What's That Smell?????

STEM Lab was a smelly -- and tasty -- place this week!  Students concluded their study of the senses with a "Smell & Taste" Lab.  Students smelled some familiar and unfamiliar odors, up close and personal.  They related memories of those smells from their lives.  Again, we talked about how our memory holds so much information related to our senses.

Students also participated in tasting some different types of food, and collecting data on it.  They tasted salty foods such as sea salt and pretzels; sweet foods such as cookies and jelly beans; sour foods such as "Sour Patch Kids," lemons, and pickles; and bitter foods such as lemon rind.  We charted the various kinds of taste receptors located on the tongue.

Students conducted an experiment based upon the hypothesis that taste and smell are closely related.  Students consumed jelly beans while holding their noses.  Most reported being unable to taste the jelly bean at all while holding their nose.  We discussed the math term ratio, and we charted the data from the experiment.  Overwhelmingly, our experiments showed a close relation between smell and taste.

We learned some really cool facts, too!  

• Did you know that a dog has 1,000,000 smell cells per nostril -- 100x more than humans??

• Did you know that some people have no sense of smell, a condition known as Anosmia?

• Most people can tell the difference between 4,000 - 10,000 DIFFERENT smells! 

• Fish can tat with their fins and tail, as well as their mouth

•  In general, girls have more tastebuds than boys! 

Also--plants are now growing IN our Tower Garden!  The students are very excited about this ongoing project!!

Our cucumbers and butternut squash are the biggest, but everything is growing well!

Fun with sour lemons!

Dylan learned that you cannot taste anything if you hold your nose!

Grady loves lemons!  He doesn't think they are sour at all!

Abby tests our hypothesis in the jelly bean experiment.

This is SOUR!!

What is that smell?  Pine-Sol?  Gross!

I know that smell!  VINEGAR!

Students try to determine the mystery smell!

Students test our hypothesis that taste and smell are closely related.

Sixth graders collect data from the lab--an important part in proving our hypothesis.

Students learned that lemons are sour, and sour taste buds are on the side of the tongue!

Lemons are tasty!

Luke examines two compounds, sugar and salt.

The twelve mystery smell containers.

These girls are excited about the lemons!

Cooper is really into this lab!

Taylor's face says it all!

Olivia works on gathering data for her lab sheet.

Please note:  Next week, we begin our study of the human body and its systems.  We will begin with the skeletal system!  Before our next lab, students are to use Google (at home) to find an interesting fact on "human bones." 

Scary Spaghetti!

Students have enjoyed Lab #2 in Stem Lab this week.  We began a study of the "Human Body," with an emphasis this lab on the senses of sight, hearing and touch.  Our Bible Infusion for this lab was based upon Psalm 139:14 -- "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Younger students (Pre-1st - 3rd grade) began work on a booklet about our senses.  Fourth - sixth grades completed a lab sheet on the human sensory system.  (We will conclude our senses study next week, covering taste and smell.)

Students enjoyed our vision lab, discussing how the eye works much like a camera.  Older students  experimented with some really neat optical illusions pictures.  We also used listening skills to determine some common and unusual sounds.  Students recalled personal situations where certain sounds were heard. 

The students really enjoyed the "Mystery Boxes" part of lab this week.  Each mystery box contained familiar -- and some unfamiliar -- items.  Students used descriptive adjectives to describe what the items felt like, and classmates tried to guess based upon the verbal description.  Students quickly understood that this was sometimes difficult.  Most -- if not all -- students were amused by the mysterious box #10.  Squeals, screams and shrieks could be heard in the hallway as Mrs. Sweet guided each child's hand into the box.  Cold, clammy and disgusting were all adjectives used to describe the mysterious contents!  Students believe the box held worms, squids, guts, and other objects we will not discuss on the blog.  All seemed relieved, and a bit embarrassed, to realize they had been scared by a harmless bowl of cooked spaghetti noodles! 

The sixth grade girls lab group added some drama to the spaghetti mystery box!

The mystery boxes were a hit!  Our Tower Garden plants are also growing larger! 

A Picture Is Worth . . . A LOT!!

