Welcome back to school everyone! We've got a fantastic year planned in the Science Lab thanks to the Tritt Tiger Foundation! Okay, one quick plug, please donate :-). I had a pretty quick summer, teaching 4 weeks of Project Lead The Way to other teachers around the country (including Las Vegas), camping / mountain biking / paddling for 1 week, 1 week of Specialist Camp at Tritt with 83 of our awesome students, and 1 week of Space Camp for Educators in Huntsville, AL. Water Wednesday was a success with about 12 kids meeting up every week to harvest from and water / weed the gardens. We'll be spending even more time out there this school-year.

Here is a quick rundown of what to expect the first 9 weeks of Science Lab: 

Kindergarten - Starting with sink/float, we'll be studying the properties of matter using a new Project Lead The Way unit, and then move onto engineering design challenges lifted from fairy tales like Jack & The Beanstalk and The 3 Little Pigs. 

First Grade - If we got lost on the Tritt Nature Trail, how would we communicate over a long distance using only the items in our backpack: magnets, string, flashlights, a tennis ball, and others! Including studying weather (for hiking conditions), this will take the first 18 weeks. It all starts off with sound and making a "frog chorus". 

Second Grade - How can we keep an ice pop from melting in a homemade cooler? We'll study insulation and conduction with experiments on every day items!

Third Grade - There sure is a lot of rain this first week of school! These students will study the affect of erosion on soils and rocks. 

Fourth Grade - 3...2...1... Launch into space. We've got 9 weeks of space units starting with designing our own mission to Mars, and followed by building models of our own landers and rovers! 

Fifth Grade - We are studying the scientific method through inherited traits as we prepare for the Science Fair in December (more information to follow, but you can get a pretty good idea on this blog under the, wait for it.... Science Fair tab). 

That is about it! Oh yeah, if you misread one 1/2" binder as a 1 1/2" binder, that is probably my fault. That said, storage space is limited, and if you can track down a thinner 3-ring binder, that would just be, the best.