Pictured above:Poster welcoming parents to the Sandy Beach Museum in Mrs. Park’s grade 3 class at Lowell. Parents were invited to view models and reportsfrom the Shoreline Science unit.Pictured to the right:Students in Mrs. Monfette’s grade 3 class at the Hosmer,put their knowledge to work by creating terrariums, an activity which was partof the Soil Habitats module.

Term II begins with a second Seeds of Science, Roots of Reading module for students to explore in grades 3,4 and 5...Walk into any of our third, fourth

and fifth grade classrooms in the

District and you will notice that

teachers and students are

immersed in a second unit of

study which integrates literacy

and science. These units include

the following topics:

Grade 3 ~ Gravity & Magnetism,

Shoreline Science and Soil Habitats

Grade 4 ~ Weather & Water,

Variation & Adaptation & Light

Energy

Grade 5 ~ Models of Matter,

Aquatic Ecosystems and Planets and

Moons

continued on page 2

Students have completed an open response which checked how well they were able to apply the concepts they had learned about during their first exploration. It’s always

gratifying to hear how students express their thoughts and ideas in their own words; truly a sign of mastery. We have provided some examples of this work on the next few pages.

Summative Assessments

SEEDS OF SCIENCE! ROOTS OF READING

WATERTOWN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, ISSUE 1, JANUARY 2012

Gravity & Magnetism - Grade 3

What do you know about forces? When you write your answer, be sure to name and give examples of at least two forces.

Student Response:

A force is a push or a pull. You can observe and give evidence of a force. One force is magnetic force. The magnetic force has two poles. One is north pole. The other is south pole. An example is if you get two magnets you can put N+N or S+S to make them hover over the pencil. It hovers because these two poles repel. Repel means push away. Attract means stick together. Magnets usually attract iron and other magnets. An example of iron is a paper clip... Magnets don’t attract all metals.

Another force is gravity. Gravity pulls things down. There are different amounts of gravity on different planets.

One more force I know about is electrostatic force. An experiment for electrostatic force is to use a balloon and a string. If the balloon is charged, it can stick right up to the string. If not, it will just hang there. It needs to be charged. As you can see, there are forces everywhere.

Soil Habitats

Grade 3

How is soil important for all living things? Explain as many ways as you can think of.

Student Response:

Soil is important because it can help plants and trees stay in the ground. It is also important because it can absorb the water. Otherwise, it would just fall

into the lakes and rivers. Plants depend on soil to grow. Soil is an important part of the food chain. Some animals depend on plants to eat. We depend on the soil to grow crops like apples, carrots, grapes, cauliflower, corn and many other crops. Soil is also a home to many insects and animals such as the badger, earthworm, ant, isopod and cricket. Most animals that live in the soil are called decomposers. Decomposers make new soil out of dying things. When soil absorbs water, it makes nutrients. Nutrients are like vitamins but for plants. When soil has a lot of nutrients, it is called rich soil. Rich soil is better for growing crops and flowers. As you can see, soil is very important and has many uses.

Sample Summative Assessments

Shoreline ScienceGrade 3

How does a rock become a grain of sand that you can find on the beach?

Student Response:

A rock becomes a grain of sand once it gets eroded by the waves. The waves crash against the rock; the rock gets pounded and hit for many years. It takes this long for it to break down. The rock begins to get smaller and smaller. When the rock turns into grains of sand, the waves carry it to the beach or to the shore. This is how rock becomes a grain of sand.

Variation and AdaptationGrade 4Look at the characteristics of the two animals pictured. Write a paragraph that compares at least three of their characteristics and explains how these characteristics help the animals survive.

Student Response:The polar bear and the penguin both have characteristics that help them to survive. The polar bear has a yellow/white coat which acts as camouflage on the ice. The polar bear also has inches of fat under its skin which helps to protect it from the very cold temperatures. Polar bears also have stiff pads of hair on their feet which helps them to swim and walk on the ice. The penguin also has a layer of fat under its skin which helps to protect it from the cold. Webbed feet and wings help it to swim in the water when looking for prey. Penguins have black backs and white bellies also used to camouflage when in the water. The polar bear and the penguin have adaptations which enable them to survive in their environment.

Light Energy - Grade 4Describe three ways that light interacts with materials and give examples of each.

There are many ways that light interacts with materials. My evidence for my claim is below.

One way that light interacts is when it transmits through material. I did an experiment about this with a partner. One person held a flashlight which was the light source. The other person held a material and a notecard that was used as a light detector. Sometimes it did not transmit light. Sometimes it would bend or break (refracts). We also did an experiment to show this. We had a bowl of water and we put a pencil in it. We observed that the pencil looked different at different angles. Sometimes light is also blocked. When it is blocked, it creates a shadow. Two things can happen when light is blocked. Another interaction is light absorption. This is when a material blocks light but doesn’t reflect much. The light rays stay in the material. We did an experiment to demonstrate this and we observed that the darker the material, the more it absorbs.For example, black felt absorbs a lot because black is the darkest color visible. The next interaction I’m going to talk about is reflection. reflection is when light is emitted from a light source and object and then hits something...

