Force and Motion

 We've been learning about force and motion in science.  A force is a push or pull applied to an object to put it in motion.  For our first investigation, pairs completed an obstacle course.  Each pair used a broom to push or pull a bowling ball through a course while trying to get the fastest time.  The students agreed that it was harder than it looked.  They did great!

Our second investigation was all about friction.  Friction happens when there is resistance from a surface or object which slows down the object in motion.  We tested out six different ramps.  First we made predictions about which ramp surface would create the most friction with a small moving toy car and which surface would create the least amount of friction.  Then we tested them.  We measured the distance the car traveled after it left the ramp.  

Sharing Piggie and Elephant Stories

 We had a lot of fun writing our own Piggie and Elephant stories in the month of April.  Earlier this week we visited kindergarten to share our completed stories.  Kindergarten had recently written about their favorite Piggie and Elephant books.  We knew they would love to hear our own versions of these two loveable characters!

Mystery Reader #14: Piggie and Gerald?

 1) We are best friends.

2) We like to drive a car.

3) We like to share our ice cream.

We have been writing our own Piggie and Elephant books in 2nd grade.  I wrote a book about Piggie and Gerald being mystery readers.  Gerald's clue were the above clues.  When Mason heard about my book, he thought it would be a great idea to have him and his friend visit as mystery readers to confuse the students a bit.  They were confused!  They knew the clues were from my book, but they wondered how Piggie and Gerald would be visiting as mystery readers.  The above clues happen to also describe Mason and Lucas.  They even shared some ice cream with the 2nd graders.  That was probably the class' favorite part!  Thank you Mason and Lucas!

Mystery Reader #13: A Timberwolves Surprise!

 1) I love fishing and gardening.

2) Tacos are my favorite food.

3) I'm going to a Timberwolves game with my family tonight!

Upon hearing the clues, one student knew immediately that our mystery reader was his mom!  He knew there was a Timberwolves game in his future, but he didn't realize it was happening tonight!  How exciting!  We enjoyed this fun book, "What Should Danny Do?"  The students got to choose the main character's behavior decision and see the consequence play out.  They had a lot of fun with it!  Thanks so much Sara, and have fun at the game tonight!

Mystery Reader #12: Whose Grandma Is It?

 1) I live on a farm.

2) I am a grandma to someone.

3) I like chocolate.

After reading these clues, many students were convinced it was their grandma!  About half of the class was anticipating who would walk through that door!  Everyone was so surprised to see our very own Mrs. Ruen!  And they asked her, "Whose grandma are you?!" Mrs. Ruen explained that her oldest daughter has 2 young children.  We loved having Mrs. Ruen read us "Arthur's Promise."  Thank you Mrs. Ruen, we adore you and were so happy to have you read to us!

A Matter Experiment

 We've been learning about the 3 states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas.  On Friday we had some fun with this messy experiment!  Oobleck is considered a non-Newtonian fluid because it has properties that act like both a solid and a liquid!  This is an easy experiment for the students to try at home as well.  You just need 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part water and food coloring if you'd like.

Mystery Reader #11: A Mom With 2 Names?

1) I have red hair.

2) My husband has visited your classroom before.

3) My name starts with an E or a L.

These specific clues only matched one mom, and this daughter knew without a doubt that her mom was our mystery reader!  We enjoyed listening to the book "The Great Eggscape!" by Jory John and Pete Oswald.  This book, with an Easter Twist, goes right along with a few other books we've heard from our mystery readers.  The students were stumped by how the eggs left the same pool as different colors, and they offered several ideas as to how that could have happened! Thanks for taking the time to read to us!