Researching about Natural Resources

4HR is beginning our summative assessment for our Where you live impacts how you live unit. We will be sharing our learning about:

Resources: natural, capital, human

Needs & Wants

Trade & Scarcity

Supply & Demand

Consumers & Producers

After choosing a natural resource to investigate, each student will use their Nonfiction reading skills to find important information. Here are our list of resources to use:

Encyclopedia Britannica 

username: panthers 

Choose to read at Elementary level first. You can choose to challenge yourself at the Middle or High school level after getting the important information from the Elementary level. This resource will be the most helpful, so start and stay here!

Big Universe

Username: student panther apps

Password: student panther apps

Group Username: libiskl

Your resource may have its own book on Big Universe. This your second stop for researching. 

Appropriate Google Search

This is the last resort for finding information. You will need to take your time sorting through information, too high, too low reading levels, and unimportant details. Use the other resources first.

-Oil for kids

-Oil - natural resource

Trade Routes

Trade Map

This resource is tricky to use, but gives you great information about the consumers of your country's natural resource. 

Other possibilities -no guarantee of finding anything related to your research.

Natural Resource Maps - website

Country Profile- National Geographic - Can read to find out what natural resources the country has.

Africa Natural Resources - Commodities

CIA Country Fact Book

Natural Resource - World Map

Natural Resource - World Map 2

Our investigations

Sean, Connor & Jamie - diamonds in Canada

Zaaviar & Sissi, Carmen, Emily- gold in China

Miguel - fruit in Spain

Mason - gold in California

Victoria, Eva & Carol - lumber

Ryan & Mihir- diamonds in Botswana

Sarah - Iron in the UK

Caimi - UK

Sarah - cattle

Elin - lumber in Nordic countries

ZY - fishing in Norway

Amaan - diamonds in Russia

 

Building Our Own Seismograph

4HR is building seismographs that are affordable, accurate, and sensitive for countries that can't afford fancy computer seismographs. Our first step to collect information that will help us design accurate and sensitive machines.

What is a Seismograph?

Finding out:

Handout

PowerScienceKnowledge

PBS Kids

Simple Seismograph creation

UC Berkeley professor explains

What could be more accurate? What could be more sensitive?

What did we find out about seismographs? What are they made of?
Connects to base ten number system, in that the Richter scale works in powers of ten - Jamie
Steady and stable - Zaaviar
The paper would go around a wheel, with an axle in the middle. - Sarah
Wood plank needs to be smooth. Paper needs to be tight. - Connor
Platform: use cardboard. - Emily
Ink: when the paper keeps on moving, the writing instrument keeps writing. - Mason
The height of the weight and the weight of the weight. If the weight is super heavy, it wouldn't show small movements because it is held down. If it is lighter, it would show the smaller movements. - Sean
Vertical metal rod and steel wire. - Victoria
Platform: use cereal boxes, put something heavy in it. - Carmen
Platform: wood, because you can drill into it. - Amaan
Platform: tile. - Sean
Ball and pencil hung from rod. - Carol
Inverted pendulum seismometer: pencil suspended on a metal rod, adjusted to change the pendulum, so it can be more accurate. When the ground shakes, the pencil shakes, drawing on the paper. Wavelengths converted on the Richter Scale: lines on the paper. - ZY
You need a weight to make it stable. - Miguel
Measures how big the Earth's movement. - Elin
These seismographs connect to pendulums, except they don't move and stay in the same spot. It picks up the vibration of the surface, which causes the pencil or pen to move. - Caimi

Environmental Impact of Printing

What do you think is the impact of printing our information books?

Positive:

-Good feedback will move us improve as authors
-Sense of accomplishment
-Sharing useful information
-We could save lives
-Share our learning with others

Negative:
-Uses paper which causes trees to get cut down
--> Animal habitats may be destroyed
-Uses energy: computers, printer --> energy comes from burning coal, water dams
-Uses ink: color uses up more ink than we need

Other thoughts:
-Gifs need to be screenshot-ed

We need to be aware of the negative impacts and try to lessen them.

From Get Dimples

You ever stop to think about the impact you make on the environment when you hit the print button?  Most folks focus on the amount of paper used in printing, but few stop to think about what goes into the ink and toner cartridges in their printer.

