We are working on multiplication of three digit numbers this week, and the students are doing well. We will have a quiz on Wednesday and then begin working on dividing by two digit divisors. We will have a quiz on that next week before we leave for the break.
We will also have a science test this Friday on our genetics unit. Students will bring home a study guide on Wednesday to use to prepare for the test. We will continue to work on growing our flowers and cross-breeding them, which will help to reinforce through the next few months the idea of passing of traits. After break, we will start our electricity unit.
I began talking to students about science fair this week. Our school science fair will be held Jan. 27. It is still a ways off, but we are beginning to think about their projects now so they have plenty of time to work on them. We are asking that students pick a project that falls into one of our areas of focus for 5th grade science (Genetics, Electricity, Magnetism, Chemistry or Earth’s Surface) or engineering. We will take a look at some different websites in class to get students thinking about what question they will want to work to answer. They may work either on their own, or in pairs. Information sheets will be coming home soon.