Summer SAVY 2019: Session 1, Day 2 – Chemical Spill (Rising 3rd/4th)

Posted by hallep on Tuesday, June 11, 2019 in Grade 3, Grade 4, SAVY.

Hello Parents!

I’m happy to report that your budding environmental scientists have been doing an amazing job in the classroom and outside!  They have been picking up ­high school level chemistry and have a firm grip on the structure of atoms, elements, ions, chemicals, and environmental systems. I am VERY impressed by their deep understanding of these concepts and how each component relates to one another.

In the morning, we had a guest speaker via Skype, Mike Wild- a professional scientist with an ominous report on the condition and health of our field site. Mike needs our help to test the water and evaluate the conditions of a section of Vanderbilt where we now believe there is a potential acid spill.

Later in the morning, we went to the computer lab to take a tour of the world, courtesy of Google Earth.  We all did an excellent job finding the latitude, longitude and elevations of various places on Earth!  Some places we visited were our homes, Mount Everest, the Grand Canyon, and the Great Barrier Reef.  Most of the students did not want to stop exploring the world and may even ask permission to use Google Earth to explore the rest of the world at home.

In the afternoon, we went out to the site of our supposed chemical spill. We collected water samples, interviewed several people, and looked for clues to get to the bottom of this chemical mystery!  Thank you as always for sharing your sweet students with us! We cannot wait for the excitement in store the rest of the week!

Mr. Dave & Ms. Rita