It’s time to start sketching, because this year’s Doodle 4 Google contest is open!
Doodles are the fun, surprising, and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists.
K-12 students are invited to bring their imagination to life in a doodle of the Google logo, using any medium they choose.
Check out the contest page to see past winners and to get some ideas! Start working on some sketches.
Let’s learn more about the six sided fluffy white stuff that has been flying around! Watch this video to get started.
At this site you can see some snowflakes under a microscope and read about how snowflakes are formed.
To earn this mini spark, create a script where you are interviewing a snowflake. Include 3 or 4 interview with the snowflake providing answers. You can use the questions ideas below as a guide or you can create your own.
What initiates the formation of a snowflake and how does it evolve into a complete snowflake?
Explain the process of crystallization and how it contributes to the symmetrical shape of a snowflake?
Why do snowflakes have six sides?
How does the temperature and humidity of the air influence the basic shape of an ice crystal?
What are the types of ice crystals formed at different temperatures, and what conditions contribute to their formation?
Describe how the atmospheric conditions encountered by an ice crystal affect the intricate shape and arms of a snowflake.
How do the different paths from the sky to the ground influence the unique appearance of individual snowflakes?
What are some of the diverse forms and patterns that individual snowflakes can resemble?
In what ways do slight changes in the surrounding temperature or humidity impact the growth and direction of the arms of a snowflake?
Learn about the Amazon Rainforest and how the Wampís Nation has been protecting the forest and the largest river in the world. Watch the video and keep track of all of the positive ways the Wampís people are helping our world.
To earn the mini spark, imagine you are a scientist studying the Amazon rainforest. Write a journal entry describing the incredible biodiversity you have observed and explain why it is important to protect this unique ecosystem. Please use include these words in your journal entry.
Ecosystem: A community of living organisms, along with their non-living environment, interacting as a system.
Biodiversity: The variety of living organisms in a particular habitat or ecosystem.
Indigenous: Originating or occurring naturally in a particular place.
Can it be bad to plant a tree? Before watching the video spend a few minutes thinking about possible times/situations when you would not want to plant a tree.
Watch this TED EDU video about helping our environment by planting trees. This same video is also about how our environment can be hurt by planting trees. While you watch take notes tracking new, interesting, and important information.
After you are done write an interview between a reported and a tree. Choose at least 3 of the questions below to ask the tree.
Sample script
Reporter– Hello, Aspen. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. Will you please tell me the difference between afforestation and reforestation?
Aspen-Of course, I am glad to be here. The words sound similar, and they are but there is a difference between them. Afforestation is the planting of trees in places devoid of any forest, while reforestation is the practice of restoring recently degraded forests.
Question Choices
Why are trees considered a solution to curb climate change?
What is the Bonn Challenge and what is its goal?
Why do companies plant trees?
Why are natural forests better at carbon storage compared to plantations?
Why is it important to consider the species of trees and the lands when planting trees?
What are the unintended consequences of planting trees in regions that naturally reflect sunlight?
What is the current approach of Chile in tree planting efforts?
What are some methods mentioned in the video to re-green the planet?
It is helpful to be able to recognize and understand adages and proverbs in the stories you are reading.
Like idioms, proverbs and adages can be used in conversation or in writing. They are also unique to a particular language. Unlike idioms, however, proverbs and adages generally have more literal meanings. Their meanings match more closely to the meaning of the individual words that make up the expression.
It is helpful to review some of the more common adages to help you better understand the meaning of the text. Look over this information
Proverb
Proverb is a short, well-known saying stating a piece of advice or the general truth.
It can be described as a statement of practical wisdom expressed in a simple way.
It is based on common sense or a person’s practical experience. Proverbs are typically metaphorical or alliterative in form.
Examples
Slow and steady wins the race.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Rolling stones gather no moss.
It is better to be smarter than you appear than to appear smarter than you are.
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Adage
It is a short, common saying or phrase that tends to be old, known for decades or centuries.
It refers to popular sayings that give advice.
It expresses a general truth about people or the world.
It could be based on facts. It can also come from a specific situation or job.
It is similar to a proverb and proverbs could be adages.
Examples
A penny saved is a penny earned .
Slow and steady wins the race.
Better safe than sorry.
Nothing ventured; nothing gained.
You live, you learn.
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
Keep in mind
An adage is sometimes called proverb.
They are usually smaller than proverbs.
So don’t worry about mixing both up, as they have mostly similar qualities.
Create a colorful note taking page to show what you have learned.
Listen to this book written by Jane Yolen and Chris Sheban
Your challenge
What can you create with a box?
You can print off a challenge sheet to use or for a bigger challenge take the ABC challenge and use your imagination to turn a box, big or small, into anything at all. If you want to just do this on paper instead of printing out the recording sheet these are what the two sheets look like.
Improve your spelling and understanding of words while doing this Language Arts Mini Spark.
Watch this video. As you are watching pause the video as needed to write down at least 10 root words and at least 5 affixes and their meanings.
Study this image
Use these activities to learn these words.
Make flash cards for each of the pink and blue buttons. On one side put the root and the other side put the meaning. Study the cards.
Then look at the word list and find the matching set of cards for each.
Learn how to pronounce the 12 words. You can do this by typing in the word into your search bar and then typing “pronounce”. Practice each word several times.
Memorize the spellings of these 12 words. When you are ready, have a friend quiz you on the spellings. You can write them on paper or say the letters aloud.
There is nothing better than reading a thrilling story, one that grips you so tightly and puts your senses on alert simply through the power of words. Spooky Sagas is a fantastic way to practice writing in this way by using tension, suspense, and atmosphere.
Write a mini saga (a story told in up to 100 words) can be funny or creepy, scary or odd, but must be your own work.
Read the student info page for more ideas.
The contest closes on Nov 1. If you would like help with your submission, make sure to get your story to the EY teacher in your building before this date.
On May 14, 1897, John Philip Sousa played his new march,
“The Stars and Stripes Forever.”
This song would become the national march of the United States on December 11, 1987.
Essay Contest: Imagine it is 1897 and you are a newspaper reporter for The Philadelphia Times. Your newspaper editor has asked you to write an article about the new song performed that day. Your article needs to tell about Sousa’s life and the story behind the song. It is the first performance of the song, so make sure your article includes thoughts about the music and how the audience reacts to what was seen and heard that day.
Title of Essay: The Stars and Stripes Forever
Subtitle (optional)
Length:Grade 5: 300-600 words and Grades 6-8: 600-1000 words
Entry Deadline: December 15, 2023
Type your essay in Google Docs and share it with your EY Coordinator so they can help you with formatting/submission of your essay.
