Ms. Bustamantes Blog

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom Newsletter-May 12

Mon, 12 May 2008 13:41:24 GMT

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom

· On Monday we had a guest speaker, Jim Paradise, from Lockheed Martin to speak about the planets. He was very good and had a great power point presentation. Super pictures of planets, the surface of Mars, asteroids, and space vehicles.

· We finished our representation of the planetary distances from the sun and learned about Tycho Brahe, the astronomer. We will continue with Galileo, Kepler, and Newton this week.

· We finished up our states of the North Middle Region with the test on Friday. We just have a timeline and a grid map to do to wrap up the booklet we have been working on.

· We will concentrate on the Solar System, astronomical units, light years, experiments, and astronomers this next week.

· Our field trip to see Slim Goodbody was very good. He presented information about the body in a fun way. Ask your child about the Up, Down song!

· Field Trip to the Mint and Art Museum on Thursday, May 15—sack lunch needed.

· A great big thank you to the parents for making Teacher Appreciation Week so wonderful!!

· Work on the State Fair Project—Due Wednesday, May 28.

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom Newsletter-May 5

Mon, 05 May 2008 12:35:59 GMT

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom

Completed an experiment that shows why a planet stayed in the plane in which it is spinning.
Will continue with other experiments/demonstrations this next week.
Read and discuss the astronomers Hipparchus, Ptolemy, and Copernicus. Discussed how astronomy has changed and how some theories come and go.
Added Earth to our planet book we are creating.
Learned about the rivers and the Great Lakes in the North Middle States.
TEST on the North Middle States on Wednesday. Field Trip on Thursday, May 8—a sack lunch is needed.

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom April 28

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:10:39 GMT

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom

· We completed our experiment on the orbital rate of planets close to the sun and those farther away.

· They finished up questions on the Solar System after reading an article on it. They will be work on the planets and creating a planet book.

· They learned about the concentric circles theory of planetary rotation, geocentric theory of Eudoxus, the elliptical theory of planetary rotation of Aristotle, and how Eratosthenes figured out the circumference of the Earth. I trying to get them to see that these were gifted astronomers, thinkers, and did not have the benefit of modern telescopes. ( Also the progression of knowledge on the Solar System.)

· We will continue this week with more knowledge on the solar system, experiments, and astronomers.

· For the states we are finishing the geography on this region, coloring a map of the geographic regions, and doing an assignment of the landforms. We will learn the major rivers of this region and the agriculture regions.

· On Earth Day they read about Lonesome George the last tortoise of his kind and his search for a mate. They created a cartoon about him.

· Projects will come home on Monday, April 28, along with a copy of the grade.

· Test on the states and capitals on May 9. PLEASE be working on the State Fair Project.

Mrs. Bustamante-Homeroom

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:52:17 GMT

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom

Completed our human body projects on Tuesday and they will be displayed on table in the Area of Refuge for others to see.
Watched the video The Magic School Bus in Space.
Labeled and colored a picture of the planets in the solar system.
Answered questions based on an article on the planets.
Started the North Middle States—Test on states, capitals, and location of the state on May 9
Handed out the project requirements for the State Fair project on May 28 and May 29.

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom-april 14

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:20:14 GMT

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom

Completed two assignments on the introduction to space-"What Are Astronomers?" and "How Big is Big? The Universe," “Where Am I in the Universe,” and read “What is the Solar System?”
Did an experiment on the various forces that planets experience in their orbit.
Learned about Pythagoras and his theory of the solar system.
Started our presentations for our human body models on Wednesday, April 9. Excellent job!!!
We will finish the presentations on Tuesday, April 15. I had them scheduled for today, but I have a committee meeting at that time, and I want to be there for their presentations.
We will be learning more about the early astronomers—Eudoxus of Cnidus and Aristotle.
We will begin the study of the North Middle States with me this week. There will be no at home project for them, it will be an in class project.
On Wednesday I will be sending home the requirements for the end of the year study of the states. We call it our “State Fair”. I will go over it with the students, assign their state, and we will have our calendar for working on the project.
Read to Feed netted us $3,300 and we will vote today on what to spend it on.

Mrs. Bustamante's Homroom-April 7

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:10:28 GMT

Mrs. Bustamante’s Homeroom

Completed the experiment digestion of starches.
Did two papers about the process of digestion.
Will finish digestion this week—test will be an open note test.
Began the study of the planets with “What is Astronomy?”
Will begin studying the planets, space, theories of the ancient/modern astronomers, and do several simple experiments that demonstrate facts about the concepts we will be studying.
Project will be due April 9 with presentations to small groups of students on that day. Any projects that don’t get shared will be presented on Monday, April 14.
Read to Feed collection from our classroom was $570.00! Thanks to all who participated.

Mrs. Bustamante's Homeroom-March 31

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:41:14 GMT

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom

We only had our science class twice the week before Spring Break.
Finished our experiment of digestion in the mouth.
Project explanation and criteria were sent home on Monday, March 17

along with a yellow calendar to track their progress. All project due on

April 9 with presentations that day and on the following Monday,

April 14.

Friday, March 21 students submitted to me their idea for their project and had

many with the same topic. We made some adjustments and several students changed

their topic.

We viewed Bill Nye Science Guy Digestion video on Tuesday before we

left on our field trip.

Friday before Spring Break we discuss and read about the digestive system

and did an experiment on starch in food.

We will complete the study of the digestive system this week and move on

to the Solar System.

Project due April 9—Read to Feed money due by Friday of this week. Make checks

payable to Heifer International.

Field trip permission slips for overnight to go home today.

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom Newsletter-March 17

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:59:14 GMT

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom

Made a model called the Monstrous Digestive System.
Made a poster that show how the digestive system works.
Gave the students a diagram of the digestive system with the parts

labeled and a brief explanation of the function of that part.

Will do an experiment about digestion beginning in the mouth.
Took the muscle test on Friday. Test is in their portfolio and a note sent

home with the score on it.

CSAP testing will continue this week with the 4^th graders reading, writing

and math.

Project for science going home today.
Field trip on Tuesday to the Fisk Planetarium—from 9:00-12:30 –sack lunch needed.
Friday your child can wear PJ’s, bring a pillow, and a stuffed animal for the culmination of

READ TO FEED.

Have a great Spring Break!

Mrs. Bustamante's Newsletter-Homeroom March 10

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:18:20 GMT

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom

Completed our muscles with two experiments-Muscle Mambo and Terribly Tired Muscles.
Answered questions on the muscles based on a labeled diagram.
Completed an assignment called Masses of Muscles.
Sent home the study guide for the muscles on Wednesday, March 5 with the Test on Friday, March 14.
Began our study of the Digestive system this week.
Remember CSAP this week Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for all ¾ students.
Make sure we are reading, reading, reading for Read to Feed!
Field trip next week on Tuesday to the Fisk Planetarium-sack lunch needed.

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom Newsletter-March 3

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:46:46 GMT

Mrs. Bustamante Homeroom

Introduced our Read to Feed community project and provided time each day to read. Thanks for your help with our project. The kids are really excited about it.
Completed our book on muscles and made a model of the arm muscles.
Did an experiment called Terribly Tired Muscles and one called Muscle Mambo.
Discussed the three basic types of muscles in the body and where they are located.
Defined voluntary and involuntary muscles.
Will wrap up muscles at the beginning of this week with a test to be announced.
Took the skeletal test on Friday—test will be put into their portfolio—grade sent home.
Field Trip permission slip for Fisk Planetarium going home today.
CSAP next week and the following week.
New Specials on Monday—Computers and Spanish.