Finding out about Wind Energy

The Grade 4 students read instructions / procedure writing and created paper airplanes.

There was a lot of wind this morning so we met our buddies on the field to test out our paper planes and the kites we made a few weeks ago.

We tested the direction of the wind and used wind energy to help the kites and paper planes fly.

We discussed ways we use wing energy / wind power to make objects move. An example the sail on a boat. We also discussed how we use wind power to create mechanical or electrical energy. An example is windmills.

Exploring Solar Energy

Today we explored Solar power.
We made solar ovens and had our first attempt at cooking smores using the heat of the sun.
We placed our solar ovens on top of the metal walkway for 4 hours.

At 1.00 pm we enjoyed our creations.
They were not well cooked but were soft and gooey.

We will try again next week using remodeled ovens and a new product.
We will also check the weather. Today was a bit overcast. We will chose a day with stronger, more consistent sun and leave the oven up for an additional hour.

Creating a catapult

The Grade 4 students watched a clip on how to create a simple catapult.
They worked with a partner and followed the instructions.

Once we finished creating the catapults we tested them.
Eemil built a strong catapult and had an excellent shooting technique. His ammunition (connector block) traveled 11 meters. Florence's was close behind, traveling over 9 meters.

We discussed how the catapult makes an object move using potential and kinetic energy.
We also discussed links to mechanical energy, chemical energy (in our bodies) and gravitational energy as the block fell to the ground.

What is Static Electricity?

One of our class wonderings was about static electricity.

We did some inquiring today and found out that static electricity is the build up of an electrical charge of an object.

A static charge happens when two surfaces touch each other and the electrons move from one object to another. We tried this using balloons. We found we could create a charge when we rubbed it against our hair, carpet, table, window, foil, even the door.

We thought of times we experienced static electricity. 

You can zapped by static electricity when you walk into a room, go down a slide, hold the railing of the stairs. Sometimes your clothes sticks to your legs or stick together when you pull them out of o tumble dryer. That is also static electricity. 

We started to discuss positive charges and negative charges.  We continue to think about charges when we explore electrical circuits tomorrow.