What do Carnival, Magnetism, Buoyancy, Bowling and Mariocart have in common?

 The answer is…they are all things that Grade 2 did this week!

We started off the week by celebrating Carnival on Monday. The Grade Two students looked fantastic in their costumes and had a fun time making crafts and playing games thanks to some of the PTA dads who helped organize and run them. 

We also continued working on the egg drop devices to protect eggs from the invisible pull of gravity  being dropped from the second floor balcony. Then on Tuesday, we tested them by dropping them! And….almost all survived! You can see videos of the egg drop on Seesaw.

Our next experiment also dealt with an invisible and indirect force…magnetism! The students tested different materials to see which were and weren’t attracted to a magnet’s pull. They also tested to see which materials the magnet’s pull could pass through and tried to make paper clips and magnets float!

Our final experiment for the week was a simple one to check which items would float or sink. This was to help us explore the force known as buoyancy. We will get to explore this more in the future as we will have some guests coming in to help us build some model sailboats. 

In PE, we continued experiencing forces as the students helped build our own Mario Kart style race track with obstacles and power-ups. Unfortunately, it was raining during our open day on Thursday so we had to experience forces indoors with a round of last minute bowling instead! 

After PE on Thursday morning, we had a special art lesson with Mr Lubin and the students used their knowledge and creativity to imagine what might be inside some of the cool-machines that we can find around us. Thanks to all of the parents who took the time to visit. I hope you enjoyed the little peak into your child’s school day. 

Upcoming Field Trip

On Tuesday, March 7th the Grade 2 students will be visiting Bando Science Museum as part of our inquiry into forces. We are looking for a couple of volunteer parents to join us on the trip. If you would like to join. Please let me know. We will be leaving shortly after 9am and plan on leaving at 13:30 so that the students can get back in time for the two classes at the end of the day.

Finding Friction

 This week we built some bridges and experimented with friction. 

On Monday, Grade 2 explored the forces interacting on bridges as they tried to build a strong, sturdy bridge that could withstand the most weight. 

On Tuesday, we had a double period of PE to make up for a cancelled PE lesson on Monday as it was too wet and rainy. The students started building up their stamina by running the length of the green field and back in preparation for Sports Day in the spring. We also played some team flag tag. Then on Wednesday, we continued our PE unit on rolling, sliding and gliding as we used the roller boards for some team races. 

In unit, we experimented with different materials to discover which had the least and most amount of friction. We also learnt about making it a fair test by seeing to it that each material was about the same size and weight. Each group did four trials, recorded their results and then came to a conclusion based on their results. We even combined all of their results in a tally chart as we have begun a new unit on data management in math and our combined results showed that plastic had the least amount of friction and that sandpaper had the most as they were the first and last to slide. 

On Friday, we started working on our next project, how to protect an egg from breaking when dropped! In groups of three the students discussed and began designing their plans to build something to protect an egg. On Monday, we will start building them. 

Monday, will also be Carnival so please have your child wear or bring a costume to change into. The costume can be anything as there is no theme.