Students in grades one through eleven will be taking NWEA MAPS the beginning of October.  We are hoping to finish our NWEA Maps assessments prior to parent-teacher conferences so you can receive those results at conferences.  If you do not or if you have questions please contact Mrs. Marx after conferences.

Actual test dates have not been set at this time; however, your child’s teacher should notify them of an impending test.  You can help your child by remembering it is important for him/her to get a good night’s sleep before testing and to eat a good breakfast.  Also remind your child that these tests are important and encourage him/her to do their best.

This week in first grade we learned about living and non-living things.  It seems very easy to tell a living thing from a non-living one, but it’s not as easy as it appears!  We conducted an experiment this week to further investigate this idea.

For our experiment, we placed a soaking wet cotton ball and radish seeds in a small cup, and in another cup we placed a foam grow creature covered with water.  We made predictions about what we thought would happen the next day when we checked on them and talked about whether each one was living or non-living.  Many students were convinced that the foam creature was alive because it “grew” when placed in the water.

The next day, students were anxious to check on their cups to see the progress of their seeds and creatures.  There was a lot of excitement as many noticed that their seeds had sprouted and their foam creature had gotten larger.  This sparked a discussion about what makes something living or non-living.  We discussed that living things needed to make more of themselves, and since the foam creature was not capable of doing that, even though it “grew”, it was not actually a living thing.

The students loved the opportunity to investigate an idea and draw conclusions based on the results.  The next time your child asks a math or science related question, find a way for them to come to the answer on their own.  It will have more meaning to them and they will often have a better understanding in the end.

We had a wonderful time having a guest artist last Monday.  Kay Meeks arrived September 10 from an art showing in Ogalala.  She is from Wyoming and oil painted on canvas stock card.  Kay had a photo of a long-horned steer and talked about how to paint what you see and how to paint shadows.  She also kept us captivated by her funny stories.  Her art rag was one of her son’s diapers from over 30 years ago and she only has just 3 left.  She was a pure pleasure to have and we are hoping to see her again in the spring.

Engineering Design Process: Building an Insulated Cooler

The Seventh Grade Science Class put their minds to work to design an insulated cooler that would keep an ice cube frozen for an entire class period. The students researched on the computer for what materials make good insulators and the materials were gathered.  Materials used for the insulated coolers included liquid insulation, Crisco, Styrofoam packing peanuts, household insulation, sweatshirt material, and Styrofoam panels.  They designed, built, tested, and evaluated their coolers.  The results were:

Ciara thought the Crisco kept the ice cube colder than she thought it would while others were disappointed with the effectiveness of the Styrofoam.