility.  Students were also able to tour a museum of artifacts that were being stored in the mine for safekeeping because the salty environment acts as a preservative.   The Hollywood artifacts were the class favorites.  

Applying Engineering!

One of the jobs that is available for students interested in geology is the job as a geotechnical engineer.  These engineers  drill soil cores and study soil profiles. They use their analysis to make predictions about land use and which sites would be best for development.   Sixth graders drilled some of the boreholes in the outdoor learning site.  They measured the depth of the sample, drew a graph of the different types of soil seen and calculated the fraction of these types to the whole core.  A description of the soil grain and color was also included.  The activity simulated an environmental site assessment for a company who is planning on developing a housing community in the area.  Students wrote recommendations that they would make to the company about placing a building in our learning site. 

Sixth Graders Are The Best!!!

       One of the great benefits our school receives from having sixth grade a part of our elementary school is that they help coach younger students.

Early in the morning before school starts, you will find students with their sixth grade coach practicing math facts and letter identification.   These partnerships develop close relationships that follow these students throughout their school careers. 

Density = Mass/Volume

One of the identifying characteristics of a mineral is in the density of the sample.  Sixth graders read earlier in the week that a mineral's density is determined by the kinds of atoms that make up the mineral, as well as how closely the atoms are joined together.

Geologists use special scales to determine the density of minerals.  The sixth graders estimated the density by measuring the mass of a sample mineral on a set of balance scales. They then measured the volume by displacing water.  The density was then computed by dividing the mass by volume.

Student teams tested five samples and then exchanged mineral samples to verify the work of another team.   The samples were placed in greatest to least order according to the number of grams per cubic centimeter.

 

Sixth Grade Science Students Enjoy the Outdoor Learning Lab

Sixth graders used the new outdoor learning lab as a place to investigate minerals.  The shaded, cool, cemented area was a great place to test minerals for hardness, luster, streak, and any reaction they may have had to an acid.    Students used Mohs Scale to conduct a scratch test using their fingernails, a penny, and a nail to determine the hardness of five mystery minerals.  They observed the color of the streak that was left on a tile and whether or not the mineral rock was attracted to a magnet.  A reaction to vinegar was also a characteristic students were watching for.   Finally, students referred to a Mineral Identification Key to make final conclusions on which minerals they were identifying.  Talc, magnetite, calcite, quartz, and halite were the mystery minerals. 

Welcome to the 2014-2015 School Year!

Curious About Crystals

Sixth graders conducted three different investigations in an attempt to identify an unknown crystal.  Students compared the unknown substance to table salt, MSG, Epsom salt, and sugar.  The first test consisted of looking at the crystal shapes under a microscope.   Similarities and differences were noted as the known substances were compared to the unknown.  

After completing the investigations, the class decided that the unknown substance had characteristics most like Epsom salt. 

They used the process of elimination to make their decision. The MSG did not have the same shape of crystals as the unknown. The sugar dissolved in water faster than the unknown. The salt did not crush into smaller pieces like the unknown.

The closest substance was Epsom Salt. The best conclusion was some type of salt similar to Epson salt.

The unknown substance was Kosher Salt.