This is just a reminder that tomorrow is a P.A. Day so there is no school for students!
Have a great weekend!
Ms. Argue 🙂
Month: April 2019
WEJ Movie Night! THURSDAY April 11th
WEJ Movie Night
EARLY MAN
Thursday, April 11th, 2019
Pizza: 6:00pm
Movie: 6:30-8:15pm
Admission is FREE! This event is sponsored by the WEJ Parent Council. Bring your blanket, pillow and enjoy a good time together with friends and family. All are welcome!
Note: Please be aware this is NOT a drop-off event. A parent or guardian must accompany their child(ren) for the evening.
We look forward to seeing you there!
WEJ School Council
SOILS QUIZ – Changed to Thurs. April 11th!
Grade 3 students got a chance to learn all about Soil from our Scientists in Schools workshop last month.
The first thing students learned was that soil is made of different components:
Good SOIL (also called LOAM) is made up of: Sand, Silt, Clay and Humus (organic material). You also need air and water in the soil to allow things to grow! Students got a chance to take soil and using sifters, separate the soil into its different components and describe what each component looks like, smells like and feels like. The different types of soil that we looked at were:
-Sand
-Silt
-Organic matter (humus)
-Loam
-Dry Clay
-Wet Clay
**Note – Click or tap on an image to enlarge it in a new screen!**
Students also got a chance to test to see what soil had the most nitrogen in it and which soil would be most optimal for plants to grow in.
=Students then created a SOIL PROFILE which is a real representation of how soil is broken up into different levels. The different levels are:
-Surface Material
-Topsoil
-Subsoil
-Parent Material
At the Worm Station, students got a chance to look at a real worm farm and have their own pet worm for a few minutes and look at it under a microscope. Some students were even brave enough to touch it!
“Worms play an important part in soil because they help to increase the amount of air and water that gets into the soil. They break down organic matter, like leaves and grass into things that plants can use. When they eat, they leave behind castings that are a very valuable type of fertilizer. Earthworms are like free farm help. They help to “turn” the soil—bringing down organic matter from the top and mixing it with the soil below. Having worms around in your garden is a real good sign that you have a healthy soil.”
(Information about worms taken from: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/worms/live/)
At the Soil and Water Station, students got a chance to explore 2 different things. The first thing we explored was how much water different types of soil held. We looked at Sand, Loam and Clay and students had to predict how many droplets of water each soil would hold. We then completed the experiment and found that Clay held the most water, then Sand and finally Loam. Loam is the best soil for plants to grow in because it allows air and water and good drainage which plants need to have to be able to grow! Loam is made up of sand, clay, silt, and organic matter (humus).
The second thing we explored at this station was the effects of erosion. Students had a chance to place soil on a plastic tray. One pile of soil had nothing on it and the other pile had moss, sticks and twigs. Students then poured a small amount of water on top of each pile and recorded their observations.
Students noticed that the pile of soil that had the moss, twigs and sticks on it stayed in place compared to the soil that had no ground cover on it. This experiment showed how erosion can occur. EROSION in the word used to describe water wearing and moving soil to a new place.
A big THANK YOU to our parent volunteer, Saima (Amar’s Mom), and our grade 6 student volunteers Flora, Julia and Andrew who made this workshop possible! We really appreciated it!
Students will be tested on what they learned in our workshop about soils as well as what we have completed in class this upcoming Thursday, April 11th in a Soils Mini Quiz. You can refer to this blog post and students notes to help your child study and be prepared for this quiz. Students should have already brought home their red science duotangs last week. In their duotangs, they have a piece of pink paper that has a list of all of the things they need to review for the quiz.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
THANKS!
Ms. Argue 🙂
WEJ SCIENCE FAIR – Sat. April 13th!
The 2019 WEJ Science Fair sponsored by the W. Erskine Johnston School/Parent Council will take place on Saturday, April 13th, 2019 from 10:00 to 11:30 am in the WEJ gymnasium.
The WEJ Science Fair is an optional, fun and fantastic event with the goal to inspire the minds of students with science and engineering. Set up will take place from 10:00-10:30am with project viewing beginning at 10:30am. Students from any grade can enter in the fair. We encourage parents to guide their child through their project, especially in using the Scientific Method. However, all work should be done by students. If parents are so inclined, they are welcome to participate and display their own project.
Please find attached more information about the science fair and the registration form. To get started, simply choose a project from one of the following categories and submit the attached registration form and agreement to your child’s teacher. The deadline has been extended so you can still submit!
- Classification/Collection
- Hypothesis/Theory/Question
- Invention/Innovation
For more information, please contact:
Veronica Toth: Veronica@veronicatoth.
We look forward to seeing you on April 13th!