Science Fair Update

All participating students should now have picked up their trifolds from Mrs. Leong in the school office and have their research and/or experiment well underway. A reminder that the Hawkwood School Science Fair is on January 22nd, coming up quickly. If students have any questions, or if their focus/topic has changed, they need to come and see either Mrs. Swinton or Ms. Drummond. 

All students need to bring their trifolds, log books, and other materials to the Hawksnest the morning of January 22nd, not before. Remember to make plans to get your trifold to school that day as they are not allowed on the bus. 

Gingerbread House

The class enjoyed designing, making and decorating a gingerbread house during this last week of school. First they created a model complete with measurements and then voted on their favourite house design. The class chose the "beach house" design. Then we made the dough and baked the gingerbread. Despite measuring the pieces, we didn't get it completely right so the design ended up being "beach house after a hurricane!" The kids enjoyed icing and decorating the house and despite its appearance, it still tasted great!

This past week students began a review of multiplication. They learned a few strategies 

for finding multiplication facts including skip counting and drawing arrays.  In Science, the students learned about the changes that occur when iodine is mixed with various household powders. The class continued with their research on the physical regions of Canada and some of them started designing their Instagram posts. In Art, they participated in a guided drawing activity to create a cardinal. After, they used pastel to colour the cardinal and tree branches and painted the bright blue background 

with a wash of paint. Have a wonderful and relaxing break!

Probability

Grade 5 students are enjoying playing games to learn about the concepts involved in probability. They are learning how to use the terms, "certain," "equally likely," "more likely," "less likely," "impossible" and "possible" when describing various outcomes. This week each child created a probability experiment to show their understanding.

In Social Studies, the class is engaging in research on the 6 physical regions of Canada. They are learning about the people, climate, natural resources and landforms that can be found in each region. Next week, they will begin a group project to showcase their knowledge of the regions with Instagram posts. Students began a project in French to create a zoo using the vocabulary they have learned so far. In Language Arts, we are still learning about parts of a sentence and how to correct fragments. The students are loving participating in the science experiments during our chemistry unit. This week they were able to observe the reactions that occur when powders and liquids are mixed. Finally, the class is participating in a kindness challenge where they are attempting to perform 16 random acts of kindness before the Christmas break. Everyone is enjoying being the recipients of this challenge!

Regions of Canada

Grade 5 will begin researching the regions of Canada in the weeks to come. In order to fully understand this concept, the class looked at features that define a region. The children came up with concrete examples of climate, landforms and natural resources to help solidify this concept. After researching the various regions, each student will design a travel blog highlighting key features in each area.

This week we finished learning about the characteristics of 2-D shapes and various ways to sort quadrilaterals. The children wrote a test today and a copy will come home next week. In Language Arts, the class began a short grammar unit on what makes a sentence. They began by taking notes about the two components of a sentence (subject and predicate) and came up with some examples. The goal of this unit is to support students in recognizing sentence fragments and run-on sentences. In Science, the kids have engaged in a number of hands-on activities and experiments to learn about the properties of water. On Thursday, students used the Scientific process in order to make crystals. They will be recording their observations weekly of the growth of their crystal. Ask your child about their observations. 

Classroom Chemistry

separating with air

Grade 5 began a Science unit on Chemistry this week. First, the students learned about the states of matter including solids, liquids and gases. Then on Wednesday, they experimented with a variety of ways to separate solids. Students chose two solids and then tried to separate them using water, magnets, air and sieves. The kids discovered that some methods are more effective than others.

separating with magnets

separating with water

separating with sieves

This week in Language Arts the kids learned about simile and how to enhance their writing with them. We wrapped up the Pattern unit in Math and began learning about the attributes of quadrilaterals. Some of the characteristics students will be exploring are parallel, intersecting, perpendicular, vertical and horizontal lines. In Social Studies, the class compared other regions of Canada to Alberta. Next week they will learn more about factors that define regions such as landforms, natural resources and climate. The students finished creating an optical illusion using pencil crayons and markers. During conferences, you can check out their beautiful art!

Science Fair

Interested students brought home information about the science fair last week. Each student has a letter with important dates and a list of safety regulations, and each group has one shared consent form/proposal sheet. The first two pages are for you to keep at home as a reference, and the third sheet needs to be completed and returned to either Ms. Swinton or Ms. Drummond by Wednesday, November 20, along with $14 for the trifold. (One trifold per project.) Students have asked if they can bring their own trifold; the answer is yes, as long as it meets the city science fair guidelines. Trifold measurements, along with other important information and tips, can be found on the city science fair website, which all participating students are encouraged to check out (http://cysf.org/students/ ). The frequently asked questions section (http://cysf.org/students/project-faq/ ) will be particularly helpful. If you have any science fair related questions, please direct them to Ms. Swinton (fcswinton@cbe.ab.ca ) or Ms. Drummond ( madrummond@cbe.ab.ca ). Thank-you for your support in this!

Monster Math

Students made monsters this week during Math to explore concepts related to measurement. After putting together their creation, they measured the straight sides of shapes within their monster. The kids converted the measurements from centimeters to millimeters and determined the perimeter and area of their creature. 

During Social Studies this week the class used mapping skills in order to support their learning about the regions of Canada. In Language Arts, the class finished up their writing assignments where they used their senses to describe their favourite season. Students partnered up to do research in Science on an endangered animal or plant in Alberta. In the process, they discovered some of the threats to wetlands and how individuals can protect them. Next week the groups will be presenting what they learned to the class.