Touring the Forensic Science Institute

What an opportunity !  Our class had a tour of UCO's Forensic Science Institute recently.

A Fourth Grade Look at Heroes Week

This past week was HEROES WEEK at OCS. It is a wonderful tradition of taking time as an ENTIRE school to raise money to reach out to others in need. This year we focused on Somatillo Baptist School in Somatillo, Nicaragua. It is a K-12 school with about 400 students. Their specific needs were scholarships, new roofing, paint, tile repair, furniture, and fencing. Every day there were loads of events to raise money. Every grade got involved. How exciting to go to chapel and find out the grand total our school raised: Wow! That is ALOT of money----$57,443.64!!!!!
We are pretty amazed and pleased that God used our creative little class to help make that possible.
We were reminded that God used our entire school to make a difference for God's kingdom---one school in Oklahoma reaching out to one school in Nicaragua, one student at OCS could help one student in Nicaragua go to school for a $150 a year! We are one in Christ and we can reach around the globe to help spread Christ's name to the world. UNO POR UNO!!! ONE FOR ONE!!!
So, just HOW did our class contribute? Well, we made some wonderful items for the outdoor market each day during recess including signs and posters.....

earrings, bracelets and hair bows,
food and more food,
more bracelets,
a bird seed search that was also part of a fishing game (very clever).

There were pencils, ducktape wallets,
hoola hoops, bubbles,
more food and more food,

and more lovely accessories.
Dog tags that sold out quickly,
and the coolest rope bracelets ever!
One class worked, saved, and prayed. One class collected $630.00 dollars and will have helped 4 kids in Nicaragua attend school next year. Thank you, Jesus, for giving us this opportunity to help others in your name. Amen.

Experimenting With a Fulcrum, Effort and Load

"Forces and Machines" is the title of our current science unit. To help us see how simple machines make work easier, we looked specifically at how different levers function. Some examples were scissors, wheelbarrows, nutcrackers, a paint-can opener, and a crowbar. We learned that a lever is a bar that turns on a point and the point is the fulcrum. We decided to find out how effort is affected when considering the distance between the effort and the fulcrum.
We set up our materials. The cup closest to zero on the ruler was labeled "Effort"and the cup at the other end of the ruler was labeled "Load". The spool was the fulcrum. Pennies were to be added or removed from the "Effort" depending on where the fulcrum was placed. We first placed ten pennies in each cup to balance both sides. Nice balancing! Next we wrote our hypothesis: "The closer the fulcrum is to the effort cup, the (fill in the blank with either "more" or "fewer") pennies are needed in the cup.

When we moved the spool of thread to 13cm on the ruler, we found that we could remove several pennies from the "effort" cup. Less work!!!!
Moving the fulcrum to 18cm meant even fewer pennies in the "effort" cup (actually just 2).
Moving the fulcrum to the 10 cm mark on the ruler meant more pennies (representing effort) were needed.
We concluded that when the fulcrum was closer to the effort, we needed more effort (pennies). That means if we use a lever to try to move a heavy object, we need to move the fulcrum so there is the most distance possible between the effort and the fulcrum.
Oops! Looks like we have a few corrections to make on this person's results on the chart. Maybe we better try this experiment one more time on Monday, just to be sure!!!!!

Narnia's Lucy Visits Us

Lucy Pevensie from The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe stepped into our world this past Thursday. Now, as a mature woman, she came to reflect on her experiences as a little girl in the world of Narnia. Her "golden curls" were just as described in the novel. Lucy especially wanted to remind us of the incredible lessons learned as she and her siblings, Susan, Peter, and Edmund battled the evil forces of Narnia. Her repeated warnings about falling into temptation and the downward spiral of that choice was paralleled with Edmund's sorrowful experience with the White Witch. Her description of Aslan's forgiveness and love were wonderfully paralleled the Lord Jesus Christ his relationship to us. She challenged us to hold fast to our faith and trust God in all things knowing that the joy and peace from Him far aways the temporary pleasures of this world.


As you may have concluded, Lucy was our very own Mrs. Amy Aduddell, second grade teacher. We thank her for sharing her talents both in acting and writing. Below is the poem Mrs. Aduddell wrote for us to sum up her reflections.

