Conduction

Ask your student about our observation this afternoon...what materials make good conductors?   What materials made good insulators?

The Parklands at Floyd's Fork

Team Wilkinson thoroughly enjoyed their time at The Parklands, despite some whipping wind and cooler temps.    We reviewed our Earth's materials concepts, found evidence of slow (erosion) and fast (sinkhole) changes and even got a lesson in how to skip rocks. 

If our adventures sparked a return trip, we spent the day at Beckley Creek section and your student is trained to show you a few hiking trails :) They really enjoyed the Gravel Bar, where Ranger Olivia let us explore the fossils and taught us about Mussle Shells!! 

Here's a look at our exciting day:

Double Trouble :)

Friday we celebrated Twin Day...check out some of our participants...

Don't adjust your screen, it's not blurry:

Quints...

And then...the most anticipated part of the day:

The "other" Ms. Wilkinson joined us for Lunch Bunch!!!!

My identical twin, Kacie, had such a blast hanging with Team Wilkinson.  Hopefully she returns again soon!!

p.s.   We don't believe we look alike.  But I know you're curious:

Measurement Cheat Sheet!!!

Our unit test is on Thursday April 23; the test will cover Area & Perimeter, Time and Measurement (Customary and Metric).  Here is a cheat sheet for the measurements we have been converting and exploring, which need to be memorized for the test.

Money:
5 pennies = 1 nickel
10 pennies = 1 dime
25 pennies = 1 quarter
4 quarters = 1 dollar
100 pennies = 1 dollar
**students are also responsible for adding/subtracting money, including making change**

Time:
60 seconds = 1 minute
60 minutes = 1 hour
24 hours = 1 day
7 days = 1 week
365 days = 1 year
52 weeks = 1 year

Customary Length:
12 inches = 1 foot
3 feet = 1 yard
5, 280 feet = 1 mile
1,760 yard = 1 mile

Customary Weight:
1 pound (1 lb) = 16 ounces (16 oz.)
2,000 lbs = 1 Ton

Customary Volume:  (Remember the Land of a Gallon story and visual...you may write this on the test as soon as you get it!!)
1 gallon = 4 quarts
1 quart = 2 pints
1 pint = 2 cups
1 cup = 8 fluid ounces (8 fl. oz.)
1 gallon = 8 pints
1 gallon = 16 cups

Metric:  (Think: "King Henry Died Unusually Drinking Chocolate Milk!)
Our prefixes come from our saying and are ordered greatest to least:
Kilo-, Hecto-, Deca-, UNIT, Deci-, Centi-, Milli-

1 kilo- = 1,000 units
1 unit = 100 centiunits
1 unit = 1,000 milliunits

Metric Conversion Rule: When converting a larger unit to a smaller unit (left to right on our chart), we use MULTIPLICATION.  When converting small units to a larger unit, we use DIVISION (right to left on our chart).  These movements represent powers of 10; moving 2 columns to the right is the same as multiplying by 100 (10 x 10) or moving 4 columns to the left is the same as dividing by 10,000.

In the metric system, when we are measuring LENGTH, we measure in meters; when are measuring WEIGHT, we measure in grams; when we are measuring VOLUME, we are measuring in liters.  In our room, we have been focusing primarily on units such as: millimeters, kilograms, liters, and centimeters as these are the most familiar to our lives, but students needs to have an understanding of the system on the whole.

Practicing these facts 5 minutes a night until next Thursday should provide a great foundation for your child.

Rock Cycle Review!

Team Wilkinson loves a good hands-on activity...even when it involves food and we can't consume it!    Using an ever popular candy, we simulated the Rock Cycle:

Our candies began as individual pieces of rock, or sediments.   When sediments layer upon each other and are tightly packed, they become sedimentary rock.  Over time and with the addition of heat and pressure, sedimentary rocks become metamorphic rocks. 

Our candy demo took a super fun turn when we added intense heat to our metamorphic rocks using the microwave!   Magma is molten rock below the Earth's surface, lava is molten rock above the surface (and depending on the imagination of your child, our main hallway was either above or below this threshold).  When magma/lava cools, it becomes igneous rock.  Finally, weathering or pressure changes igneous rock into sediments and the process begins again!

p.s.   Apologies for the delay in posting these photos...they got buried by pictures of my adorably fun nephew Rees :)

Think Win Win Wednesday!

Many thanks to these kiddos for taking the time to plan, construct and finalize our door decoration for the Cafeteria's contest!!   Though we did not win, they showed outstanding Habit practices and I am very thankful for the many hours they put into their idea!

Way to go Team!!