Bird of the Week Vll - Monday, October 17th, 2011

This week's "Bird of the Week" is the Tufted titmouse. This small, gray songbird has a short tuft on its head and and its black eye is prominent in its pale gray face. The male and female look alike. It's song is a loud, whistled "peter, peter, peter, peter" and is one of the first bird songs of spring. The tufted titmouse eats insects and seeds.

The tufted titmouse is a common backyard visitor, frequenting feeders in the winter and nesting in holes in trees.

First photo taken from Cornell's All About Birds and the second one is with permission of Barbara Miers.

By Golly, By Gum!

By Golly, By Gum experiment sheet.

Trident!

Getting ready to mass the 5 pieces of gum.

Massing our gum.

Today we practiced using the balance scale and the scientific method by doing the fun experiment, "By Golly, By Gum".  Did question posed was, "What happens to the mass of gum after chewing it for 10 minutes?  We decided that we would first mass the gum, second, we would chew the gum for 10 minutes, third, we would mass the chewed gum, and last, we would compare the results.
We collected a lot of data, and on Monday we will graph it and learn how to read a food label.

Ready, set, chew!

School's pretty cool when I can chew gum!

Recording the data.

Massing the chewed gum.

Here is all of the data we collected in this class.

Using a Balance Scale

Yesterday and today, the students were introduced to the Pan Balance Scale.  The students learned how to first "balance" the scale before using it.  Then we discussed the metric units of mass and then we practiced massing various objects.

Bird of the Week Vl - October 11th, 2011



 

This week's "Bird of the Week" is the Red-tailed hawk. The Red-tailed hawk is the most common and widespread hawk in North America. It is a bird of open country, but also frequents woodlots and suburban backyards. It is frequently seen sitting on utility poles where it watches for rodents in the grass along the roadside.

This large hawk has long and broad wings. It's wing span is between 45 - 52 inches. That's 4 1/2 feet! The tail is broad and red and most commonly has a pale chest and dark band across it's belly.
The Red-tailed hawk is a sit-and-wait predator, usually watching from elevated perch and then flying down to capture small and medium-sized mammals, birds, and reptiles. It will take young birds and squirrels out of their nests sometimes.

Around here, the Red-tailed hawks' nest is a large bowl of sticks in tall tree. You may also see their nest atop of a utility (light) pole along the highway.
While many eastern Red-tailed hawks migrate, there is a sizable number that live around here year-round. These photos were taken in October, 2009 right outside my classroom window! This hawk caught and ate a Gray squirrel.
Photos by Mr. Williams



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Can you see the squirrel he is sitting on?



Bubbles experiment, continued

We all have our homework!

Now that the experimenting is done, it is time to examine the results and compile them into a lab report.  The students wrote their qualitative observations for homework the other night and are now finishing up their conclusion by answering several questions.  In addition, they are doing a drawing of the experiment..  The final drafts will come next week.

Bubbles!

On Friday, we began our first, formal science experiment following the Scientific Method.  This experiment, called "Bubbles", allows us to bring together the Science Safety, Lab equipment, and Metric Measuring that we have been working on this year.  It is also an interesting way to introduce the studnets to the Scientific Method.

Name:_____________________________________Date:___________________Group:_________


Title: Bubbles

1. Problem: Given the supplies you have, which brand of dish washing liquid will make the biggest bubble?

2. Research:

3. Hypothesis:

4. Experiment:

 A. Materials (list)


soap solution
dropper
paper towels
metric ruler
straw
safety glasses

B. Procedures (numbered sentences)

First, make a data chart. Then:
1. Obtain your materials, clear off your desk, and read the entire experiment before you begin.
2. Put __ drops of soap solution on your desk.
3. Place the end of the straw under the surface of the bubble. Blow gently in the other end to create a bubble on the surface of the desk.
4. As soon as the bubble bursts, measure the diameter of the bubbles footprint and record it. Wipe the surface dry and repeat from step # 2.
5. Practice this several times until you are good at it. Once you are good at blowing bubbles, record the diameter of the next 5 bubbles you blow under the Grand Finale. (Remember, it’s the next 5 bubbles you blow, you can’t pick and choose the bubbles you want.)
6. Find the average diameter for those 5 bubbles and record it.
7. Clean up.

5. Observations:
Your observations will include 2 things. One is your data chart. On your final draft you can write, “See data chart” and attach your data chart to the end of your lab report. This is known as your Quantitative results.


The second part of your observations will be the Qualitative results. This is where you write what happened and any interesting things you observed.

6. Conclusion: In your own words, you will answer questions A, B, C, and D that are on your Scientific Method Guidelines sheet. For this experiment, I also want you to answer the following questions.


1. What are the controls in this experiment? The controls are the parts of the experiment that are kept the same throughout the experiment.


2. What is the variable in this experiment? The variable is the part of the experiment that is changed. It is what you are testing.


3. What are some possible sources of error in this experiment? A source of error are things outside of your control that might have had an impact on the results of your experiment.

7. Repeat the work.

Bird of the Week - V

This week's "Bird of the Week" is the Canada goose. The Canada goose is the most wide spread and common goose in North America. This large waterbird has a black head and a long, black neck with a white chinstrap. It's breast is a light tan to cream color with a brownish back and a white undertail. The sexes look alike. It's call is a loud "honk."

There are 11 subspecies of the Canada goose, varying widely in size, with some Canada geese weighing about 7 pounds and ranging almost up to 20 pounds. The Canada goose is a popular game bird, often targeted by hunters.
The sight of migrating Canada geese flying high in a "V" shape form in the fall is quite a sight. Over the past 60 years, there has evolved a fairly large, non-migratory population of Canada geese here in Massachusetts. Many of these birds have become a nuisance, fouling town commons, golf courses, playing fields, and water supplies.
Canada geese feed in flocks and are herbivorous. That means they eat a variety of plant species and parts, especially grasses, sedges, grain, and berries.
Photos from All About Birds.