Welcome back to the Grade 3, 4, and 5 blog! This week was full of hands-on learning, outdoor adventures, and exciting experiments as we continued exploring our energy unit and enjoyed the beauty of spring.

Outside fun

We are fortunate to be surrounded by beautiful nature, and we try to explore our surroundings whenever we can. This week, we visited a stunning pink plum orchard. While enjoying the scenery, students also had the chance to observe how energy from the sun is transformed into chemical energy through photosynthesis—a perfect real-world connection to our current unit on energy.

Later in the week, we visited a park known for its famous rose garden. Although the roses had not yet bloomed, we were able to enjoy a variety of other seasonal flowers and spend time playing at the park’s playground.

P.E.

This week in P.E., the students kicked things off with a fun challenge from their teacher! Lying on their backs, they had to balance a shoe on one foot and carefully turn over onto their stomachs without letting it fall. It was a tricky test of balance and control that had everyone laughing and focused. After that, they played an exciting color tag game. The gym was filled with scattered items in different colors, and when the teacher called out a color, students had to quickly run to an object of that color before being tagged. It was a high-energy game that got everyone moving, thinking fast, and having a great time!

Inquiry (Energy)

This week, the Grade 3–5 students explored various engaging activities across science, English, math, and music. The highlight of the week was our apple battery science experiment, which took place during Observation Day. Students learned how certain fruits, like apples, can be used to create a simple battery using metal electrodes. They were amazed to see how a chemical reaction inside the apple could produce a small amount of electricity! The experiment sparked lots of excitement and curiosity, and it was even more special because parents were there to witness the students’ learning firsthand. A big thank you to all the parents who joined us—your support and encouragement mean so much to us and to the students.

In our ongoing energy unit, students also participated in a video quiz about various types of energy transformations. They wrote down answers as they watched and then corrected them together while discussing each example. Afterward, students searched the classroom for objects and described the energy transformations they observed—for example, how the projector changes electrical energy into light. These activities helped reinforce the central idea that energy can be converted into different forms to enable us to perform various tasks.

We also did the Step-Up Energy Challenge—a hands-on experiment where students learned about the difference between energy (measured in joules) and power (measured in watts). Students worked in small teams to climb a 30 cm step while their partners timed and counted their steps. We calculated the power output for each student. Many were surprised to find that climbing faster led to higher power—and they could definitely feel the effort in their legs! It was a fun and meaningful way to connect science and math through movement and teamwork.

In English, we focused on grammar by learning about the prefixes “un-” and “re-” and continued to learn about storytelling. After reading a story about energy, students identified key elements, including setting, characters, and plot. Together, we created a character as a class to model the process before students begin developing their own unique characters next week.