Lucy’s Cautionary Tale"

By Amy Aduddell

Listen friends, and listen well

To a cautionary tale,
Of a boy who did not wait

To have good things upon his plate.

His bitterness and selfish pride

Led Edmund to the darkest side;

They kept him blind - he couldn’t see,

The “White Queen” was his enemy.

And so you see, he made bad choices-

And listened to the wicked voices.

The Turkish Delight & lies he told

Had left a sickness in his soul.

So further down the path he’d stray

He should’ve gone the other way.

His throne was there at Cair Paravel

And not there in the witch’s jail.

He chose the wrong & not the right,

And sold his soul for Turkish Delight.

An evil witch, a promised throne,

Would leave him empty and all alone.

But then he felt it was too late,

His treachery had sealed his fate.

And though he wished with all his might

He had no power to set things right.

But let not your heart begin to sink,

“-though it may be harder than you think.”

For Edmund’s folly – his sin and such,

Have consequences and matter much.

The Lion King now became,

his only hope, the only name,

“He is not safe, but He is good”

Aslan – King of all the wood.

What’s to be done? Oh, what’s to be?

Only Aslan can set him free.

The innocent one – must sacrifice,

But He is willing to pay the price.

Now don’t look too harshly on Edmund’s sin,

For see we all are just like him.

Our sins and wrong things that we do,

Have left us needing a Savior too.

So if you’re lost, in a dark place,

Call out to God and seek His face.

His promises are always best,

Just do what’s right and you’ll be blessed.

Wait on God – for His best plan,

Read His Word to understand.

You’re patience will require faith

But His promises are worth the wait.

The Oreo Connection To The Moon

Who doesn't love Oreos, especially when combined with a science lesson? We took time yesterday to learn about the eight phases of the moon that cycle through every twenty-nine and one half days. We discussed terms like waxing, waning, crescent and gibbous and have been observing the moon each night to identify the phase.
Today it was time for a moon phase model. We took four oreos, a paper plate, an extra-fine sharpie, icing, colored pencils and set to work to make our models.
The icing was our "glue" to hold the moon phases in place on the paper plate.
The Oreo cream center was spread to illustrate the various phases of the moon.
Finger lickin' good work!!!!



Did I mention that each student also received two extra Oreos that they were welcome to eat IF they didn't end up needing them for "moon phase repair"----- ie broken Oreos!!!!

Moon Surface Models

Learning about the moon is always captivating for fourth graders. Among other things, we have already discovered that we would jump 6 times higher on the moon, throw a ball 6 times further, and weight 6 times less than on the earth. Today we took our knowledge about the surface of the moon and created models. The four features that we focused on were: mountains,

rills, maria, and craters.
Did you know that some of the mountains on the moon are nearly as tall as Mt. Everest? Maria are dark plain areas on the surface made from basalt. Rills are valleys. Some are small enough to jump across while others are miles and miles long. Craters are in abundance on the moon due to the lack of atmosphere. The craters fall fast and furiously creating bowl-shaped spaces across the moon.
It was fun to play with salt dough and imagine the obstacles involved in taking a moon walk.

We have gained a greater appreciation for the moon, and are humbled to realize anew how GREAT our GOD is as we study this marvelous natural satellite.

Twins Double Our Fun

No one will argue that having a baby visit your classroom is definitely fun! Our class had a double dose today when Cort and Callan Dugan came to Room 207. Aren't they absolutely adorable? And don't you love their peanut butter and jelly shirts?
Well, of course, I had to hold them....... Big sister Corrin is thrilled that I can finally tell them apart. Cort is wearing the peanut butter shirt and Callan is wearing the jelly logo. They were actually napping when they arrived but we managed to wake them up---imagine that! I guess a classroom of excited fourth graders can make a bit of commotion.
I think the class was a bit overwhelmed thinking about what it would be like having two babies the same age in their family
Corrin, on the other hand, is totally amazing and comfortable caring for her brothers. She is a natural with them and I know her mom so appreciates all she does to shower love and care on her brothers.
Thanks, Jill and Corrin, for sharing the boys with us today. We enjoyed every second!