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Pearl S. Buck Elementary
February 17, 2017
Important Dates
School will be closed:
- Monday, 2/20, for President's Day
- Tuesday, 2/21, for Teacher In-Service
Science Fair (3rd and 4th grade) - Thursday, February 23rd, 2017, 6:30-7:30 PM at Buck. We will have nearly 100 projects on display. Come see the many fun experiments conducted by our young scientists. All visitors are welcome to visit the Science Fair!
- Participants may begin to bring their projects to the school as early at 5:45 PM on 2/23.
- Participants may take their projects home after 7:30 PM.
The PTO Book Fair Family Night will also occur on February 23rd, 6-8 PM. Come join us!
PSSA Testing Dates for 3rd and 4th Grades:
- Monday, April 3rd, through Thursday, April 6th (ELA)
- Monday, April 24th, through Wednesday, April 26th (Math)
- Tuesday/Wednesday, May 2nd & 3rd (Science - 4th grade only)
Testing will occur throughout the morning of each testing date. Please do not schedule appointments or vacations for your child on testing dates.
Mr. Nesbitt's Class Pet
Mr. Nesbitt's class recently completed a nonfiction writing on a giraffe and then made an 11 foot giraffe that one of the children will win. Students in Mr. Nesbitt's class have also been learning about writing "hooks" to increase our style. For this, Mr. Nesbitt has a fishing pole with a giant hook on it. We sure hope the 'bait' is fresh.....
"Macaroni"
Resident Poet at it again!
100 Day Celebrations continued this week
Mrs. Arner’s class celebrated the 100th day of school by popping balloons all day to reveal a hidden activity inside that was related to the number 100! Some activities included counting to 100 by 1s, 5s, and 10s, reading 100 words, coming up with 100, rhyming words, filling in 10 ten-frames, and so much more! They even got to work cooperatively as a team to build the tallest tower they could using 100 plastic cups! The kindergarteners had so much fun celebrating being “100 days smarter!”
Probability - The 2nd Grade Way
As a start to their money unit, students in Mrs. Junod's class made predictions, flipped a coin one hundred times (because it was the 100th day of school, of course), and recorded each flip with a tally mark, heads or tails. Fun was had by all, one hundred times over!
Hand Pollinators
Science Fair Questions
If your child will be participating in the Science Fair, below are some questions you may want to ask of your young scientist. We will be looking for up to 6 projects to be presented at the STEAM Expo on Thursday, April 20th, at Neshaminy High School. Having great answers to the questions below will help us recommend which projects will be presented at the expo. Parents, it's okay to help develop ideas and assist with the experiment, but be sure your young scientist takes ownership of the final product. This should be a fun, learning experience for everyone!
Where did you get the idea for this project?
Listen for how the presenter determined their project idea would make a good science project. Did they have a question about how something worked? Curiosity about how something would react to certain actions? There's no 'right' answer, but clarity is critical.
What would you do differently next time?
Listen for the presenter to recognize that all projects have limitations and they could always have done better if they had more time, more resources, better equipment, etc.
What would you do next?
Listen for the presenter to propose an example of the next logical experiment.
What was the hardest part?
Listen for the presenter to acknowledge which parts they thought were hard and how they solved the problems that arose.
What research did you do?
Describe any reading (or searching) that was completed before the presenter wrote his or her hypothesis. A variation of this question is: Why did you think that would happen? (Referring to the hypothesis).
What was your control?
Listen for the presenter to identify the need for a control, and identify the independent variable.
Why did you do the experiment more than once?
Listen for the presenter to demonstrate an understanding of the concept of variability and that the more an experiment is repeated, the more confidence we have in the accuracy of the results.
Why are your findings important?
Listen for the presenter to link his or her results to the “bigger picture” including who might be interested in the findings. ("Y'know, you may save a lot of money buying off-brand paper towels because my results showed....")
Who helped you?
This sounds like a trick question because you were supposed to do your own project – right? But no scientist works in isolation (and if they did we wouldn’t know about them because they wouldn’t have communicated their results!). Acknowledge your teachers, parents, friends, and anyone else that gave you an idea, advice, equipment, or assistance.
Office Reminders
Please remember to bring I.D. with you when picking up your child. If someone else routinely picks-up your child, please make sure to list them as an emergency contact AND remind them to have proper I.D. when they arrive.
Please be sure to write your child's teacher a note regarding ANY changes to your child's afternoon routines. For last-minute changes, please call the school office at 215-809-6300 and speak with one of our secretaries.
Our lost and found is growing. It is full of coats, fleece jackets, hats, scarves, etc. Please have your child check for lost personal items. Parents may also visit the lost and found. Please check-in at the office first.
Be Food-Allergy Aware!
Due to varied allergy and dietary needs, please contact your child's teacher before sending in food for students other than your child (e.g. for birthday celebrations, class parties). Do not send in any items until the teacher has responded and confirmed the appropriateness of your request. Also, students should not share food at any time during school - even with a close friend. A seemingly harmless food item may unexpectedly contain allergens, or interact with other medical conditions. Depending on the health needs in the classroom, teachers may choose to avoid food-oriented experiences altogether.
Please see our guidelines for more information.