In Science, students have been learning about life cycles and interdependence. After studying food webs, students selected a producer, consumer or decomposer to study. Each student completed a Google Presentations on the organism of their choice. They read and researched information, took notes, and then organized their information into slides. They searched for photographs and imported these into their presentations. Prior to this, the fourth graders had taught the third graders how to do a Google Presentation, through group projects, that researched different classes of animals - mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians. All of these were presented to their classmates, with discussion after the presentations.
Our next unit of study with be United States Geography. We will be learning about regions of our country, along with individual research reports. Students have already selected a state and written letters to the departments of tourism in their state. Some of them have already received maps and other information, and it’s been very exciting for them to receive mail at school. If you know anyone from out of state, please encourage them to send a postcard to your child. We would like to collect postcards from all 50 states if possible.
In math the fourth graders have completed their second unit on multiplication and division. They explored the relationship between multiplication and division, as well as factors and multiples. They multiplied by 10 and multiples of ten, and learned strategies for solving multiplication problems with two-digit numbers, including breaking them into smaller parts. Students had to solve, represent, and discuss division story problems, including some that had a remainder, using different strategies. All students should be practicing their multiplication and division facts at home, using games, apps or other activities.
Third grade math has focused on addition and subtraction of numbers up to 1000. We looked at various ways to set up the problems including use of number lines, breaking apart the numbers and looking for patterns. We moved on to linear measurement and are exploring the idea of perimeter and area using actual measurements as well as larger units. We will use the idea of area to set up for our next unit which is multiplication. The area model of multiplication is one way that we look at the concept of multiplying. Please continue to practice math facts with your children each night; some students are moving on to the subtraction rocket, while others are feeling stuck.