Sun and Time!

Good Afternoon CFI Families!

Here is the recap of our week. We have continued our study of the sun through looking at light and shadows. We have also continued our study of time in math, and clocks for our class expert project. Here we are with the sundials we made, exploring how people first kept track of the time based on the changing shadows from the sun’s light. We were able to go out a few times a day and see how accurate our sundials were.

We also did an investigation into how light changes based on the material it hits. We used a flashlight, a dark room, and different materials to test our predictions. We predicted what would happen when I shone the light at a translucent fabric, a thick gold fabric, a colored piece of plastic, a mirror, a magnifying glass, and a glass full of water. For each, they made a prediction of what would happen and today we discussed why each result occurred. This led us into what makes shadows, what materials allow light to go through, etc.. This experiment has allowed us to examine the properties of light and what causes shadows.

Our class expert project on clocks has forced us to make decisions as historians and presenters. We have discussed how there is so much information out there that nonfiction writers have to decide what is the most important information to share. We had to chose what we considered the first clock, a sundial or the first mechanical clock. For our project we are looking at the first mechanical clock which still looks a lot different than what we think of as a clock. Here is a picture of our expert project together so far. As you can see it is authentically theirs, spelling, handwriting, and all. We will continue creating this together next week.

As previously mentioned, expert projects are due March 16th and we will have a share fair that night at curriculum night. You will be free to browse the kids’ projects and they will stand and share three of their facts about their invention which we will prepare in class that week. The actual presentation to the class of each project will be staggered across that Friday and the next week.

In math, we made our own clocks over the course of a few days first looking at the pattern of the hours and then minutes. These enabled us to practice telling time with an instrument they were familiar with and knew exactly how the numbers were placed. Most of these have since gone home.

In writing we are co-creating a story. Together we brainstormed characters, the setting, and the plot from beginning to middle to end. We are now working in groups to write parts of the story and put it all together. This study has allowed us to look in depth at the choices authors make and has challenged us to include more details in our own stories. This has accompanied our individual pieces we are busy creating.

Our first library trip to the new Sandhills library will be Friday the 17th and we will travel there on a bus. Any chaperones would be appreciated.

Active gamecocks forms went home last week please look on the form for the date. This round is for Gamecock baseball and softball tickets so you don’t want to miss it!

Our next field trip is March 28th.This will be to the Children’s Hospital for their annual health presentation. They have tables set up and the kids walk to each to learn about healthy living. We will have an early lunch here at CFI and then will board the bus to leave at 10:30. We would meet chaperones at 11:00 at the Richland Children’s Hospital. We are set to leave for CFI at 1:30. Please let me know if you are interested in attending.

That’s all for now but here are the upcoming dates!

Upcoming dates:

March 14th- Spring Pictures

March 16th- Expert Projects Due

March 16th- Curriculum Night

March 17th- Sandhills Library (We will take a bus to the new library)

March 28th- Children’s Hospital Field Trip