VIDEO: Nicolas Copernicus Reburied

Video for Solar System Catch-Up (Math Olympiad Kids)

SONG: I'm Atoms by Veritasium

LYRICS:

Well an atom's made of protons, neutrons, and electrons

the first two in the nucleus, the third around it

it's mostly empty space, but it feels solid in any case

The elements are all the different types of atoms

they differ by the number of protons in the middle.

Hydrogen has only one, but Uranium has a ton

It's just chemistry that you and me are made of these atoms

Well atoms bond together to form molecules

Most of what's surrounding me and you

Water, sugar, things yet undreamed of of of of

Look around you, see the combinations in a eucalypt tree

Mendeleev's periodicity

gives us sand and water and the air above ove ove ove ove

It's just chemistry that you and me are made of these atoms:

Hydrogen, Oxygen, Carbon, Nitrogen, make up the world's life forms

Do do do you, do do do do

but do you wonder how

matter forms something strange

when there's a chemical change?

Where did these atoms come from? They were fused in stars

Light elements combine releasing light from afar

Fusion in the sun, creates Helium

I guess what I be saying is you gotta use your reason

To open up your mind and see the cause of the seasons

-How do we know what's true? The scientific method shows you

It's just chemistry that you and me are made of these atoms

Atoms bond together to form molecules

Most of what's surrounding me and you

Water, sugar, sand and you'll find things undreamed of

So Argon, Neon, Xenon

There's no need to overstate

'Cause we are of course

This, of this, of this, we're made: atoms

VIDEO: The Difference Between Mass and Weight by Veritasium

VIDEO: Egg Experiment to Demonstrate Inertia by Veritasium

VIDEO: Is There Gravity In Space? by Veritasium

If you've seen footage from the International Space Station or any of the space shuttle missions, you know that astronauts float around as they orbit the Earth. Why is that? Is it because the gravitational force on them is zero in space? (Or nearly zero?) The truth is that the strength of the gravitational attraction is only slightly less than it is on Earth's surface. So how are they able to float? Well, they aren't floating - they're falling, along with the space station. They don't crash into the Earth because they have a huge orbital velocity. So as they accelerate towards the Earth, the Earth curves away beneath them and they never get any closer. Since the astronauts have the same acceleration as the space station, they feel weightless. It's like being in a free-falling elevator (without the disastrous landing).

SONG: Experiments A Cappella by Veritasium

LYRICS:
Experiments are how we test theories
And further the progress of science
There are many theories to compare
Experiments help us find the best one

VIDEO: How Old Is the Earth? by Veritasium

VIDEO: Misconceptions About Falling Objects by Veritasium

link to video on YouTube

VIDEO: Where Did the Earth Come From? by Veritasium

SONG!: What Is Electricity by Veritasium

LYRICS
1, 2, 3 A song about 'lectricity
because it powers our lives
makes it possible for us to thrive

because it powers our lives
makes it possible for us to thrive

Oh, 4, 5, 6, volts of potential difference
makes electrons go round
if the circuit is complete and sound

Circuit's closed
Voltage There
Current Flows
Power Everywhere

We use AC,
in factories
and homes because we can transform it
High voltage
transmits with lower loss
but low voltage is best for safety
I said what is electricity?

Well, so 1,2,3 a song about 'lectricty
because it powers our lives
makes it possible for us to thrive

because it powers our lives
makes it possible for us to thrive

Oh, 4,5,6 volts of potential difference
makes electrons go round if the circuit is complete and sound

Heat makes steam
turns turbines
and a magnet in
coils of wires

We use AC,
in factories
and homes because we can transform it
High voltage
transmits with lower loss
but low voltage is best for safety
I said what is electricity?

Oh yeah, Oh yeah, C'mon!
How'd it be
no energy
of the electrical persuasion
I know we'd
have no computers
no internet or mobile phones yeah
Powers the world
Makes the world
We need electricity yeah

What is the Young Scientists Challenge?

