Our Great Galaxy

This has been an exciting week in our class. We learned all about space, and the planets that are in our solar system. Your students learned the order of the planets with this great song:






Planets Song

(to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star")

I know the planets one by one
Starting with the one that's closest to the sun.
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars,
Are the first four among the stars.
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
I know the planets one by one.



We also discussed that Pluto is no longer a planet; it is now classified as a dwarf planet. You student should be able to tell you the order of the planets, and how far they are away from the sun.

After you and your child talk about the order of the planets and some of their properties visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WEL117xXpw. Watch the informational video that puts planets size to scales that we can all understand.

When you have finished watching this video got to the NASA KIDS site and help your child sign their name up to be sent into space on the Glory mission. Their name will be in space FOREVER!!!!

Were you born with that?

In class we have been talking about inherited traits, and adapted traits of animals. We have discussed why animals are born with certain traits, and how they may develop new traits in order to adapt to their environment. Here are the definitions we have been studying:

Traits

Traits are qualities, features or other things that distinguish the organism. Traits can include things like hair color, tooth shape, beak shape, bone size, or muscle structure. Traits come in two varieties: acquired and inherited.

Acquired Traits

Just like your uncle, animals can acquire useful abilities. These acquired traits can not be passed on genetically. You can't inherit your uncle's knowledge, skills, ideas or memories and it doesn't' work that way with other organisms either. Acquired traits include things such as calluses on fingers, larger muscle size from exercise or from avoiding predators. Behaviors that help an organism survive would also be considered acquired characteristics most of the time. Things like where to hide, what animals to hide from and other behavior like that. For plants acquired characteristics might include bending because of wind.

Inherited Traits

In organisms, inherited traits must come from a parent or other ancestor. A trait may seem to skip a generation or even two or three, but if a trait shows up it must have been present in an ancestor. Mutations are the exception to this rule. Inherited traits include things such as hair color, eye color, muscle structure, bone structure, and even features like the shape of a nose. Inheritable traits are traits that get passed down from generation to the next generation. This might include things like passing red hair down in a family. For animals it may include things like the stripes on a tiger, a skunks ability to spray, or the flavor of fruit from different apple trees. All plants and animals that reproduce pass on traits to their offspring. (utahscience.com)

After talking about the difference with you child visit http://www.animalgame.com/play/
. This fun game has you guess which animal they are describing using the animals inherited traits!

Eartquakes

This week in our class we have been talking about how the surface of the Earth can be changed by forces such as earthquakes and glaciers. We have been specifically focused on earthquakes. We have been studying what causes them, and how they change the surface of the earth. As we are studying earthquakes we have learned many technical terms that are associated with earthquakes, so I would like for our students to visit http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/animations/ . This site allows the students to see animations of terms such as Amplification, Divergent Boundary, and Thrust Fault. Students should watch the animations for each term, so they can further understand the properties of earthquakes, and what causes them.

After students look at the animations, they should watch this fun video by Dr. Textbook. It gives the students some really interesting facts about earthquakes!!!

Earthquake video

Trash Craft

In class this week we have been discussing why it is important to recycle. We have talked about what each students family can do to make a difference in conserving our resources, and making our planet cleaner. We have also talked about the process of sorting trash such as paper, and plastic to be recycled. We are also making a list of trash that is not typically recycled, and trying to come up with ways to recycle them. Ideas have included using trash as art. Visit familycrafts.about.com to find some fun family craft activities using trash such as cd cases, and milk jugs.


Here are a few fun facts about recycling...

* Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours -- or the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline.
* The average American uses seven trees a year in paper, wood, and other products made from trees. This amounts to about 2,000,000,000 trees per year!
* Americans throw away 25,000,000,000 Styrofoam coffee cups every year.
* Every month, we throw out enough glass bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper. All of these jars are recyclable!
* The U.S. is the #1 trash-producing country in the world at 1,609 pounds per person per year. This means that 5% of the world's people generate 40% of the world's waste.

Welcome!!!

Welcome to Ms. Turner's third grade science spot. This science edublog is a communication tool for teachers, parents, and students. It allows parents to find out what your children are doing in our class, and it allows your children to play some fun games, and look at informational sites that will supplement their leaning in the classroom. I invite you to look around and check out the games and activities with your child. I hop you have a great time while learning something new.
Thank you,
Ms. Turner