4th Grade Classes (Tuesday) Spring 2010

 

Class and Teacher(s)	Course Description
Visual Arts: Drawing Mrs. Buchert	Grab your favorite pencil and dust off your best eraser because you will be working hard to create many personal masterpieces in this class.  What?  You're not quite a master?  That is not a problem!  We will be studying techniques of the professionals.  Whether you have become an accomplished artist or are still struggling to draw a straight line, you will learn at your own pace and will be given a lot of guidance along the way.
Polymer Chemistry Mrs. Williams	We live in the Polymer Age. Nearly all that makes up living organisms involve polymers. Students will investigate the extent and variety of some natural and synthetic  polymers. They will observe the properties of silly putty, slime, latex, sodium polyacrylates, and super absorbent crystals.  Experiments will be conducted to discover how polymers react under different conditions. Students will learn which polymers they use, wear, eat and recycle every day.
Kinetic Art:  Art That Moves Mr. Beck	This sculpture class focuses on creating work that has the added element of motion.  Students will design and build 3 or 4 major projects including an automata sculpture.  The automata projects created incorporate gears, cams, and levers.  By turning a crank or pushing a lever the animated scenes come to life.  Other projects include a “flying” sculpture, an art making machine, and the use of a harmonograph.  We will build, sculpt, paint, test, animate, and smile as we create some very unique artwork!
Great Literature:  Novels- Sisters Grimm Book Club Ms. Curran	If you always have a book tucked somewhere to read at as moment's notice, this class is for you!  We will be reading the Sisters  Grimm: Fairy Tale Detectives  and then use a variety of ways to analyze and discuss this book!  It would be best if you have access to a computer once a week and an email address since some of our discussion and analyses will be on a private blog for our class.  However, you can write out answers in a journal if you don't have the technology & Internet available. Finally, we will have a culminating team assignment on character analysis where teams write, edit and complete work on our class Wiki space! What could be better than a book, a blog, a wiki and new group of friends who love reading like you?
Human Body Mrs. Healy	Are you planning to have a career in the medical field?  Are you curious about how your body works?  If so, join us for a trip through the amazing human body. Our journey will take us through many of the systems in our body which are responsible for keeping us alive.  Some of the topics we will focus on are: genetics, circulation, respiration, skin care and how germs travel from person to person.  We will also create public service announcements to encourage people to make wise health choices.  Please Note: This class IS available to those who may have taken Human Body last year.  We will be studying new topics.
Animal Adaptations and Survival:  Oceans and Sharks Ms. Winkler	Great White, Spiny Dogfish, Tiger, Oceanic White Tip, Nurse, and Whale are just a few of the sharks we'll discuss in class. How long have sharks been on earth? Are they in danger of becoming extinct? How do sharks communicate? Do all sharks eat the same thing? What's the largest shark? Which one is the fastest? Who has been found with the strangest items in its stomach? Where are sharks at on the food chain? These are a few of the things you'll discover in this class.
Competitions:  LinguiSHTIKs Mrs. Healy	Love letter and word puzzles?  Are word searches and "Jumbles" your thing?  Are you an expert at grammar?  Then, this class is for you.   Learn the game of LinguiSHTIKs and practice grammar skills to apply to the game.  Many students will use their skills to compete at the Academic Challenge Cup event in January.  For more information about the competition, visit the Gifted Resource Council web page.
Great Literature:  Shakespeare Ms. McDonnell	“O, Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo?”  He’s in room 5 at GALACTIC for a dose of Shakespeare. The tales of betrayal, witches, ghosts, fairies, family feuds, love, and jealousy continue to entertain and enlighten us. Join us as we study the life and times of Shakespeare and three of his most popular plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet. Students will perform scenes from each of these plays, compare and contrast movie versions, and hurl insults from the Bard.
Cultures in Action Ms. Ziolkowski	Deprived of basic comforts, exposed to harsh natural environments, your fate dependent on strangers…would you survive?????? Dare to join other castaways on a tropical deserted island for a semester.  You will be forced to band together and form a tribe.  Each tribe will carve out a new existence, using only collective brainpower and the natural resources of the island to survive.  As a tribal member, you must help to create a cooperative island society with tasks such as building a shelter, designing clothing, and forming a system of government and set of laws.  Each tribe will be rewarded with “survivor points” after completing tasks and island challenges.  By the end of the semester, only one tribe will survive…  Will you be among the survivors?!
Engineering Ms. Schneider	In this class, we will be using Legos, and other building materials to conduct engineering experiments.  We will follow the invention process to solve real world problems.  We will learn to draw and follow a blueprint design to build a structure.  We will also be using a motor to make some of our inventions perform tasks.  If you are a problem solver and love to build with Legos this is the class for you.
Advanced Engineering Ms. Schneider	In this class you will be challenged to apply your prior knowledge about simple machines and structures with engineering skills, creativity and intuition to actively create new knowledge.  We will be using Legos and other building materials to conduct our experiments.  We will work together in teams to solve real world problems while looking at issues from multiple perspectives.  So if you really enjoyed solving problems and building with Legos 1st semester in Engineering class this is the class for you!  We will conduct even more problem solving experiments and design our own structures and mechanisms. You must have taken Engineering class from 1st semester to sign up for this class.
Competitions:  Equations Ms. Schneider	Needing a math challenge?  Tired of practicing your basic multiplication facts for the millionth time.  This class is for you.  Prepare for your future!  Learn the game of Equations and practice math skills to apply to the game.  Many students will use their skills to compete at the Academic Challenge Cup event in March.  For more information about the competition, visit the Gifted Resource Council web page.
Speak Up, Speak Out! Mrs. Binuyo	Students will be presented with the basic elements of good speaking. They will learn to use their voices correctly and to apply eye contact, body language, and facial expressions in the proper manner. This class offers a variety of speaking experiences, both formal and informal.