The Human Ear

The children reported their findings on sound in space. We agreed that we had to specify whether a person was in a spaceship or outside a spaceship, and if they were outside the spaceship, were they inside or outside their space suit. And.. if they were outside their spacesuit they would be dead by freezing and other grizzly descriptions best left in the classroom. But, if hypothetically, we could be outside the spaceship and suit and still be alive, the class agreed we could not hear sound. What sticklers for detail!
Today we wondered how humans hear. The children shared what they already know about human hearing. The knew that there is an ear drum involved in hearing and that nerves are responsible for getting messages to the brain, and that finally the brain interprets the signals. The children were then challenged to do some independent reading to discover more about human hearing. They learned some interesting new vocabulary such as cochlea and semicircular canals. They also drew pictures of the outer, middle and inner ear. They were grossed out to find out about the thousands of hairs we all have in our cochleas. Ask your child to describe how human hearing works to you.
Students are asked to bring in a  500 mL cottage cheese container and 1 L yogurt container (or other containers similar in size) for next week's inquiry into sound.
The children attended drama class next.
After drama, the children completed the arithmetic test they began yesterday and then spent time working on this week's spelling list.
After French class, the grade 3s did review work to prepare for the measurement test they will be writing on Monday, February 25. The grade 4s learned about translations and how to justify a movement as a translation and describe the translation in two moves.
We ended the day with the grade 4s rehearsing their speeches and the grade 3s finishing off their spelling work.

Homework & Reminders

• English and French spelling tests tomorrow
• MMS 3 - Study for Monday's math test
• MMS 4 p. 106, 107
• Memorise speeches
• Mood Machine - start collecting materials
• Photo permission forms that should have been in the reregistration packages are coming home today
• Bring in a clean 500 mL cottage cheese container and 1 L yogurt container (or other container of similar size) for next week's sound lesson