Building Bridges

We began our last math unit of the year this week! Unit 8 is all about bridge design and construction, as well as, data collection and analysis.  This week we gained some background knowledge about different types of bridges and the forces that are at work like compression and tension.  We read nonfiction text and looked at pictures of beam bridges.  The children built a few different models to explore how beam bridges work. With one model the children could only used paper.  The bridge had to span at least eight inches and it had to be able to hold some weight!  They did a great job in creating their bridges and identifying the design features that make a bridge strong and stable.  We also learned a couple of new terms. Can your child explain the terms compression and tension?

During our science time, we are still learning about ecosystems.  This week we focused on the environmental problems in a fictional town called Greentown.  All the plants and animals were dying in their ponds and the children had to act as environmental engineers to figure out what was wrong.  They did this by testing the pH of samples of water and soil that were from places in Greentown (school, farm, pond, neighborhoods, etc) and used the data they collected to determine what was causing the pollution problems.  Ask your child to tell you about the pH of the sample he or she collected!

We finished our SBAC testing this week!  The children worked so hard and should be proud!
Have a great weekend!