Magnets: Materials Testing to Prepare for an Engineering Task

We needed to design a magnetometer to find magnetic fields on the surface of Mars.  So, we had to learn a little more about magnets.  We had learned that magnets attract certain types of metals.  But we needed to learn which objects get pulled the most easily towards a magnet.  Here we are testing how close the magnet has to be in order to pull the object towards it.

Revising our writing with a partner

Did you know that 40% of writing time should be spent revising?  Only 20% of your time should be writing the first draft, and 40% should be spent at the beginning planning and gathering information.  Because revising is such an important part of the writing process, we spent a long time doing that last week.  Students had a checklist and a partner to work with.  Once they went through the checklist, they picked a couple things to add in order to improve their writing.  We're working on writing an article about magnets for a scientific magazine geared towards kids in grades k-3.

Zip Lines

What would you do if you were up on top of a mountain and not feeling well enough to hike down?  We have been trying to design a zip line carrier that goes slowly down the zip line.  Check out our pictures and this website to learn more.

Ramp and Friction Experiments

We wanted to learn more about friction.  What is it?  What types of surfaces produce a lot of friction?  Here's what we did:

Pizza and PJs

Thanks to Laura Howe for bringing in the pizzas.  Our class won this pizza party for selling so many raffle tickets.

Poppers

Marble Runs

How does the marble act differently on the track than on the rug?  Why does it act differently?  We are just beginning our investigation into forces and motion.