Science

January

This month our class focus was on water.  The students participated in a variety of activities that helped them develop a better understanding of where water is located on earth, how very little of it (less than 1.5%) is available for human use, and why it is important to protect it.

Students imagined they were a drop of water and rotated through stations that represented locations in the water cycle. As they traveled around, the students created bead maps of their incredible journey to keep track of where they went. Using the bead maps as a reference, students drew the path that they took and also commented on how they went from one water source to another.

Journal pages from the Incredible Journey water cycle activity, and the It’s All Connected water quality activity.

Through the Drop in the Cup activity, students learned what percentage of the earth’s water is actually found in each of its major sources.

Our class then learned more about watersheds, where our local water comes from, and what happens to it when we are done with it. Student lab groups built models of watersheds in the sandbox, and observed the path water took when poured at the top of the mountains.

After having a visitor from the Santa Cruz Natural History Museum, our class took a field trip to Neary Lagoon to test the water for pH, temperature, variety of life, and clarity.  Our class determined that the lagoon is healthy and the students made many exciting observations.

In February our main focus will be on the science fair!  We hope you will join us March 5th from 2:30 - 3:15 to see all the amazing projects that the students come up with.