Dress Like a Scientist!

What image comes to mind when you read the word SCIENTIST?  

Do you picture someone in a white lab coat holding a glass beaker? 

There are all kinds of scientists who don't work in a laboratory.  For example:

• An astronomer studies stars, planets and galaxies.
• A botanist specializes in plants.
• An entomologist studies insects.
• A herpetologist studies reptiles and amphibians. 
• An ichthyologist studies fish. 
• A vulcanologist studies volcanoes. 
• An ornithologist studies birds. 
• An archeologist studies ancient civilizations. 
• A geologist specializes in the history of Earth.
• A geographer studies Earth's surface.
• A zoologist studies animals.
• A marine biologist studies ocean plants and animals.
• A meteorologist studies weather and climate.
• A microbiologist studies microscopic plants and animals.
• A paleontologist specializes in fossils.
• A seismologist studies earthquakes.
• A speleologist studies caves.

The above list is based on one found at factmonster.com

  

These students found titles that interested them in the enormous "We're Mad About Science!" book display in the library.

During library class this week we’ll be exploring all sorts of books about scientists and what they study.  This coming Monday is the beginning of Reading Week and the theme is "Experiment With a Good Book".  I want to make sure they're ready for Tuesday, which is Dress Like a Scientist Day! 

After viewing all of the students' costumes, Mrs. Bartkiewicz and I will be awarding selected students with prize certificates.  For example The Nobel Prize for Research (for going above and beyond to research a particular scientist or type of scientist and wearing a costume that demonstrates that knowledge) and The Nobel Prize for Creativity (for creating a costume that is especially unique and interesting)!

Here are some links for you to explore to get some more ideas:

Scientists From A-Z lists a different kind of scientist for each letter of the alphabet along with a link to another website for further exploration!

Learn about inventors and scientists at Kids.gov

"Famous Scientist Facts" at Science Kids

Just for fun, try out some of the "Science Games" at PBS KIDS

Yes, students may also dress as a fictional scientist!

Land and Water

A student about to circle Egypt on the map

All this week I've been telling my students about our "Reading Oasis" contest.  (Scroll down to my last blog entry for all the details, or click here.)  To help the students understand the theme, we spent some time learning what an oasis is and how the theme ties in with Ancient Egypt.  This was especially fitting for my fourth graders who have just started a science unit called "Land and Water"!

In the fourth grade classrooms, the teachers have been encouraging the students to make observations and inferences when looking at a photograph.  This activity really helps them to differentiate between what we see (observable facts) and what we might guess is true.  In library, I introduced the concept of what an oasis is by putting up a photograph and asking the students what they noticed.

The students observed that there were a lot of trees and plants growing around the water, and many buildings could be found right next to it. They inferred that this was because both plants and people need water to survive.

Then I put a satellite photograph of Egypt and the Nile River Valley onto the SmartBoard and invited the students to come up with some observations and inferences.  They worked in small groups at their tables, and many of the students went up to the board to point out details to their peers. (The students were amazed when I zoomed in and they saw that the long, wide "river" was actually vegetation and the water was just a thin ribbon in comparison!)

On Thursday, the fourth graders created their own "rivers"!  These students are allowing a small stream of water to flow across an area of soil before draining out a hole at the opposite end.  This experiment allows them to observe how the water affects the land.  After the entire bottle of water had finished draining away, they noticed that the water:

   * forms a path that bends, depending on obstacles
   * picks up and carries soil as it flows, and
   * sometimes "fans out" as it reaches the end of the land

Is it just me, or does that sound a lot like the Nile and the delta formed by its tributaries?  I love when I can connect my lesson in the library with what's happening in the classroom!  :)