Science/Music Connections

Last week in science, Aedin came to work with the students to explore the concept of pitch.  The students tried "matching pitch", first by tapping on different size nails.  The students matched those sounds with the notes on a xylophone.  Next, they filled beakers with water to different levels.  They were amazed that they could create different notes by changing the water level just a bit!  They were even able to tap out simple songs on their beakers!  Thanks to Aedin for helping to create such a terrific science/music experience!

Join us for the Nature Playdate on May 17th!

Sound!

The 1st grade students have been exploring sound.  How does sound travel?  Does it travel through things?  Those were the questions we asked in our last lesson.  We discovered that sound can travel through wood, metal and string!  Students also tested various items around the room like the tables, chairs and windows. The students are now experts in using tuning forks to learn about sound.  Aedin also gave us some instruments to try that enhanced our learning!

Seed Starting for the Garden

1st grade students love gardening!  Today's planting project was also a science experiment.  Will seeds germination faster in peat pellets or in regular soil?  Students planted vegetable seeds both ways, and next week we'll take a look at which seeds have started to germinate.  Most students felt that the peat pellets might grow better, since "the seed has everything it needs in one small package".  Hopefully we'll be planting our germinated plants in the garden in the next few weeks.

Garden Cleanup!

Yesterday 1st and 4th grades spent some time cleaning up the courtyard garden and the Science Room garden.  They moved rocks, dug up weeds, trimmed bushes and raked leaves.  They worked so hard to make the gardens ready for planting very soon.  1st grade will be doing some seed germination in science to get ready for planting outdoors in May.  Here are a few photos of the fun!

Science Night!

Science Night is tomorrow night!  Come to see student work and participate in lots of science activities. This event is for the entire Abington Friends Community so there will be opportunities to see great Middle and Upper School projects and experiments as well.                 

Rain Gauges

1st Grade continued their study of weather and made rain gauges this week.  Using the metric system, the students carefully marked centimeters on the side of our "gauges" and decorated them.  Next we placed them in the science room gardens.  Our experiment is to see if the rainfall is different in the sun garden or the shade garden.  The hypotheses were varied: "I think there will be more rain in the sun garden gauges because the trees will stop the rain in the shade garden" and "I think there will be more rain in the shade garden because the gauges in the sun garden will dry up pretty quickly".  We'll check on the gauges tomorrow in science class!