Work that brain #4

Clocks and their angles


Check out this website and write your answers on loose leaf!

http://www.mathsisfun.com/activity/clocks-angles.html


To learn more about right angles:

http://nrich.maths.org/1159

Work that brain #3

Do you know how to solve sequences?
 
 
Sequences are patterns
in math, they are patterns of numbers
 
can you figure out the next number?
2,4,6.......
 
Did you guess 8? 
 
Why??
 
Yes there was 2 added each time.
 
What about 4,8,12,16,........
Whats next?
 
 
4 is being added each time, so did you get 20?
 
Try out this game:
 
http://www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/cracker.cgi?A1=s&A2=0&submit=Start+Game
 
 
 
Now, look up Fibonacci sequence and tell me a little about it!

Work that brain #2

Archimedes: "Give me a place to stand, and I will move the earth."

What do you call an empty parrot cage?
Polygon.

One of my favorite mathematicians is Archimedes:
Archimedes of Syracuse lived around the year 250 BC and among other things, developed a method for determining the volume of objects with irregular shapes.

Look up some mathematicians and tell me a little about their history and what they contributed to the math world!

Work that brain #1

Write down your answers on loose leaf, and hand them in on Monday! (This is not required, but to just have fun with math over break--there may be a prize involved if you complete all 9!)

What is a Tessellation?

Why are they unique?

Can you make one?

January BedTime math

Missing Math??? Try some problems on BedtimeMath.org!

I will hand out a new calendar in January, you can get a headstart now!

10 problems for January.


http://bedtimemath.org/

Science Fair Links

Hey Guys! I hope you are enjoying your break! I sure miss ya'll! I can't wait to see you soon.

I know that some of you were worried about science fair and how you go about picking a topic, not to worry, you have time now to research! Here are a couple of websites to look at:

http://chemistry.about.com/od/sciencefairprojects/a/scipromiddle.htm
http://www.education.com/science-fair/middle-school/
http://www.sciencefair-projects.org/


Also, the last chapter in science about the human body was very interesting. If anything inspired you about that, go with it! Reaction time, how rods and cones in the eyes work, peripheral vision....so many ideas! Think about what you are passionate about!

If you have any questions shoot me an email
kelseykoch@bennps.org


-Miss Koch

Happy Holidays!

I hope you have a wonderful break, looks like it started 2 days early! I didn't get to say my goodbyes!! I hope you are healthy, safe, and warm!


Spelling Bee is rescheduled for Thursday, January 10, same times.


See you in the new year :)

-Ms Koch

Some reminders

Students will be bringing home their Biome projects today and tomorrow, they were presented proudly in the library!

Target Number quiz tomorrow, they should have brought home a study guide tonight.

Today they also recieved a science review guide and notecards to help study. Tomorrow we will play a review game, and test is Thursday.

Spelling Bee is also Thursday at 10.

Holiday parties are Friday! CLICK here for details for Miss Kochs class.

Looks like there is snow in the forecast! YAH!


-miss koch

Friday Update 12/14

Wow! This week flew by and we ended it perfectly by singing at Village Pointe, they did SO great!

Quick Reminders:
Wednesday- We will have a quick quiz over Target Number, which will basically be an overview of concepts we have been learning .

Thursday- Test in Science, The human body Chapter was made up of 4 short lessons that we are zooming through, and as all science test go, there will be a word bank, and then a couple of short answer questions! Short and sweet!

Then Friday is our holiday party! Check the previous blog post for details on helping out :) Or email Kristi Jacobs.

 Testing our reaction time, and how our neurons communicate with the rest of our body!

 We did an activity where they pair up, and one student has to explain a problem while the other one writes, they may not correct them, but listen them work through it. They were able to "teach" the concept, "write" about the concept, and lastly "solve" the concept. We will do this again this week, it helps keep information fresh!

 Why do we need 2 eyes to correctly see something? Does it help with depth, distance? They tested it out! Ask them how it went!

 We had the guessing game with candy and volume! These 3 were the winners! We will have another jar this week. The winners have to PROVE how they got the volume mathmatically. Good job Dalton, Sam, and Ben!

 We are going to start making math vocab words and start to study for NESA! Before we know it, it will be here! So as groups of 5 they brainstormed EVERY mathematical word they know. Vocab can lead to simple mistakes on the test, we are going to try and avoid that! 

So come January each kid will need their own pack of index cards (200 count- we are going to try and use each one!)

-Miss Koch :)

Holiday Party Details

Its Holiday party time!

Here is a message from Kristi Jacobs

.............................................................................

If you want to help out at the party click the sign up button to add your name.

sign up 

  

Please note: I (Kristi) will bring the supplies for the craft, games, and a couple small prizes for the minute to win it games (I will have a couple extra games just in case time allows!) If you have a minute to win it game you are just dying to do, let me know and I will plan for it!

 

Holiday Festivities - The Classroom Winter Holiday Parties and Assembly will be held the morning of Friday, December 21st. Students can wear their pajamas to school for this WILD-ly fun day at Pine Creek! The theme of our festivities this year is
“Wild Paj-Animal Party”.