Sample Summative Assessmentscontd.

and reflects. Everything

reflects light. It might not be a

lot but everything does. Here is

a good way of knowing if

something reflects light. If you

can see it, it is reflecting light. To

prove that we did another

experiment to show us

everything reflects. We took a

mirror and shined a flashlight on

it. Then we dropped some baby

powder. The light hit the baby

powder and that’s how we saw

the ray of light bouncing back.

There are many interactions

that I have written about and

included my evidence for each

interaction.

Weather & Water

Grade 4

Explain what makes water

an important part of

weather. Be sure to

include information about

what causes weather.

Water is a very important

part of the water cycle. The

water cycle is what makes

weather happen. The first part is

evaporation. Water evaporates

forming water droplets called

water vapor. Water vapor is an

invisible gas. When it gets cold

enough, the water condenses.

This part is called condensation.

As the water vapor condenses, it

forms a cloud. It could be a

Cirrus Cloud, a Cumulus Cloud

or Stratus Cloud. Cumulus

clouds are the big, white, puffy

clouds that look like popcorn.

Stratus form in layers like a

blanket. Eventually, the cloud gets

very heavy. If it is winter out, the

precipitation could fall as snow,

sleet or hail. In the summer

when it is hot, it could fall as rain.

All of the precipitation (rain,

snow, sleet or hail) hits the

ground and it goes into runoff or

groundwater. Runoff is where

the water runs down and makes

its way back to the ocean, lake or

river. Groundwater is when

water seeps into the ground and

it goes back into the ocean, lake

or river. Groundwater can be

found on a flat surface; runoff on

a slanted area. So without water,

we wouldn’t have weather and

plants, animals and humans

wouldn’t survive.

Planets & Moons - Grade 5

A group of engineers is

designing a lander that will

go to a different planet.

Write one or more

paragraphs describing

what the engineers will

need to know about the

planet’s conditions and

surface features before

they design the lander.

One thing that the group of

engineers needs to know about

the planet’s conditions and

surface features is the planet’s

atmosphere. If the planet’s

atmosphere is thick, the lander

has to be strong so it doesn’t

crush. The group also needs to

worry about the temperature. If

the temperature is hot, they

cannot use a material that will

burn under the sun. If the

temperature is cold, they can’t

use a material that will freeze.

Then the lander couldn’t move.

The last thing the engineers need

to watch out for is the type of

land. If there aren’t hills on the

planet, the group doesn’t need to

make wheels that can move

smoothly over hills. If there are

hills, then the group of engineers

needs to make large and thick

wheels so the lander can move

smoothly over hills. These ...

are the ideas I have about what

the group of engineers needs to

look out for.

Models of Matter

Grade 5

A student got black

marker on his white T-

shirt. He tried to wash it

off with water and noticed

that the black ink

separated into several

different colors. Why do

you think that the ink

separated like this? Write

a paragraph that explains

your answer to this

question. (You should try

to describe what

happened to the

molecules of ink.)

The ink separated because

when the water molecules went

into the ink, the ink molecules

stuck to the water molecules and

the water molecules moved up,

or moved down taking the ink

molecules with them. The ink

separated into different colors

because some colors are lighter

than others and some are

heavier. From other

experiments, we figured out that

blue was the lightest and yellow

was the heaviest. So the blue ink

rose up and the yellow stayed or

sank lower.

Spreading the ink is also part

of chromatography. You need

three things for a

chromatography experiment: a

test mixture, a medium and a

solvent. In this case, the ink was

the test mixture, the T-shirt was

the medium and the water was

the solvent. The test mixture or

the ink was separated, exactly

what you do with

chromatography, separate test

mixtures. Even though some blue

ink molecules might have risen

higher, all of the blue ink

molecules are the same because

they are all the same substance.

The same goes for the yellow ink

molecules or any kind of ink. The

molecules could also separate

because of different properties

such as shape, size, stickiness, and

more. For example, the blue ink

molecules might have been more

sticky than the other ink

molecules and therefore risen up

all the way. Also, weight could be

a property, if it is heavy or light.

Aquatic Ecosystems

Grade 5

There are many different

types of interactions

happening in the pond

ecosystem shown above.

What different types of

interactions do you see

evidence for in this

ecosystem? Write one or

more paragraphs

describing the different

types of interactions.

There are so many fantastic

interactions happening in this

ecosystem. In the foreground, a

turtle suns itself on a log. A

bluejay perches on a branch

eating a small fish it caught. A

bullfrog seeks refuge on a rock,

and a swallow flies into the

reeds. These are not the only

interactions here. A fish leaps

out of the water, in pursuit ...

of a tasty fly. Ducks swim under

the footbridge with the chance

there may be people crossing by

to feed them. A raccoon comes

out to eat some of the plants

growing at the edge of a far bank.

Two dragonflies dance in the

breeze looking for a meal and a

mate. A crane stands still, keenly

watching the water’s surface for

the telltale sign of a fish.

There are still more

interactions. A styrofoam cup lies

in the sandy mud. Cattails sink

their roots into the rich

substrate. A Willow tree dips its

branches into the water for some

refreshment. A tree near the

bridge fans out its branches and

leaves soaking up the sun’s rays in

the long summer. These are

some of the interactions one

little area or niche could have!

Published by:

mciarlone@watertown.k12.ma.us