Science Experiment and the Water Cycle

Mrs. Clifton asked students to predict in their Inquiry Notebooks what do you think will happen when you melt an ice cube over boiling water?

Then we made our observations. Students noticed that when the water boiled their was steam. We discussed that this was water vapor. When a liquid changes to a gas this process is called evaporation. Once the ice was in the pan above the water vapor students began to observe water condensing to form droplets on the outside of the pan. This is condensation. When the droplets were too big on the outside of the pan, they began to drop creating precipitation.

Finally, students applied what they learned by creating their own murals of the water cycle. Please come in to observe their work!

Wind and Rotation of the Earth

Here Mrs. Watson is showing the class how the sun rays shine on Earth. Students discovered the sun shines on the equator making that air warmer than in the far north and south parts of the Earth.

Then we discussed how the Earth rotates. We showed an example of how the Earth rotating creates wind and air movement. By using water and food coloring the children were able to see that without any wind flow, the air stays in one place. See below how the food coloring stays in one place. But when you swirl the food coloring the air is able to move all around. This is called the Coriolus effect. The hot air rises-or moves away from the equator to the poles where it is cooled. Then moves back to the equator to be heated again.

Weather Inquiry with Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Clifton

Students who are ages 6, 7, and 8 are working with Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Clifton for weather. We began our weather study by learning about the five layers of the atmosphere. Each group was assigned a layer in the atmosphere to discover its specific characteristics. Then, each group shared what they learned in front of the whole group.

(Thomas, Maggie, Lindy, and Kedzie) (Katie, Lilly, Jackson, and Robin)
A model of the atmosphere can be found in the classroom up a wall with each layer.

Reminder

If you haven't already, please fill out the survey we sent in the mail. We really need everyone's email address! Thank you!

Back to School Picnic

Back To School Picnic

Sponsored by SCCS Parents’ Association

Saturday, August 27th

4:00 pm-6:00 pm

(Rain Date: September 17th)

On the Playground

The whole family is invited as we welcome back our old families and meet our new ones. We’ll provide pulled pork, chicken & hot dogs, chips, paper ware, utensils, water & lemonade.

Bring a side dish or dessert to share

(Last name A-L bring a side; M-Z bring a dessert)

You may also want your own beverages* if you don’t want water/lemonade (*this is an alcohol-free event), & blankets/chairs for sitting.

New to 2011-2012

In hopes of creating easy communication between families and teachers we have created an Elementary email. This can be used for all communication from families to teachers and teachers to families.

The email is SCCSElementary@gmail.com

Welcome Back SCCS Students and Families!

We are excited to start another fun and exciting year here at SCCS Elementary. We have many fun activities planned for this upcoming school year. Our first activity we have planned is to decorate a t-shirt to be used a smock during messy art activities. Please send a used or new shirt from home for Tuesday, August 23 to be tie-died.

Our first genre study in Literacy is Non-Fiction. A perfect study after returning from summer break!

Experiments and guest speakers are just the beginning to start off our inquiry of Weather!