Hello 3rd Grade Parents,

I am Ms. Kaley Parsons, your child’s science teacher for studio this year.  I wanted to give better clarification on the 3rd grade science project that they are doing for my class.  We have studied many big topics this year that cover the Montessori 3rd grade curriculum, as well the standards for science on the 3rd grade Common Core.  Your child is to choose one of those topics I have taught them and present a project that will allow them to be the “teacher” on their topic of choice.  This demonstration will allow them to show their level of mastery on an area they have enjoyed this year.  We will have other students come visit their projects and learn from them.  I will also be doing a rubric that will assess their visual presentation and oral presentation skills.  This rubric will then be sent to their teacher which can then help their teacher possibly score their science area on the progress report higher.  Please don’t see this project like a science fair.  I really want to see students think how they can present a topic to others in a fun way.  Some students will choose a board or poster for their visual presentation, and that’s fine. Some students may choose a PowerPoint, brochure, board game, a performance, diorama, experiment demonstration, model, etc. to visually explain their project. Those are also great visuals for this kind of project demonstration.  There won’t be any ribbons or external prizes.  The value of this project is to really explore an area of science and have fun showing others what we learned this year!

The entire project isn’t necessarily going to be completed here at school.  I am allowing some time for your child to work in class in case they have questions or need support/guidance from me.  Depending on your child, they may need time at home to complete the project.  The due date is April 14th, so this will give your child a great start on managing his or her time.  On April 14th, all the 3rd graders will set up their projects in the gym and there will be time from 1-2:30 to have other MMA students come see and learn from the 3rd graders.  You, as parents, are more than welcome to come see all the projects too!

In regards to March 24th and March 31st, those Fridays will be in class working days.  Your child can bring anything they need to either begin or what they are currently working on.  Again, each project is going to look very different.  I have some students who have already started at home and some students are just in the beginning stages.  It is okay to be at either stage right now.  By March 31st, my hope is to have students feel comfortable in the direction they are taking with their project so they can make any final touches over Spring Break or in the days leading up to April 14th.

Your child will be taking home a take home sheet with a lot this information I am mentioning now, but it will give you and your child reminders for the project.  The rubric will be part of that take home paper too.  Please let me know if you have questions- kparsons@mariamontessoriacademy.org.

Kaley Parsons

Simple Machine: We discussed mass and how the 6 simple machines help us do work and how it makes it easier.

3 States of Matter: Solids, Liquids, and Gases.  We discussed all 3 and how the atoms work in each state.  We discussed how everything has matter and that there are other classes, but focused on the main 3.  I went over how the properties can change depending on what it is (water for example)

Light/ Sun and Heat: This unit was on the Sun and how it provides us with light and heat.  We did an experiment with temperature in different environments based on how the Sun warmed them (outside on the playground in the sun vs outside in the shade)

Heat- How heat is from the Sun review and then focused on friction and how heat is created from different materials based on how quickly they are rubbed and then how much heat is generated and then lost based on different kinds of materials.

Sound- We went over the parts of the ear and how the ear works with receiving vibrations and how that travels to the brain.  We discussed how if people with hearing lose or the lose of the cochlea can make people not be able to hear or disrupt the traveling for sound vibrations.

Electricity and Static Electricity- How electricity needs a closed circuit to work and when it isn’t all connected it loses its ability to complete the circuit.  We discussed electrons and their role in a circuit.  This was then related to how static electricity works with the accumulation and transferring of electrons to get a “spark”

Sun, Earth, and the Moon’s relationship- We went over how the Earth and moon orbits.  The discussion of how night and day and seasons happen was also related in this unit.

Living and Non-Living things in an environment- We pretended to be in a Honey I Shrunk the Kids! kind of situation. We went over living and non and what are characteristics to make them so.  We then went over how most of our living population come from insects and their perceptions are drastic from ours; that our nonliving things interaction are going to be different from their interaction with nonliving things around them and how they use them.

Forces- Who was Sir Isaac Newton was discussed.  The intro to all 3 laws of motion was described.

Momentum- How momentum works into the 3 laws of motion.  A Bill Nye was presented to give them ideas on how movement works within different situations.  Acceleration, inertia, gravity, friction, and mass again were discussed and reviewed.

Mable Marble laws of motion/momentum mini project- This is where we are right now.  March 3rd and March 10th are the classes 3rd graders are exploring the laws of motion with momentum by building a course to guide one marble to “kiss” the other marble without moving it.  Students are continuing their courses or for those who succeeded in the first class, a redesign.

Ms. Kaley would like to remind the 3rd graders to bring in their materials this coming Friday for science.  Friday March 24th and March 31st are both in class working days.

Dear Parents,

The March home project is on Europe. Your child may choose anything in relation to Europe. This could be a country, animals, architecture, people, food, etc. They will present and will need a visual aide and written work.

For April, the students will be commemorating Earth Day. This is a great opportunity for students to do home projects in relation to our Earth. Some ideas could be: ways to conserve water, endangered species, recycling, botany, how to compost, etc. However, the 3rd graders are expected to do a science project this month for studio class, so, they can choose to focus on the science project instead of the Our Earth project.

Have a wonderful weekend!