Chemistry in Science

Hello! My name is Keira Traverse, I'm going to be talking about our most recent science class. This class was one of my favorites. In class we learned about how pennies can turn silver nails to copper nails and what liquids could clean a penny. 

In the class we used vinegar and salt, vinegar, salt water, and soapy water to see which one was going to clean a dull penny, the salt and vinegar was the one that worked. We don't really know why, but we still had fun. Later we found out that vinegar is a weak acid. After that we put a lot of pennies in salt and vinegar and left them overnight. The next day we look at them they got kinda clean, but not fully. Then we got a silver nail, we put the nail in a bag and then poured the pennies and salt and vinegar in the bag with the nail. We left them overnight. The next day we saw something, the nails had turn copper but how? In the night, the copper on the coins came off and were spread in the water. Then the particles collected on the nail covering it in copper. The nail in this situation is like a magnet and the copper particles are like iron. Then on friday we were given sandpaper to sand the nail. We started to sand the nail and the copper was coming off the nail. The nail was copper plated, so when we sanded it the copper scraped off of the nail. And that was my science class. Thank you for reading, your fellow writer, Keira T. Thank you.

From the Desks of Halo and Lucy...

On November 7, 2019 we had a blow up planetarium in the gym. Mr. K came from the Springfield Museum. On that day the fifth graders got to go inside and learn about stars and constellations. It was dark in there and all we could see were stars and constellations and even the planets Saturn and Jupiter. We went in there not knowing a lot about stars, then we came out knowing a lot about stars and constellations. When you think about it there are a lot of stories about how the constellations are placed in the night sky. Mr. K set it up to look like we were outside looking at the sky, but we were indoors, and it did feel like we were outside. It looked like real stars, but they were pictures of stars. After he showed us the sky and told us about stars and what they were known for. He set up the same thing but it had lines connecting each constellation so we could see what they looked like. He showed us constellations like Aquarius, Cassiopeia, Leo, and Geime and lots more. It was lots of fun. We want to thank the JA PTO for bringing this program to our fifth grade.

From the Desks of Halo and Lucy...

Peter H. Reynolds meets JA on October 11, 2019. He wrote the books ISH, Sky Color, The Dot, Word Collector, Happy Dreamer, and Say Something plus tons more.) He visited our school with his brother Paul Reynolds. Both brothers also own their own bookshop.  It is called the Blue Bunny. Everyone was so happy to see this famous book author and illustrator. He also illustrated the pictures for Judy Moody.  We have had many authors and illustrators come visit Johnny Appleseed, but Peter Renalds is the nicest, kinds, and coolest. He is so kind to everyone and he wishes that everyone visits his Blue Bunny book shop in Boston.

Walk to School

We had a terrific morning walking to school. It was awesome to see our community stretched out over the sidewalk of Main Street. What a morning!

 

Open House

What a week! It was so nice to meet families last Tuesday. Thanks to all who came and those who reached out even though the couldn’t be there in person. The students were excited to share their classrooms with you. If you haven’t signed up for a conference in November, I will be sending out invitations soon. 

Our class is settling in to our daily routines and will be finishing up our first units in science and math. We are starting a new writing project... a NASA sponseeed contest to name the next rover before its mission to Mars next summer. All students will complete the writing, but anyone who wants to submit their entry will need a parent consent form. It went home today with students. 

September has been a great month so far! 

Band Assembly

Today we were treated to a concert from our own Leominster music teachers. They demonstrated all the instruments students could play if they choose to join band this year. Band practice is during the school day with a few concerts at night  Information will go home today about rental nights and signups. 

Science Recyclables

Are you finding yourselves recycling clear, two-liter soda bottles? Please send them to 5A instead! We'll be using them for water filters and live organism habitats this year. We need about 30, so feel free to rinse and send them in at any time this year. Thanks!

Our First Week!

Hello again! I hope you enjoyed the long weekend. We have had a terrific first week. It's been so fun getting to know all of our classmates. We spent some time team building and talking about how to work within a group. We also started our first science lab- deciding if we were squares! Students practiced tinkering with the 3D printer software. We've already got our first published writing project ready to go for Open House. I'm excited to meet families on September 17th, from 5:30-7:30. Please bring your students and siblings, so we can have a big meet and greet. Below are a couple pictures form the first week.

Welcome To Class!

Welcome to our class blog! Fifth grade is an exciting year as our students become the leaders at Johnny Appleseed. We will be working all year to gain more and more independence and prepare for middle school. I will post updates about our adventures in 5A here, and I invite you to check in when you can. There are also links to classroom materials, homework templates, and the class Scholastic Book code. I'm looking forward to a fabulous year in fifth grade!