Can you believe this year is over already? I want to make sure I say thank you to you all for making this such a fun and memorable school year. I’m sad that I won’t be able to see your smiling faces next year coming to visit after school.
Some of you were interested in following my Messmer Baby Blog this summer to see how things are going. Well, here’s the address just in case you want it: http://messmerbaby.blogspot.com
Have a wonderful summer and stay safe! 
Well, congratulations! You have officially taken your last science quiz of the year! (Unless of course you weren’t here on Friday, in which case you will be taking it on Tuesday.)
Next week is Fun Science Week! We’ll be doing all sorts of fun labs and activities that we didn’t have time to do during the rest of the year. On Tuesday we’ll be mining for chocolate…while trying not to ruin the landscape. We’ll see how you do with that. The rest of the week has fun-filled activities in store too, but I don’t want to give them ALL away! You’ll have to come and find out. 
Can you believe we only have 11 days left? This week we’ll be getting the crash course in erosion. We’ll be focusing on how Wind, Water, Ice, and Gravity erode the surface of the earth.
Next week is Fun Science Week! Make sure you are saving up a bug for Wednesday’s Amber fossil-making!
These next few weeks are going to FLY by! We’re going to be having a quiz every Friday over the topics we cover…so make sure you’re paying attention in class!
This coming week we’ll be learning about soil and weathering (which is basically how soil is formed in the first place). Then, next week we’ll focus on erosion.
After that it’s Fun Science Week! Can’t wait…but I can’t believe the end of the year is almost here either! I’m TORN! 
Well, don’t you agree?
We’re studying the three major types of rocks right now:
We’ll be doing some cool explorations with rocks this week, and the test will be on Friday! Hold on to the “Field Guide” we made to help you study!
Just wanted to give you all a heads-up about the Science test next week! We’ve spent the last few weeks learning about earthquakes, so we’ll be assessing how well you retained the information next Thursday. Today you’ll be creating a study guide to help you with some of the major topics covered in the unit. Make sure you actually use it to study once you’re done making it!
The vocabulary you should know:
- seismology
- seismograph
- magnitude
- P waves
- S waves
- Focus
- Epicenter
- Seismic waves
- Fault
- Elastic deformation
- Plastic deformation
Other things you should be able to do:
- Plot an earthquake using longitude and latitude
- Recognize the three main types of faults (Convergent, Divergent, Transform)
- Explain two ways in which you can safeguard a building against earthquakes
- Read and apply a information on a Richter Scale
I hope you all have a WONDERFULLY RELAXING spring break! For those of you going to nicer weather, enjoy it! Make a sandcastle for me!
Not going anywhere? Click here to make a virtual sandcastle right now!
See you on April 11th!
Lots going on this week!
Science:
The students are taking a retest today since many of them did not do well on the first test last Tuesday. We’re also starting a new unit on Earthquakes.
Reading Workshop:
Just a reminder that students should be reading at least 30 minutes every night! Since it is now into the third trimester, students should be working toward completing book #27 this week. Hopefully they’re keeping up!
Writing Workshop:
We’ve started working on persuasive pieces and have completed our first persuasive paragraph.
Other News:
Wow! I can’t believe it’s already March…and spring is just around the corner (despite the white stuff that keeps falling).
Going on in science right now:
We’re learning about the layers of the earth, plate tectonics, faults, folds, and mountain building. Today’s homework was to complete the study guide for the 15 vocabulary words from Chapter 4 section 4:
This is the third study guide which should go along with the picture of (1) the Earth’s layers and (2) the Tectonic Plate Boundary Flip Book.
Test is on Tuesday, March 15th…study hard!
We’ve started a new unit on Planet Earth! We’re digging deep into the Earth’s core to learn about the structure of our planet. We’ll also be talking about Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics. It’s cool to see how things have changed over millions of years, and to predict where they will be in another couple million!
