Category: Fifth Grade

Enrique Lomnitz is an industrial engineer who is solving water access problems in areas such as Mexico city (where he was born). This week, Saklan’s fifth graders got to join Enrique live over Zoom, to hear how he is developing water infrastructure for communities facing high levels of water insecurity, primarily through rainwater harvesting using roof catchment, pipes, and rainwater tanks.

As part of NatGeo Explorer Classroom, the students not only got to hear from Enrique, they also got to ask him a question, and in the process were featured live on Youtube.

Connecting with experts in the field, such as Enrique, enriches student learning. Additionally, hearing about the innovative ways he is helping his community encourages the students to think beyond themselves and develop the compassion, creativity, and courage to plan innovative ways to help others.  

#SaklanGuestExpert #SaklanCompassion

Our fifth grade students met Susan Levenson, an educator with Friends of the San Leandro Creek, in Chabot Park last week to learn about four water quality measures. Susan led the class in collecting samples of creek water to test; students predicted and then measured pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Turbidity (clarity), and Temperature levels.

The class was divided into groups, and then each group chose roles for conducting the tests, including recording and presenting their results. Discussing and allowing for human error, the results from each group were almost identical, showing that their tests were valid and the creek water is very healthy for supporting life! 

For the second experiment, groups chose from given materials to plan an effective filtration system, creating two models.  They were thrilled to see clear-ish water come out of one of them, and clearer water out of the other!  Students’ field work connected them with the actual equipment and processes hydrologists use.  In addition to the scientific process, it opened a window through which students might envision a career in the sciences.  

#SaklanFieldExperience

Last week the 5th graders had a great time participating in the Marine Science Institute’s Discovery Voyage. The students embarked on a four-hour expedition of the San Francisco Bay. During the trip the students learned about marine science through hands-on learning centers on board the R.V. Robert G. Brownlee.  

At the benthic (ocean floor) ecology station, the students dredged sediment samples from the bay floor using a Peterson benthic grab-claw, then washed the mud away on screens to expose native and non-native invertebrates. Students discovered a plethora of species, from Japanese spider crabs to jellies, sponges, bay shrimp, isopods, and clams, which were put into “touch-pool” buckets for students to gently handle and study. 

At the ichthyology (fish) station, students used teamwork to deploy a 16-foot net. After trawling it for several minutes, students worked again to haul the net in. Cries of ‘HEAVE-HO…HEAVE-HO” were heard yelled by students as they hauled, and much excitement followed as a leopard shark and sizable ray splashed the team that caught them. Fish were placed in buckets and students used dichotomous keys to identify them by examining their gill location, number of dorsal and pectoral fins, tail shape, coloring, eye location, etc. Additionally, adaptations for habitat and predator/prey relationships were observed, such as an intricate pattern of bio-luminescent spots on the underbelly of one fish, and the countershading of others, such as on a topsmelt. 

Meanwhile, at the plankton ecology station, the fifth graders collected a plankton sample and examined it under a video microscope, identifying many zoo- and phyto- plankton from single-cell organisms to complex species. At the hydrology station, they collected top and bottom water samples, and measured salinity, temperature and density of the bay. 

The students rotated through all stations in collaborative learning groups. The students enjoyed seeing each group’s catch, the highlights of which were leopard sharks, sting rays, halibut, and torbets. This experience brought to life many of the science concepts the 5th grade has been learning this year, centered around earth’s spheres, hydrology, life science/animal food chains, adaptations, and human impact on the natural world. 

Check out video highlights of the field experience here!

#SaklanFieldExperience

As budding scientists, Saklan students learn to pose questions, make observations, plan and conduct experiments, and draw reasonable conclusions. Before Spring Break, each 5th grade student got their own “class pet” to observe and plan an experiment for.

No, they did not get to adopt pets from the Humane Society, but they did get something a bit smaller…  wriggly red worms! Students began by observing their behavior on a damp paper towel with a small black construction-paper square “tent” available.  Most worms wiggled their way under the paper towel or under the square, away from the light.  The students concluded that worms prefer dark places to bright places, and linked to what they already know – “Worms do live underground, after all!” said Jack Z. 

Next, the class set up another experiment to see if the worms prefer damp places to dry places, hypothesizing that they do prefer damp places, because they live in damp soil.  Most worms headed to damper areas as the clock ran out on the experiment, and then the students put them to “bed” in a worm habitat.  This week, the fifth graders began to plan and conduct individual experiments to test worm likes and dislikes.

#SaklanHandsOn #SaklanScience