Click here to go to the Young Scientist Challenge website...

There you can watch some short videos about the challenge and learn more.

Ms. Bragg especially likes: Voyage of Ideas, The Anatomy of a Challenge, and Why Science?

Web Assignment

Hello 4th Graders!

Welcome to your 2nd Web assignment! Today, your job is to buddy read the following web comic with your partner. This will help us understand what forensic anthropologists do, so that we're ready to do forensic anthropology ourselves on Thursday at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

Click on the picture to start the webcomic. Be sure to take turns reading!

Good luck! And have fun expanding your brain!

Your First Online Assignment!

Hello 4th Graders!

Welcome to Ms. Bragg's Blog! In the future, you will start many online assignments here.

Today half of the class will be working the computer lab with Mr. D., while the other half is doing a scientific demonstration in the Science Lab. After Book Buddies, we'll switch!

To-Do List:

1. Follow the Ways of the Watershed website and complete the worksheet on your clipboard.
2. Next, watch this video: What is a Watershed? It's only 6 minutes long.
3. Then, go to this illustration of Nonpoint Source Pollution, click on spots where you think someone is doing something that might damage the watershed.
4. Finally, play Pond-er This to find out what can happen to the environment when a town wants to build something new.
5. If you finish all that, you are free to explore the other links in the Science>Watershed folder on portaportal.

What We Are Reading: Stephen Hawking

In the News: Tornadoes!

News Clips of the Tornadoes that Hit This Week:

News Clip from Last Year:

SONG!: "Speed and Velocity" by They Might Be Giants

When I'm on an airplane
And we're on a runway
Ready to take off
And then we're in the air

Motion, direction, acceleration
Motion, direction, acceleration

I've got speed (that's how fast I am moving)
I've got velocity (that's my speed and direction)

When I'm on my Big Wheel
Skateboard
Roller coaster
Race car
Motorcycle
Rocket ship
Into outer space

Motion (keep movin', keep movin', keep movin')
Direction (which way, anyway, uptown, all around)
Acceleration (let's go faster)
Acceleration (let's go faster)

I've got
Speed (that's how fast I am moving)
I've got velocity (that's my speed and direction)
I've got speed (that's how fast I am moving)
I've got velocity (that's my speed and direction)

SONG!: "Photosynthesis" by They Might Be Giants

Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis does not involve a camera
Or a synthesizer
Although that's interesting too
Photosynthesis is how plants take in light
From the sun and turn it into energy
It's actually a thing on which most life depends
Here on the planet Earth

Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis

With plants

Chlorophyll cells take in carbon dioxide
Now that's the air that we breathe out
Combines it with water and exposes it to sunlight
And that's how plants can make their own food
Photosynthesis is why plants need light
And photosynthesis is why humans need plants
Because through photosynthesis plants make oxygen
And humans need oxygen to breathe

Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis

Billy B. Explains the Greenhouse Effect

SONG!: "Biodiversity" by Billy B.

Bio-Bio-Biodiversity,
all life living in this community.
Bio-Bio-Biodiversity,
spaces, species, and the family tree.
Bio-Bio-Biodiversity,
all around and inside you and me.
Bio-Bio-Biodiversity,
so important to the world community.
I want, I want, I want whales in the oceans.
I want rhinos living free.
I want all forests growing.
I want Biodiversity.
We need rain forest medicine.
We need coral in the sea.
We need flower pollination.
We need Biodiversity.
Right Now!
It’s a big world we discover,
when we go out every day.
All the life forms live together,
interacting many ways.
Bees need flowers.
Flowers need bees.
That’s pollinating power!
fruit around seeds.
CHORUS
It’s a forest we discover,
when we’re there among the trees.
All the mushrooms and the beetles
and the worms under the leaves.
In the oceans, fish swim and feed
among the coral habitat they need.
CHORUS