Important Dates
Wednesday June 10. Music Assembly from 6-7pm
Friday, June 12. Last day of school. Half day
Morning Lesson
In morning lesson last week we closed our introductory physics studies of heat, light, magnetism, and static electricity for the year. We attempted using a hand-crank Van de Graaff generator in class and found that after cranking constantly for over 30 minutes all we could do was light a neon-filled rod for a split second! I let the students know that if we had the plug-in version of the Van de Graaff we would almost instantly have enough charge to continuously keep the neon-filled rod illuminated. This led to a conversation marveling at the power of electricity and how much human effort it might take to power all of the functions we just flip a switch for. This also led to me returning the hand crank generator and ordering the plug in version so we can do some more experimenting before the year is over.
Since we were still considering new experiments in magnetism on Friday we did not yet have our block test for physics in grade 6.
The students all wrote down in their assignment notebooks that they were required to spell check and go over their physics books with you this weekend and have you sign their notebooks saying that you did so.
For the rest of the year we will be blacksmithing, building bee boxes, rebinding all of our previous books into one bigger book, cleaning, and packing up our room.
Blacksmithing Attire
The students clothing must meet the following requirements for participation in blacksmithing next week:
- Arms and legs must be covered
- NO polyester, nylon, etc (synthetic fibers)
- Clothes must be natural fibers such as cotton or wool
- Shoes must cover the whole foot (no sandals)
Some students asked if their clothes had a small percentage of polyester or another synthetic fiber if that would be fine. I imagine 5% or less would probably be fine. Shoes are an exception to the synthetic fibers rule. I also advised the ladies that bras of synthetics are probably ok. If they have a cotton version that would be better.
Students are welcome to keep a change of clothing at school if they would rather have a blacksmithing outfit there to ensure they don’t forget.
Warmly,
Miss Kiefer