Weekly Blurb - Week of January 15

HUMANITIES
How was the economy of the South built? Students learned this week that most of the plantations and cash crops were built on the backs of slaves. This week, we wrapped up a large unit on the original Thirteen Colonies, which also lays the groundwork for our next big unit focus: The American Revolution. The rumblings of discontent started in the later half of the eighteenth century, and students have begun to see that not everyone was on the side of democracy. In the book My Brother Sam is Dead, we meet Sam, a college student filled with ideas of revolution. However, his father believes that the learned men of Parliament and the King know what is best for the colonies. The book should shed light on how families were divided over this debate that eventually brought the colonies to war. Students will take a test on the thirteen colonies on Monday.

MATH
Another big unit in Math was finished this week when we took our test on multiplying and dividing decimals. We’ll continue to review these skills in daily warm-ups, but we’re ready to move into our next unit: fractions.

On Friday, when we would typically take a look at our fantasy stock portfolios, we had a real stock broker come to our class and give us tips on how to tell whether a stock is a good bargain or is overpriced. Seth Fischer, a broker at Oasis in Hong Kong, compared a company on the stock exchange to a lemonade stand. He peppered them with questions that made them think about competition. “What would you do if your brother opened up a stand next door to yours?” He asked them about the barriers of entry to market. “Could you just go out to the street and set up a lemonade stand?” (According to his experience with his son last summer, the answer is no. His son was shut down by the police who asked for his Hawker License.) He also asked them to consider what makes a product unique in the marketplace. “Does anyone have the secret recipe for your lemonade?” At the end, he left the students with a few more tools to decide how to purchase stocks. We’ll put into action what we learned next week when students will get a chance to reinvest their earnings and purchase more stock.

SCIENCE
We continued to look at matter in its various states and how it can change. Students had several items they observed. First, they looked at a block, and then at a glass of water. When students transferred the water to a different container, they saw first-hand one of the properties of liquids: they take the shape of the container that they are in. Air might not be visible, but blow up a balloon and we can see that it can fill up a space, as well. Students then had to determine whether each of the following were a chemical or physical change: adding salt to water, cooking an apple, burning a candle, melting ice. Think you know? Check your answers by asking your fifth grader.

Have a great weekend.
- Ms. Larson