To find out, I’ve researched the environmental impact of printing and what I’ve found is quite shocking.  Here are some facts about the shadier side of ink and toner:

• Each year, more than 350 million ink and toner cartridges are thrown out in the United States alone (and this number increases every year!)

• Ink cartridges in landfills can take up to a millennium to decompose, as they contain resin

• Toner cartridges contain toxic ingredients such as volatile organic compounds in the form of solvents

• It takes almost a gallon of oil to make a single laser ink cartridge

• Manufacturing a single toner cartridge releases 4.8 Kilograms of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
• 
  

What can we do?

1) Minimize the amount of color in our books 

 - backgrounds need to be white, text needs to be black

2) Minimize the amount of printing

 - two-sided

 - ask myself do I really need to print this?

3) Choose not to print, create a PDF and post to our blogs

4) Eliminate unnecessary slides

Flipped Classroom

4HR is learning about different geometric shapes and attributes. To help us get comfortable using the new vocabulary in class, let's practice independently.

For each concept, choose one way of finding out. Then, on Friday, we will share your Way to Show Your Learning.

All About Geometry
Watch BrainPop video
Glorious Geometry on Big Universe

Parallel and Perpendicular Lines
Watch BrainPop video
Stone Age Geometry: Lines on Big Universe

Line segment, Lines, Rays, and Points
Khan Academy tutorial
Lines Segments, Rays, and Angles on Big Universe

Angles: Acute, Obtuse, Right
Lines Segments, Rays, and Angles on Big Universe
Stone Age Geometry: Squares on Big Universe

Big Universe Log-in Information
Username: student panther apps

Password: student panther apps

Group Username: libiskl

Ways to Show Your Learning
1) Draw a piece of Art: In your beautiful drawing, include the following geometric attributes (parallel & perpendicular lines; acute, right and obtuse angles; lines, line segments, rays, and points). Make sure to label all the attributes.

2) Make a YouTube Editor movie that demonstrates your learning about the following geometric attributes (parallel & perpendicular lines; acute, right and obtuse angles; lines, line segments, rays, and points). Make sure to label all the attributes.

3) Brain Pop shape sorter: Sort the shapes. Take a screen shot or print final results to bring in on Friday.

4) Your choice: Talk to Ms. Heather before Wednesday to have your choice approved.

Measurement Unit Tuning In

Today we tuned into our Measurement unit today. Our first step was to record everything we knew about our central idea:

The metric system aligns with our base ten number system

Thoughts

Kilometres, decametres, metres, centimetres and millimetres are all in the metric system.

The metric system and base ten number system connect with x10.

ex. metre x 10 = 10 metres

10 metres x 10 = 100 metres

100 metres x 10 = 1,000 metres

1,000 metres = 1 kilometre

Metric system has something to do with base ten because the examples have 10 or 100 or 1,000.

Questions

Does it have anything to do with measurement? - Yes!

What is the metric system? - Measurement based on Celsius, degrees, metres, litres, grams

Does the metric system use base ten blocks to find answers?

Does align mean connect? - arrange things, join

Is this about base ten in another way?

How many types of measurement are inside the metric system?

Through the process of reading books about the metric system and interacting with tools (scales, measuring cups, metre sticks), we began our discovery. Our next step is to figure out how the metric system aligns with the base ten number system.

Finding inspiration

4HR is beginning our journey as Realistic Fiction authors. The first step is to find ideas that make us passionate about writing. Ideas that we are called to write! Today we are looking at how other authors, like Kate DiCamillo, get their ideas and organize (or don't organize their ideas!).

Let's watch this video where Kate DiCamillo is honest about mistakes, rejection, and where she gets her ideas. In your writer's notebook, write down 3 - 2 - 1

3 Thoughts or ideas
2 Questions (for Kate DiCamillo or authors)
1 Piece of advice for you as an author

Nonfiction Reading Strategies

Grade 4 has been working on developing our Nonfiction Reading Strategies. Our big foci have been word attack skills, interpreting visual information, determining main idea and detail, and merging information through synthesizing. 

We have been collecting ThinkMarks aligned with this rubric throughout our Nonfiction reading unit. Now we are going to create a video explaining our thinking about Nonfiction texts and our great strategies with the world.

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