Pattern Block Puzzles and a New Science Unit

In Math, we had to work on some problem solving skills.  Mrs. Kurt gave us a paper that had three pattern block puzzles on it.  These three puzzles were all the same.  We had to figure out different ways to complete the puzzles, using only four shapes:  hexagons, trapezoids, rhombuses and triangles.  We actually came up with some pretty good ideas...

This afternoon in Science we started a new unit on wood.  We started out by learning that the word observe means to look at something very carefully and that when we observe we can use more than one of our senses.  Today we used the senses of touch, sight and smell.  We determined that wood comes from trees and it is a material.

We observed five different types of wood:  red cedar, pine, basswood, particle board and plywood.  We discussed how the samples were the same and different.  Some of the samples were smooth; others were rough.  It was pretty amazing to see how many new Science vocabulary words we talked about today.

There are lots of fun activities to go with our unit on wood.  Check out our blog to see what else we work on in the coming days.