Diamonds

During our study of minerals this week, one of our classmates asked what natural diamonds look like before they are cut and polished.

 

Diamond "in the rough", uncut and unpolished

Another student asked if gems are valuable.  Diamonds are rare and difficult to mine (take from the earth), which makes them expensive and valuable.

 Diamond Mine Map

Mirny Diamond Mine, Russia

 

Inside Mirny Diamond Mine

 

Now that we know what minerals are, how to identify them by their properties, and that rocks are made of minerals, next week we'll dig deeper into how rocks are formed and classified.

Decimals

 Great visual!  HTU = Hundreds, Tens, Units (Ones) . t = tenths.  

We'll continue with h for hundredths.

This week, students have been learning to represent parts of a whole as decimals.  Fourth grade problem-solvers will:

• Use decimal notation for fractions with denominators of 10 or 100.  For example, rewrite 0.62 as 62/100; describe a length as 0.62 meters; locate 0.62 on a number line diagram.
• Study Jams: Place Value of Decimals  
• Compare two decimals to hundredths by reasoning about their size.  Recognize that comparisons are valid only when two decimals refer to the same whole.  Record the results of comparisons with the symbols >, =, <, and justify conclusions, e.g., by using a visual model.
• StudyJams: Place Decimals on a Number Line

Earth Structures: Properties of Minerals

In Science, today we learned that minerals are natural, nonliving solid crystals that make up rocks.  For the next week, we'll be studying properties of minerals.  By the end of our study, fourth grade scientists should be able to identify the physical properties of common earth-forming minerals, including hardness, color, luster, cleavage, and streak color, and recognize the role of minerals in the formation of rocks.

 

 Quartz

Vocabulary:

• mineral
• earth-forming
• hardness
• luster
• metallic
• streak 
• color
• cleavage
• formation
• rocks
• hand lens
• streak plate

Resources:

• Florida Interactive Science (textbook) Chapter 3 Lesson 2 What are minerals? p. 102-107
• Science Interactive Journal

Assessment Date:

• January 28

Go Above & Beyond:

• What minerals are native to Florida?
• How are these minerals used?   
• Share what you discovered in your research by January 28 and earn Chief Cash for always doing your best! 

Motion of Objects: Objects in Motion

This week, we're investigating what can cause an object to change direction?

Check out Tinker Ball, a virtual lab!

Equivalent Fractions and Introducing Khan Academy!

Before Winter Break, we explored finding equivalent fractions using area models and multiplication.  This week, we're learning another strategy for finding equivalent fractions: using area models and division to simplify fractions.  Explaining why these calculations result in equivalent fractions is a daunting, but necessary, task in order for students to demonstrate a deep understanding of equivalent fractions.  Thankfully, we have some great resources like these video from Khan Academy:

Intro to Equivalent Fractions 

(click link for video)

Visualizing Equivalent Fractions

Generating Equivalent Fractions

More on Equivalent Fractions 

(click link for video)

Tomorrow I will introduce students to Khan Academy.  There are many more great resources like these videos and word problems on the site.  Here is a link for fourth grade fractions and decimals Khan Academy resources.