Monday, May 3, 2010

We had an assembly called Gems Rock. We learned about special kinds of rocks and minerals. We learned lots of neat information. Objects all around our homes are made from rocks and minerals. For example, toothpaste has minerals in it that come from rocks in the earth. Windows, electronics, toilets, and roofs are also made from objects in the earth. We also learned that a purple gemstone (amethyst) will change colors and become orange-ish (citrine) if it is next to a heat source. Potassium is an important mineral that is helpful for our bodies. Some people were called up to try different experiments. One child got to go up and lick his finger, touch the rock, and lick his finger again. It tasted salty! It turns out that the rock in his hand was the same mineral used to make salt.
Another child from our class also got to participate in an experiment. She put her hand in a tub. When we saw her hand, it had something white on it. We got a clue that it was something you might put on a baby’s bottom. She thought it might be chalk. It ended up being talc (used to make baby powder).
At the end of the assembly all of the classes lined up by a bin and got to sort through lots and lots of stones. We each picked two to keep.




When we came back to the classroom, Ms. Stern showed us the chart on the Dinosaurs Rock website to try to identify the stones that we picked.

We played Star Wars during P.E. Coach Hudson picked someone to be a Jedi. Hunter, Sasha, Dylan, Adam, and Dylan M. were picked to be Jedis. The Jedi goes on the orange dot (home base). When Coach Hudson says, “Never smoke!” the other people in the class run to pick up the balls on the floor and throw them to the other team across the gym. If the Jedi comes off of the orange dot, the other team can try to get him by hitting him with the soft ball. That earns the other team a point. Saying “Good luck” before the game or showing good sportsmanship will also earn a team points. Our class beat Mr. Gunther’s class 5-1. Sweepers are people who sweep the balls to either side of the gym. Dylan A., Lauria, Nancy, and Emma were sweepers for our class.

We began working a secret project that our moms will find out more about next week. Everyone is doing their best work, even though we can’t say what we’re doing our best work on!