Angles Everywhere!

Art?  Check.

Architecture?  Check.

Movement?  Check. 

We broke out the protractors again to work toward proficiency in constructing (drawing) and measuring angles.

Fourth grade Math students should be able to construct angles 180 degrees or less and measure angles less than 360 degrees with a protractor (using both the outer and inner scales).  Remember, it's helpful to use benchmark angles (90, 180, 45, 30 degrees) to decompose and measure angles greater than 180 degrees.  :-)


Not sure about the whole protractor thing?

Check out this Study Jam to review how to measure angles using a protractor

and this Study Jam to review how to construct angles using a protractor.

As usual, Khan Academy has some awesome tutorial videos, too!  Scroll down the menu on the left side of the screen when you open the link.

A quiz will be given on this benchmark on Thursday, April 28.

Inherited and Environmental Characteristics

In between testing this week, we have been learning about inherited traits, which are characteristics passed from parents to offspring (new organisms), and environmental traits, which are characteristics caused by an organism's surroundings that may cause it to look different, grow, or develop in a different way.

Fourth grade Science students should be able to explain that although characteristics of plants and animals are inherited, some characteristics can be affected by the environment--the surroundings that an organism lives in such as the weather conditions in an area, food supply, and types of shelter.



Flamingos inherit traits such as beaks, feathers, long legs and necks from their parents.  However, flamingos' food supply (algae and shrimp) turn the white feathers they are born with pink or red.  A flamingo's pink/red color is a result of its environment.
  


When seeds germinate, they have either one or two leaves.  Palm seeds have one leaf, a characteristic inherited from the parent plants.



Exposure to constant wind in a tree's environment can cause it to grow sideways.  This is an environmental characteristic.


One way to determine if a characteristic is inherited or environmental is to ask: Is it because of the organism's parents or something else?  If something surrounding the organism caused the characteristic, then it is most likely an environmental characteristic.

Students will take a quiz on this benchmark Tuesday, April 26.

Reproduction in Flowering Plants

Scientists constantly observe the natural world around them.

Many of us have noticed a powdery yellow substance covering cars and outdoor furniture.  Our eyes itch.  We're sneezing more.  Noses are running (or we're more congested).  What could "bee" causing this?

Last month, Spring began.  Spring is the season of new life.  As the hours of daylight increase, plants use the sun's energy to make food, grow, and reproduce.  There are about 250,000 species of plants that use flowers to reproduce.  Flowering plants make up about .80 (80%) of plants on Earth.

In order for flowering plants to reproduce, several steps must occur:

• pollination
• fertilization
• seed dispersal
• germination 

This week, we observed the male and female parts of a lily, which are necessary for reproduction.  Male parts (stamen) include pollen that is produced on the anther.  Female parts (pistil) include an ovary that contains eggs.

This Study Jam on Flowers clearly explains the steps of flowering plant reproduction.