A Good Game of Capture 5

Andy and Dylan playing Capture 5

We found out about a new awesome game called Capture 5. It was pretty challenging but fun at the same time. The first person to capture 5 chips off of the hundred chart wins. The way you capture chips is that you take out 5 cards, then pick how many cards you want to use. You try to pick the cards that will get you to a red chip. There are numbers on the cards like +20 and -30 that help you get to the red chips.

Dylan's Score Sheet

Already Hoping and Dreaming

Hopes and Dreams quilt

This quilt holds all of our hopes and dreams that we would like to do this year. Learning all multiplication facts, reading the Magic Tree House series, and building a marble machine are just a few of our hopes. First we drew our own pictures to go with our Hopes and Dreams for this year. Then we put all of the pictures on a big piece of black paper to make it look like quilt. We had a very fun time making this quilt. Our class was very creative.

Water Cycle Investigations

On Friday we did some investigations into the different parts of the water cycle - condensation, precipitation, and evaporation. To experiment with evaporation, we've left 5 cups of water on our window sill for the past few days. We want to measure how much water is turned from a liquid back into a gas by the sun. 


For our condensation experiment we put ice cubes into a cup of room temperature water. As the ice cooled the water down, the water vapor around the cup was also cooled down and turned back into a liquid. We observed the water droplets on the sides of the cups. 

Did you know that hydrogen and oxygen mixed together form water? Isn't it amazing that two gases come together to make a LIQUID!? If you want to try our experiment at home, just light a candle and place a glass cup over it until it burns out. You will see the droplets of water left on the sides of the glass! Check out the pictures to see the proof. Our Earth has an awesome water cycle! 

Stunning Soil

Last week our class observed and studied soil samples from our own backyards. We were surprised at how different the soil samples from two kids' yards could look! Some soil samples were dark brown with small bits of mulch and others were deep red and clumped together. In some soil samples we found pieces of decaying leaves and grains of sand. The soil samples from Meagan and Casey's yards looked and felt like red clay. 


After studying our own soil we looked at soil graphics from books. We found out there are 3 layers of soil - topsoil, subsoil, and bedrock. Within those 3 layers are different types of soil - humus, sand, silt, and clay. Another type of soil is called loam...this is the type of soil that plants like the best because it has the most nutrients and the best drainage for water. Check out the soil graphics Liam and Ella D. created...

Field Trip Fun

On Thursday, April 21st we went on a field trip to the University of Virginia.  We visited the Rotunda and the UVA Lawn.  We went on a tour and in the Rotunda we saw the most realistic sculpture of Thomas Jefferson.  The Thomas Jefferson sculpture was so important that when the Rotunda caught on fire, students pulled it outside to save it!  Thomas Jefferson was the founder of UVA and is called the Father of the University.  We saw columns that were influenced by Greek architecture and arches that were influences by Roman architecture.  We found out that the arches were more expensive because they used more material, so Thomas Jefferson had to change his plan to use more columns.  The state government was so worried about his sloppy work that they kept giving him more money, but this was all part of Jefferson's plan.  He was a very clever man.  He was also considered a "giant of his time" because he was six feet, two inches tall.  On our tour we also learned that UVA now has many secret societies that we could be a part of if we are students at UVA and get "tapped"!

These are the most decorative columns - Corinthian. 

UVA Rotunda

These are the most plain columns and most often used - Doric.

These columns are Ionic.

Sketching the Rotunda.

Hard at work.

Details, details, details.

Working together.

Doric

Ionic

Corinthian

These are the only arches on the UVA Lawn and the first to be built, but then Jefferson decided to switch to columns because they were less expensive.

Bottom window of the Rotunda.

Rotunda sketch in progress.

Artists at work.

A beautiful day for sketching outside.

The other side of the Rotunda was a completely different view. 

Good-Bye Mrs. Hunter

Mrs. Laubscher's class was sad to see our WONDERFUL student teacher, Mrs. Hunter leave.  She is going to make an outstanding teacher next year and she will be missed.  We hope that she enjoys the classroom library that we started for her with our favorite books and messages from students inside the front cover! 

Coliseum Sketching

Come by the third grade hall to see our NEW Coliseum sketches. Our next unit of study will be ancient Rome. Notice the three different columns, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian, all influenced by ancient Greece.