Ms. Petrello's Fourth Grade Class

The Georgia Floods of 2009

2009-09-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

Many students have personal stories of how the floods affected their homes. We saw first hand examples of water erosion. In the past few years it seems as though our communities around the world have been plagued with major floods. Check out the websites and post your comments about floods, erosion, and how humans can control water flow.

Hurricane Katrina
http://www.katrina.noaa.gov/

Flood of 2009 in Atlanta
http://www.wsbtv.com/weather/21135204/detail.html (Effects of the flooding)
http://www.wsbtv.com/video/21107799/index.html (Floodplain)
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/weather/09/23/southeast.flooding/index.html#cnnSTCVideo (Arial View of Damage)

Flooding in the Philippines
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/09/28/philippines.floods/index.html

Welcome Back.... Welcome to Our Science Blog

2008-08-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

Blog Directions:
1.) Read the blog entry
2.) Visit the websites given
3.) Read everyone's comments
4.) Write your comment.
(You do not need to sign up. You can post a comment as an anonymous user. )
5.) All comments must use correct grammar and spelling.

This week we talked all about the safety in science. Being safe starts with YOU. This year, we will be doing so many fun experiments and activities. It is important that we stay safe. I can't wait to see all the pictures you create for the school safety board.

Check out these websites and share comments about these questions:

Science Fun Facts
http://www.hightechscience.org/funfacts.htm

Science Fun
http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/

Questions
1.) What are you looking forward to most this year in science?
2.) Why do you like science?

A Day of Simple Machines

2008-02-20T15:59:00.001-08:00

How Does the World Work?

Machines are all around us. We use them when we don't even know it- opening the blinds and sharpening our pencils. Life without these machines would seem so difficult!
What do these simple machines really do? What are these machines and how do they make the work easier? On Friday, the fourth grade students will experience a day of science as we rotate through the different fourth grade classrooms. We will experiment with various simple machines and discuss how they help us in our world.

Assignment:
1.) View these websites to review the types of machines and how they work:
http://www.mikids.com/Smachines.htm
http://www.fi.edu/qa97/spotlight3/spotlight3.html
http://www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines/
http://www.quia.com/cm/42409.html

2.) Post your questions related to the activities or the websites. You can also post any comments or things you learned from Friday's activities.

Your posts will help our community of learners become more knowledgeable about machines and how the world works. Please stay away from posts that are jokes or may hurt someone's feelings.

We look forward to hearing from ALL fourth grade students, teachers, and parents too!

Is Global Warming a Serious Problem?

2007-01-28T12:54:00.000-08:00

While we were sharing our opinions during writing class, many of you expressed a concern for the environment. Some students said, "I am adamant that we need to stop pollution." Another student who traveled abroad said, "The United States is far dirtier than other countries." I would like to use this month's blog to share our opinions on the environment.

Assignment:
1.) Think about your opinion on the following question: How serious is global warming?
2.) Read the articles from these websites to gather reasons and supporting evidence.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/globalwarming/index.htm
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/change.html
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/bigdeal.html
http://www.pollingreport.com/enviro.htm
New York Times Article

3.) Write a response that tells your opinion and reasons why you think global warming is or is not a serious problem. (Make connections to what we have learned in writing class!)

Remember:
+ All posts should be your BEST writing with no grammar or spelling errors.
+Read all posts before yours and comment on what you have read. Do you agree or disagree with your classmates?
+Be respectful and do not put down any student because of his or her opinion.

Konnichiwa...(to our Japanese penpals!)

2006-10-15T15:34:00.000-07:00

Last week, we finally received our long awaited letters from Japan! When the envelope was delivered to class, I thought I had just won a million dollars. We opened and read the letters with our partners. We couldn't believe the neat handwriting and creative, artistic paper. Some of the students have already started making paper to write back and gathering artifacts to send.