 Our first day of STEM Labs is officially behind us, and the students absolutely had an awesome day!  From first graders to our mature sixth graders, the students really enjoyed the day!

A few pics from today!

Fourth graders look through a "Memory Box" in order to understand the importance of Mnemonics in learning.

First graders try to guess what STEM Lab is all about!

More guesses?  How do you spell science??

Were the students correct?  What is STEM?

Mrs. Sweet used some neat technology to show attitudes NOT to bring into the STEM Lab!  

I'm so lost!  What did she say?  I was not listening to the directions!

I don't want to do this!  I'm not going to even try!

I'm so confused!  This stuff is just WAY TOO HARD! Who needs Math and Science anyway?

This is the RIGHT attitude!!  We love learning new things in STEM Lab!

We really can "stretch" our memory power!

Students "posting" guesses about STEM!

We think this STEM Lab is going to be fun!

Let's see if the Mnemonics strategies really work!  Wow!  We remembered a lot!!

 We are really going to grow vegetables??  Cool!!

Our Tower Garden

What is a Tower Garden?  Until recently, I had never heard to anything like this, but your children and I will be learning so much about this together in Goodpasture's new STEM Lab program!

The Tower Garden is based on the science of Aeroponics,  a process of growing plants in an air and mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium.   This concept was engineered at Epcot, and many of us have seen the massive Tower Gardens there, throughout the park.

Our Tower Garden will be a central focus of our class this year.  I planted seeds last week, and they have already begun to spout!  Students will watch as the plants grow from seedlings to baby plants to mature plants ready for harvesting.  We will examine the root structure of these plants, noting how clean and pure the roots are because we are not using soil. 

We will be growing several varieties of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, squash, and watermelon.  We are even going to attempt to grow "edible" pansies!   In late winter, the students will help with choosing and planting our spring plants, such as strawberries, melons, and cantaloupe.  (We were too late to plant pumpkins for this fall, but your children will be doing a lab in October/November with pumpkins!) 

Of course, a good supply of Ranch dressing will always be on hand in the lab, so that the students will actually be able to "taste" the fruits (and veggies) of our labor!  

Welcome back!

It was so great to see all of our students and parents back on campus today!  The excitement associated with a new school year is just awesome!  The smiles on these young faces warm my heart, and Goodpasture is blessed with the best students and families ANYWHERE! 

Students will begin coming to STEM Lab tomorrow!  Your child will be bringing home an informational letter about STEM Lab!    Please look over the information, and feel free to contact me with any questions you may have!  Please fill out the bottom of the form, and send that back to your child's teacher by Monday, 8/19. 

As well, I would love to talk with parents who are involved in STEM related careers, in order to get your input on some ideas that I have!  I want to impress upon the children that Science, Math and Engineering are fun, and so many jobs today are centered around these concepts.  They already TOTALLY get the Technology arm of STEM, and they will probably teach me a lot in this area! 

If you are in the elementary building, please drop by and check out the lab! I look forward to knowing you and your children this year!

Mrs. S

Welcome to Goodpasture's NEW STEM Lab!!

This year, Goodpasture students, in grades Pre-1st through 6th grade, will participate in our new S.T.E.M. Lab weekly.  Our S.T.E.M. Lab offers a full range of rigorous educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. 

Purpose of STEM:

·       Students will gain and develop skills for social, political and economic participation in the diverse, independent, and changing world, in which we live. 

·       Labs support problem based learning and the scientific method, (inquiry, hypothesis, experimentation, investigation, research and analysis).

·       Labs are designed in an open atmosphere that encourages scientific discovery, communications, and collaboration in team settings. 

·       Our S.T.E.M Lab is designed to support creativity and exploration to help students approach new and perplexing problems with positive energy, uniqueness and originality of thought. 

·       With facilitation of applied learning activities, our students experience what it’s like to be scientists, technologists, engineers, research analysts, and mathematicians.

Labs will be tailored for each grade level.  Labs topics to be covered include senses/body systems; animal and plant cell structures; plant life cycles; animal behavior; earth science; physical science; simple machines; oceanography; data collection; aeroponics (Tower Garden); electricity; virtual field trips via iPads; liquid measurement; weather.