Week #4 Review / Preview

 08.29.2026 - Saturday - 

Week #4 Review / Preview - Science

Hi Scientists,

     Over the last three weeks we’ve focused on establishing routines in the class (notebooks, seating charts, taking the notes and being ready for learning) while introducing some of the key concepts that will take us through the year. Especially VARIABLES in an experiment, how current events can relate to our class, and how the study of life really is a study of the fourteen billion year history of our universe.

     We participated in experiments that illustrated the INDEPENDENT and DEPENDENT variables (Golf ball bounce) and had a bit of an introduction to GRAPHING these results. (Math connections with the Cartesian Coordinate System.) Two clips from “Mythbusters” were used. (Humid Baseballs and Helium-filled Footballs.) The experimenters changed one variable (The Independent Variable) to see if it affected the flight of the ball (The Dependent Variable.) Control Variables were all the factors that were kept the same during each TRIAL to help ensure accurate results.

     With current events we studied some local species -  to see how human choices affect their survival  - and world news, especially the glacier collapse in Nepal, to connect our study of the water cycle to “real-world” events. Atoms and molecules are introduced and the water molecule is, probably, the most important molecule for life! Continental glaciers have shaped land forms and impacted evolution while mountain glaciers - which are in rapid retreat because of climate change - provide drinking water to BILLIONS of people worldwide.

    Finally, connecting all of this is the scientific method. We’ll see how, about a century ago, scientists graphed the speed of galaxy movement away from us, against their distance away from us, to help determine the age of our universe! (Hubble and the red-shift of galaxies.)

     By using the Scientific Method, applying what we’ve learned to current events, and using our observation skills, we’ll continue to explore the origins of our universe and life on Earth in week number four.

S. Forbes