LETTER TO FAMILY Cut here and paste onto school letterhead before making copies. Dear Families, Our class is beginning a new science unit using the. We will observe soils and explore how the weathering of rocks provides the basic ingredients that form soil. We will model erosion and deposition using stream tables to show how earth materials move and shape new landforms. We will study how changes in the earth can be due to slow processes such as erosion, as well as rapid processes, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. Later, we will study earth materials as important natural resources. Finally, we will look into Earth s sky to observe, measure, record, and compare day-to-day weather changes. We will then step into space to model the Sun-Earth-Moon system and identify the planets in Earth s solar system. You can increase your child s understanding and interest in earth materials by asking him or her to talk about the investigations we are doing at school. You and your child may want to explore soils in your neighborhood or visit a landscape materials center or jewelry store (gems are minerals) to expose the broad range of uses for earth materials. Watch for Home/School Connection sheets that I will be sending home from time to time. These describe ways the whole family can look more closely at soils, landforms and natural resources around your home. We re looking forward to weeks of fun exploring materials on Earth and thinking about how Earth is situated in the larger solar system! If you have questions or comments, or have expertise you would like to share with the class, please drop me a note. You can get more information on this module by going to www.fossweb.com. Sincerely, Science News Investigation 1: Soils and Weathering No. 1 Teacher Master
Name MATH EXTENSION PROBLEM OF THE WEEK Investigation 1: Soils and Weathering Date Anders, Betty, Catherine, Dustin, Erik, and Felicia are sand collectors. Each collector has chosen some sand from his or her collection to trade. Each collector is going to trade with every other collector. How many different pairs of collectors will trade sand? Investigation 1: Soils and Weathering No. 2 Teacher Master
REFERENCE ROCKS FOR ACID-RAIN TEST BASALT LIMESTONE MARBLE SANDSTONE Investigation 1: Soils and Weathering No. 3 Teacher Master
HOME/SCHOOL CONNECTION Investigation 1: Soils and Weathering Explain to members of your family how you tested rocks to find out which ones react with acid rain. Explain that rocks are made of various mineral ingredients. The mineral calcite, is an ingredient in many rocks and is the mineral that reacts with acid rain. Take a short walk with your family. See if you can find five or six rocks to test for calcite. Test the rocks by putting a few drops of vinegar on each rock. Record your findings in the table below. Safety note: Be careful using vinegar. Do not test special rocks, such as fancy crystals or valuable rocks. The vinegar could change their appearance and lessen their value. Rock location Test results Investigation 1: Soils and Weathering No. 4 Teacher Master
STANDARD STREAM-TABLE SETUP 1. Cover the table with newspapers. 2. Position the plastic tray so the end with the drain hole extends over the edge of the table. 3. Place the catch basin on newspaper on the floor under the drain hole. 4. Use the wood angle to push the earth material to the end of the plastic tray away from the drain hole. Make sure it is all behind an imaginary line 20 centimeters (cm) from the end. Smooth the surface of the earth material with the wood angle to make a flat, even surface with a cliff-like edge. 5. Set a 30-cm ruler across the top of the tray about 6 or 7 cm from the end. Secure it in place with small pieces of duct tape. 6. Support and center the standard water source on the edge of the plastic tray and the ruler. 7. Place two pencils under the tray to lift it just a bit. pencil 8. Use a 1-liter container to add water to the water source, as your teacher directs. Investigation 2: Landforms No. 5 Teacher Master
Name MATH EXTENSION PROBLEM OF THE WEEK Investigation 2: Landforms Date A third grade class had run the stream table several times. One student noticed that most of the clay had washed out of the earth material and into the basin of water. She asked the teacher if this was a problem. The teacher looked at the directions in the teacher guide and read that they needed to add clay to the earth material after several uses. The question was how much clay to add. It appeared that only the clay had washed into the basin. Most of the sand they started with was still in the stream table. The teacher said that they started with 2 liters of earth material in each stream table. There was three times as much sand as clay. 1. What was the volume of sand used in the original earth material? (Hint: draw a picture showing how many parts of sand and clay were used.) 2. What was the volume of clay in the original earth material? 3. The students let the water settle in the basin overnight. Then they poured off the water, leaving deposited clay and sand in the basin. The total volume of sand and clay in the basin was 400 ml. There was three times as much clay. How much clay should they add to the earth material left in the stream table? Investigation 2: Landforms No. 6 Teacher Master