As you think about what you want to write back to your penpal. Look at this website. One of the best things about having a penpal is that they can answer almost any question you have about their culture and country. Explore this website and post your comments. Here are some things to think about:

How is Japan similar to the United States?
How is Japan different than the United States?
What are some interesting facts that you learned about the country and culture?
What kinds of things were invented in Japan?
What do the Japanese do to help protect the environment?

http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/

Our First Field Trip: Chattahoochee Nature Center

2006-09-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Chattahoochee Nature Center for the "Web of Life" tour. We had an excellent time with our tour guide Carla. She began by reviewing some vocabulary such as producer, consumer, decomposer, abiotic, and biotic. I was so impressed that the students remembered all of the words and gave excellent definitions for the words. Sonny's explanation was exceptional when he said that a "decomposer breaks down dead consumers and producers."

After the vocabulary session, we began our nature walk. Good thing I wore comfortable shoes! On the trail, we saw the components of an ecosystem working together as we saw trees that had been eaten by termites, spider webs that glistened in the sun but were invisible once the sun moved, and even strange red "dots" that made Allie and Lucy very curious.

Carla was very knowledgeable, but Charlie was still able to stump her!) She talked about the talons of hawks (thanks Lucy and Alex for reminding me) that were used to capture their prey such as mice. I would not want to be caught by the talon. The claws looked extremely sharp! I wonder what would happen if the hawk or eagle lost its claws? How would it adapt, or change to fit its surrounding?

My favorite part was when I found out that I had ophidiophobia (a fear of snakes for those of you that didn't join us.) I couldn't believe I was afraid of a tiny snake. Carla showed us an albino corn snake. This snake was special because it was born a different color than most corn snakes. The snake was red and white when it typically is born black and red. Carla told us about the snake's adaptive features (or the things about the snake that help it survive in the environment.) For example, the snake can not have arms and legs because it wouldn't be able to slither (that's a thick word) around the ground. I wonder if some of the students remembered some of the other adaptive features of the snake. Maybe they can add to this blog!

I had such a great time at the Nature Center. Thank you to the students for asking GREAT, THICK questions and being such great listeners. You all really were on your best behavior and showed your IB attitudes and profiles. Thank you also to our parent volunteers Mrs. Harris and Mrs. Powers. We loved it when you handed out water out of the school bus (the little things make us laugh!) Thanks again to everyone :)

Pizza Portraits

2006-09-03T07:01:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, we celebrated the wonderful fourth grade community we have at Sarah Smith. We created self-portraits (the students used their previous knowledge from art class!) The students discussed community and related Sarah Smith to an ecosystem. We discussed how we all play an important role in the ecosystem at Sarah Smith. I can't wait for all the parents to see the portraits at Open House!
I hope everyone has a fun, safe, and RELAXING Labor Day weekend!

The First Week is Already Over?

2006-08-20T17:47:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe we finished our first week of school. Our greatest accomplishment of the week was the culture quilt. We added individual squares about ourselves, our goals, our wishes, and put them together to make an enormous class quilt. The quilt will remind us of our individuality and our goals for the year. You can view the quilt all year long as it will hang inside our classroom.

Welcome

2006-08-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome! I am so excited to join Sarah Smith Elementary this year. On Friday, I met many parents and almost all of the students in our 2006-2007 class. I know that this will be an exciting year. First, let me tell you a little bit about myself. This is my first year at Sarah Smith, but my fourth year teaching. I graduated from Miami University and am currently working towards a Masters of Arts degree from Agnes Scott College. I recently went to Japan with 200 other educators through the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Program. I studied the Japanese culture and compared our school systems. The Japanese schools placed a heavy focus on ecological awareness as well as personal well-being of the students. I hope to use what I learned through the Japanese in my classroom this year.

I have many goals for this year, and I am sure that the students do as well. First, the fourth grade team wants to improve the technology use inside the classroom. We would like our students to use powerpoint and become proficient in scanning documents to create their own e-portfolios. Secondly, I would like to see all of the students lead and participate in inquiry based discussions through our Junior Great Books reading program. I can't wait to see the engery that the students will bring to the discussions. Finally, I hope to improve the problem solving and math awareness of the students through discussions and classroom explorations.

We will use this blog in class to reflect on what we learned, what we need to improve on, and share with the community the wonderful things we are doing in Room 5! I encourage the students and parents to share their comments. I look forward to an exciting and academically challenging year!