The agenda for the day:

9:00 – 9:30 a.m. ALL-SCHOOL CONCERT in the gym performed by the 5th grade and 6th grade band students

9:30 – 10:15 a.m. ALL-SCHOOL ASSEMBLY presented by Wildlife Encounters
10:30 – 11:30 a.m. CLASSROOM PARTIES 11:45 a.m. EARLY DISMISSAL 

Feel free to call or email me if I forgot anything!

Thanks!

Kristi Jacobs

SIGN UP SHEET

Volume Video

It's ok to jam out to this!

Here is the volume video that we have been singing all this week! :)

Click here to see the VIDEO

The Brain

We are finished with Biomes and have moved on to the human body!

First up....THE BRAIN! Personally, I think the coolest part of the body! Do you know that the brain uses 1/5 of the energy that your body produces each day!?

 

Parents you can read and learn alittle about the brain, or read with your student and have them teach you! There is an extra credit opportunity at the end....or maybe 3....

Different parts of the brain control different functions, for example:

The Cerebrum controls your thinking and memorizing, it interprets your senses, which is why you know the difference between fresh backed cookies and a wet dog. The right side of your cerebrum controls the left side of your body, and the left side of your brain controls the right side of your body, and controls your voluntary movement such as picking up a book, giving your brother a toy to share :) or putting your dishes away :)

The cerebellum which means "little brain" coordinates your movement, it helps coordinate your movements and keeps your balance, or doing things automatically such as speaking or riding your bike so you can think about other things at the same time.

The brain stem controls involuntary movements such as breathing, blinking, digesting food, stuff you do not have to think about. So the brainstem is almost like your parents..... you always have food in the pantry, clean clothes, and clean silverware, do you think those get taken care of automatically? No, unless they are your chores, then it is something that you don't have to think about but gets done!

The hypothalamus is the bodies thermostat!  It controls when you shiver or sweat. It also wakes you up in the morning, controls your hunger and thirst.

And last but not least the spinal cord carries messgaes to the brain and different parts of the body. Just like the game we played in class when we had to "pass" the hand squeeze, many nuerons pass the message through your body!

Did you know?!

Helmets are worn by football players, they are made according to strict safety standards, but the helmets do not protect the neck or spinal cord. Because spearing, butting, and ramming can cause vertibrae in the neck to dislocate or break and, in doing so, damage or sever the spinal cord, there are strict rules against these actions.

Here is your extra credit activity, there are 3 opportunities to recieve extra points. (you can hand this in all week)

1. Why is it adaptive to have one part of the brain- the brain stem- controling involuntary actions such as breathing, while another part of the brain- the cerebrum- controls voluntary actions? (pg D 10 and D 11)

2. You learned today that the brain floats in fluid because the brain is soft-gelatinlike. There is your skull and a thick tissue to keep it in place. The brain can get injured though, a hard blow to the head can cause injury. Knowing this, why is it dangerous to shake a baby? (pg D 12)

3. As I mentioned before, the brain stem takes care of things you do not have to think about. What if you had to tell your body to digest breakfast, blink, breath, and heal, all while solving the volume of a rectangular prism in Miss Kochs class. Whew, I dont even know if I could multitask that much! :) SO, you need to write a thank you note to your brain stem for taking care of your bodys needs, and also write a 2nd thank you note to someone in your life who takes care of you! Think about who drives you to soccer, who helps you with homework, who cooks for you etc, who makes your life easier without asking them to! The brainstem thank you can be on looseleaf, but after I grade the 2nd thank you, you will give it to that person so make sure it is nice!(put some time and thought into it!)

Friday Update 12/7

The current Friday Update is here!

Our coordinate grid wall is gradually growing bigger! A great focus wall in our room!

 Our "engage" activity this week was for perimeter and area. I read scenarios to the kids and they had to tell me if the answer was looking for perimeter or area by holding up an "A" or a "P"

 Another engage for the lesson, was to measure the perimeter of shapes that Miss Koch outlined on the floor.

 Our review game for science was "Pass the Plate", played like "Last Word". On each plate was a topic for the test. They had to say a key word for the specified topic and pass the plate. If at any point someone repeated a word or had nothing to say, they lost the round, and received a new topic.

Tricky Tricky Perimeter questions. They were able to work in pairs to solve them, those questions might arise again soon!

 Finding perimeter and area of states!

 Applying perimeter and area, building their "dream room" Finished products are due Monday, their ideas are so creative!

-Miss Koch

whew, did you get through all of it?

hope I didn't overwhelm you!

:)

Biome Projects!

In Science last week we worked on Biomes!

Day 1- Assign and research ALL about the biome! They became experts.

 Day 2 and Day 3

Work on biomes! No matter how clean I tried to keep the classroom, sand and soil happened to get everywhere!

 Presentations!

Here are a couple of the biomes! If you would like a picture of your child and their biome, shoot me an e-mail and I will get it to you!

kelseykoch@bennps.org

These turned out SO awesome! They are all being displayed in the library if you wanted to walk around and look at them!

-Miss Koch