HOME/SCHOOL CONNECTION Investigation 2: Landforms Watch a television newscast, read a newspaper or magazine, or browse the Internet for information about landforms and the natural or human-caused processes that create or change landforms. Some ideas might include floods, hurricanes and storm surges, earthquakes, landslides, and dams. Record in the space below the following information about the news story: The details of the event. The kinds of landforms that were affected by the event. How the event changed or created the landform(s). Where the event occurred. Look up the location on a map so you can point it out to someone else. If possible, include a copy of the newspaper or magazine article. Investigation 2: Landforms No. 7 Teacher Master
Name MATH EXTENSION PROBLEM OF THE WEEK Investigation 3: Natural Resources Date The parents club at a school wanted to build a weather station for the school. They decided that the first thing they should do was make a platform out of concrete blocks, then put the cabinets and tables for the weather station on that. A cement company told the parents that they would donate the concrete blocks for the platform. If the blocks are 25 cm x 25 cm, and the parents want to make the platform 3 meters by 2 meters, how many blocks will the cement company need to donate? (Use pictures, words, and numbers to figure out your answer.) 25 cm square 3 meters 2 meters Investigation 3: Natural Resources No. 8 Teacher Master
HOME/SCHOOL CONNECTION Investigation 3: Natural Resources Explore the inside and outside of your home to find earth materials in use. Organize the information you collect in a table or diagram. Here are some hints to get you started on your hunt. Clay Used for bricks, plumbing, ceramics, floor tiles, and decorative tiles. Sand and gravel Combined with cement to make concrete. Mortar, stucco, and plaster are kinds of concrete. Used to make bricks. Industrial sand Used to make glass in windows, TVs, refrigerator shelves, and dishware. Also used to make fiberglass. Gypsum Used in plaster and wallboard. Limestone Used to make Portland cement, abrasive cleanser, carpets, and even toothpaste. Investigation 3: Natural Resources No. 9 Teacher Master
WIND-VANE CONSTRUCTION Materials 1 Piece of lightweight cardboard or poster board 1 Straw, jumbo 2 Straws, superjumbo 1 Wooden anemometer base 1 Hole punch Transparent tape 1 Scissors Procedure 1. Cut a triangle from light cardboard (index card or file folder) or poster board. Cut as indicated to make a pointer and a rudder. 2. Use the hole punch to punch a hole in the center of the superjumbo straw. 3. Cut a 1 cm slit in one end of a jumbo straw (smaller than the superjumbo straw). 4. Insert the split end of the jumbo straw through the hole in the superjumbo straw. Fold down the flaps of the jumbo straw, and tape them to the superjumbo straw. Pointer 5. Cut 1 cm slits in the superjumbo straw. Insert the cardboard pieces into the straw, as shown. Secure the cardboard with small pieces of tape on both sides. 6. Insert another superjumbo straw into the wooden base. Insert the jumbo straw with the wind-vane assembly into this superjumbo straw. Your wind vane is ready to use. Jumbo straw Superjumbo straw About 12 cm Superjumbo straw Rudder No. 10 Teacher Master
CUPS OF WATER PLACEMAT Ice Water Room-temperature Water Warm Water No. 11 Teacher Master
CARDINAL DIRECTION N N No. 12 Teacher Master
CARDINAL DIRECTION S S No. 13 Teacher Master
CARDINAL DIRECTION E E No. 14 Teacher Master
CARDINAL DIRECTION W W No. 15 Teacher Master
HOME/SCHOOL CONNECTION What solar system objects can you see in the night sky? Only one star is a solar system object, the Sun. But it can t be seen in the night sky. Four solar system objects can be seen easily with your bare eyes at night. They are the Moon, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. They are brighter than the stars. But you have to know when and where to look for them. They aren t visible all night, every night. Two more planets can be seen with bare eyes if you know where to look, Mercury and Saturn. They are only as bright as stars. Look for solar system time and place information in the newspaper or on the Internet. Stardate is a good site. Go to www.fossweb.com for the direct link to the stardate website. See how many solar system objects you can find in the night sky. No. 16 Teacher Master
Name MATH EXTENSION PROBLEM OF THE WEEK Date A student, who is 10, is curious about how old she would be on other planets in the solar system. She knows that on Earth a year equals 365 days. But other planets have longer or shorter years. How can she figure out how old she would be on these planets? Orbit in Planet Earth days Mercury 88 Venus 225 Mars 687 Jupiter 4,333 Saturn 10,759 Uranus 30,685 Neptune 60,189 1. How many Earth days old is the student? 2. How many Mercury years old is the student? 3. How many Mars years old is the student? 4. On which planets is the student less than a year old? 5. On which planets is the student older than she is on Earth? 6. How old would you be today on each of the planets? No. 17 Teacher Master