Air Experiments

The fifth graders conducted 10 experiments about air. They were able to see air take up space because air bubbles came out of a brick and a bottle. A piece of paper stayed dry in a cup that was put straight down in a tub of water. Wow! There was air in the cup so the water couldn't go into the cup. The students witnessed air having pressure when they flipped over a cup of water with a piece of posterboard on it. It was like magic when the paper stayed on the cup, and the water didn't spill out. They proved air has a little weight when they balanced a balloon with air and one without air. It took a steady hand to try to hold a quarter with two straight pins and blow it like a windmill to show air does work. Also, air that they blew into balloons lifted books. Lastly, they proved that warm air rises when they saw the spiral paper move that was above the warm lamp. Also, the balloon over the bottle sitting in warm water had air go to the top of the balloon and actually blow up a little. I think the students had fun while learning about air.

D.A.R.E. Class of 2010

D.A.R.E. Graduation

Allison, Tyler, A.J. and Ben led the Pledge of Allegiance
at D.A.R.E. Graduation.


Naia, Jennifer, Brooklyn, and Jesse read their
D.A.R.E. essays.


Thank you Officer Schoop for being our D.A.R.E.
instructor. Thank you for the pens, pencils, bookmarks,
cups, magnets, dodgeballs, and everything else. You made
D.A.R.E. fun while we learned.



We would like to thank our families for coming
to our graduation and supporting us.

Building with K-nex

The fifth graders were studying about the six simple machines. The learned them as WWLIPS; wedge, wheel and axle, levers, inclined plane, pulley, and screw. They are able to identify the 3 kinds of levers. First class levers have the fulcrum in the middle such as a teeter totter, paper punch, and tongs. While a 2nd class lever has the load in the middle like a wheelbarrow and nutcracker. Lastly, a staper and a tweezer are good examples of 3rd class levers because the effort is in the middle.

To end the unit, the students built devices with K-nex. All of the devices used simple machines. It was a challenge for the students to follow the diagrams to build with the K-nex.

Using Simple Machines to Build with K-nex

Toys in Space

Yes, the fifth graders were playing with toys during science. However, they were also predicting how the toys would work in microgravity. After they made their hypothesis, they watched a video of actual astronauts using these toys on the space shuttle Endeavor.

The fifth graders would like to thank the ISU Extension for letting them borrow a kit which included the toys and video.

Space Projects

After studying space, each fifth graders did a research project. It could be about something they had already learned to expand their knowledge, or they could choose a new topic dealing with space. They had fun choosing a format to present the information. Some projects were models, Power Points, posters, games, and books. When they were finished they presented the information to their classmates. Finally, they displayed them in the library, and the fourth graders toured the projects.