H2O FZ: Miss Holck's ride

While flying to Los Angeles, looking at the clouds, rivers, and lakes reminded me of what students may have imagined when they wrote about their ride on the H2O Flow Zone. Take-off was just like evaporation. Then it's like I traveled in a cloud until I rained down in Los Angeles. Call me crazy, but the water cycle has been on my mind a lot lately!

Take-off was very cloudy.

Where will the water vapor in those clouds land?

Grading the post-assessments while on a ride on the H2O flow zone!

Here's is the Malibu and Santa Monica coastline. We were turning to head over to LAX.

I have enjoyed teaching this unit! I think that the inquiry approach helped students in A204 think deeply about what they were doing, and made the science unit a lot of fun. Other than doing the experiments in class, I enjoyed reading what students wrote in their science notebooks when they answered The Big Four:

1. What did you do? Students reflected on the process of doing the experiment.
2. What did you wonder? Their responses helped me understand what students where thinking about while they did experiments. It's important to question what you do and the process you take to do an investigation.
3. What did you learn? If you didn't learn, there needs to be changes!
4. What will you do next? Students are interested in working with live insects and animals as well as learning about volcanos.
   

H2O FZ: Day 5, daily report

The class decided to investigate Amrita's question.

We made a graph of the class predictions.

Symphony had fun working with her group.

They found a spider. Many students are interested in doing experiments with wildlife.

Ryshel and Jenny.

The Red Team.

Amrita and her group.

Stream tables with leaves.

The landscape with many new word bank words.

The H2O bulleton board complete with many things that students learned this week.

H2O FZ: Day 4, daily report

Jenny and Kim prepare to collect data and measurements from their second trial.

Brandon helps the red team 'bull doze' their soil to prepare for the second trial.

Jayonta presents the some of A204's work. See the details below!

Here are the stream tables after the third trial. Why didn't the soil erode to make more streams? How much deposition was in the runoff water?

Here are all the teams' graduated cylinders. Tomorrow we will analyze the amounts of soil that settled in 50 ml of water.

The last investigation we will do was created from these questions. We will investigate how leaves effect soil run off.

Today, we wrote in blue.

Other news:

• Ms. Marci began teaching the F.L.A.S.H. curriculum yesterday and will join us for one hour a day after spring break, too.
• Mrs. Nielson made her first visit to observe Miss Holck! She noted that students had a "high degree of engagement and excitement about getting started!"
• Spring break is next week. What will you be doing? I'm going to Los Angeles to visit friends and plan my wedding!
  

H2O Flow Zone Prompts (all five!)

1. You just fell out of a cloud and you’re dropping in mid-air. Precipitation Galore! What do you look like while you fall? Are you a frozen snowflake (solid), or a fast pellet of rain (Liquid)? Draw this in your first H2O Flow Zone Box!

2. Splat! You fell right on the edge of a hill. You’re slowly seeping into the ground. You’re moving so fast, that the soil is moving with you on the ride. Erosion! How much soil deposition did you cause to move? What does the land look like? Are you moving fast or slow?

3. At the bottom of the hill, you found a stream that emptied you right into a big body of water. Is it an ocean or a big lake? Are there big waves or is it still? You are a liquid for sure. Draw this in your next box.

4. Can you feel that breeze? It’s not cold, but actually really warm. It’s just right for your ride to swoosh up into the atmosphere. That’s right, you’re evaporating up into the sky. Draw what your ride looks like as you turn into water vapor and go up into the sky from that body of water you were in. You’re a gas, no longer a liquid! Draw this in your next box.

5. You move up higher and higher. As you approach the sky, you see some other bits of water to hang out with. What do you look like? What property of matter are you (liquid, soil, or gas)? Is the wind moving you really fast across the sky? Where are you going?

H2O FZ: Day 3, hw

1. Make a list of ten things you see after school that you would like to investigate. For example, I would like to investigate what the rattling sound in my car is.
2. Pick one of the things and create an investigation. What would be the controlled variable and the changed variable?
3. Reading log!

H2O FZ: Day 3, image observation

Observe at the images.

In your science notebook write down which image portrays water that is the fastest, a middle speed, and which is the slowest. Then write about what the water movement is doing to the land that it is on. Use at least 10 words from our word bank for full credit.

H2O FZ: Day 3, daily report

Jayonta shows his deposition sample in the yellow team's graduated cylinder. This stream table had a very interesting water flow!

We added a lot of new words to our landscape and word bank such as terrarium, wondered, erosion, and rivulet.

Today was the messiest day yet! Students made stream tables after learning that rain can be a source that can make rivulets > tributaries > gullies > and rivers that then empty into a large body of water. We modeled the rain yesterday and today we saw the erosion it can create on land. We also collected data to compare the soil that can be deposited to new places. Tomorrow, we'll do a similar test with much faster water!

H2O FZ: Day 2, daily report

We added to what we want to know and what we have learned (orange).

We labeled more parts of our landscape.

We observed scientific models of the water cycle. Above, Symphony looks at the orange team's water cycle.

Students finished their H2O Flow Zone #1. This time they imagined they were falling out of a cloud. Here is a sample of what you will see in the podcast. Your student needs to bring in a signed permission slip to be able to have their work on this website. Email me at missholck@gmail.com if you have questions.

We have many books available to read during the choice literacy time students can earn.

H2O FZ: Day 2, hw

1. Read the three page report about the water cycle. Write a reading log.
2. Daily Water Usage worksheet. Visit the Saving Water Partnership for extra credit!

H2O FZ: Day 1, daily report

Today was full of changes and science. Students were introduced to their new table groups and the self manager system.

Students took a pre-assessment which will be used to collect data about what they learn this week. We listed what we think we know and what we want to learn on the chart using a red marker for Monday. Tomorrow, we'll use orange. We also created our landscape that we'll use to label what we are learning. Ask your student what part of soil is organic.

Students investigated four parts of soil: gravel, sand, clay, and humus. They also started their first Flow Zone report. These will be posted at the end of the week in our podcast!

Questions? Ask your student or Miss Holck at missholck.gmail.com

H2O FZ: Day 1, hw

Find, take, or draw a picture of soil. Label at least 5 things in the photo using words from our word wall. Write one paragraph with 5 or more sentences about what would happen in your image there was a heavy rainfall.

useful sources:

• National Resources Conservation Service has images of soil landscapes.
• Stock images of farming from FotoSearch
• Parks in your neighborhood
• Your imagination

H2O FZ: Day 1, Videos

Where does the water on this waterfall go?


Why do these clouds move so fast?


What does rain do to the ground it falls on?


What does rain look like from a distance?


What do these huge waves do to the sand under them?


What will your H2O Flow zone be like?