Little Scientists

I am so happy to have my computer back! Ol' Faithful crashed on us last week. I suppose it was time. We'd had it since Sweet Cheeks was a babe. Our computer teacher was able to rebuild it into a much better computer. And I can catch up on my blog now!

The third graders were allowed to participate in the Science Fair this year, but in order to keep the skill levels incremental, we decided to have them build a model rather than work through the entire scientific process with a hypothesis, experiment, etc. They honestly blew us all away with their projects! Mom and Dad helped, of course, and that was fine with me. The point is learning how to choose a project that aligned with something we've studied, stay on schedule in building it, spend time with Mom and Dad, learn more about science, and proudly share the results.

It can't be a Science Fair without some active volcanoes! Here's my volcano group. (from Jordan/Palestine, USA, and Slovenia). My Slovenian student took 2nd place overall for her volcano. It was so realistic artistically. And then there's the fact that she spoke not a word of English when she came to me in February, and she's worked so hard. She deserved a ribbon!

 Here's the solar system gang, from South Korea, Russia, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan.

This South Korean guy took one of the first place ribbons. He built a solar powered bus. Its wheels move when you flip a light on it. Yea, he may very well build a real one at some point. (At any point when I could not find Big Ben at the Science Fair, I just came back to this solar bus. He was busy clicking the light off and on to get it to move.)

 These dolls from South Korea and Turkey built spider webs/habitats. If only I had space to store them, I'd love to display them when we study insects.

 These girls from the USA and Iran built various models....an arctic tundra, an electric switch to light a house made of wood, and a clay model of the human brain.

 My Italian student took another first place ribbon, as I was certain he made this entirely himself. He created a 3D model of land, with a dead lizard (real), and a fossil of that same lizard, with signs and changes in the land to indicate the passage of time. You could actually open the "lid" to find the fossil of his lizard buried in the earth. It blew me away. And I just loved the phone call from his dad at one point, "Do you have any objections to letting him bring a dead lizard for part of his project?" No, sir, bring it on!

 My Ecuadorean student is not even in Science, as he goes to special English classes during that time, but he wanted to make an African safari.

 These kids, from the USA, Romania, and Spain each made creative models of windmills, egg dropping gadgets, and a simple machine (wedge).

I was beyond proud of all of them!