Grade 4

The Wonder of Disasters and Science Fair

by Mrs. Sara Ashley Yurosko

In this past semester, we have been working hard on a variety of big projects including dioramas for Natural Disasters here at school and Science Projects at home. In our How the World Works unit, we learned about the natural phenomenon of our world and how they change our environment and communities. Our summative project was a diorama to show how

this disaster changed specific areas. Each student had the opportunity to work on a different disaster. In addition, our students worked diligently on their own science project that was displayed at our Grade 4 Science Fair. Every student worked very hard and was very creative.

Reflections from students

In the “How the World Works” unit, we learned about different kinds of natural disasters, causes and effects, and how we could prepare ourselves before, during and after a natural disaster. We also made a diorama of a natural disaster that we chose to describe what could happen before, during and after the natural disaster. We had to present it to our other friends and people who came to the ‘Gallery Walk’.

For my diorama, I chose how people needed to prepare before, during and after an earthquake. I used some cardstock papers to build the buildings and houses. I also added the wooden sticks for the fences and some wires for the electric poles. The miniatures of people, trees and cars were placed to complete the diorama.

At the end of the unit, I took an action by explaining how an earthquake happened to my little sister through a video. I also made a poster to explain what to prepare before, during and after an earthquake. My sister and I also practiced what to do when an earthquake happened. We did the earthquake drill (Drop, Cover and Hold).

- Joanne Emmanuelle Setiawan

In unit 5 (How the World Works), I learned a lot about natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and floods. I was interested in knowing more about tsunamis. That’s why I chose this topic for my summative project. A tsunami happens when there is a sudden and large earthquake on the sea floor. I created a diorama to show how people should prepare themselves before, during, and after a tsunami.

It was not easy to make the diorama, but this was an interesting experience. The diorama was very useful because I could explain clearly to people who came to my booth during the ‘Gallery Walk’. I also learned to be a risk-taker because I had to share my ideas and thoughts to many people during the Gallery Walk.

- Michelle Scorpio

In Term 4, I had to choose a topic for my science experiment which would be presented in the Science Fair on April 27, 2022. I chose to do an experiment with some plants and some fertilizer. I chose this topic because I liked plants a lot. I wanted to see how much a certain type of fertilizer could affect the growth and health of the plants.

When I was preparing the experiment, it was difficult to find some organic fertilizer. Finally, I found the material. Another problem that I faced during the experiment was arranging the bean seeds. I had to figure out how to put the seeds properly so that they could grow well. I managed to deal with the problems that occurred during the experiment.

What I learned from this experiment was that I did not have to use any fertilizer for the plants. Instead, I had to be patient with the health and growth of the plants. Inside the plants, they have their own nutrients for their growth, and I could help their growth by consistently watering them. Some fertilizer could be used to help the plants to grow well. Next time, if I could do this experiment again, I would need to control the weather so that the results of the experiment would be better and more accurate.

- Jackson Widjaja

Have you tried to mix a bottle of coke and some mentos? That sounds an interesting experiment, doesn’t it? I chose this topic for the Science Fair. I once heard about this experiment but I had never done it before. So, I decided to do it for the science experiment.

First, I had to come up with a question for the experiment and then, I had to do some research first before I formulated my hypothesis. After that, I had to think about the independent, dependent, and controlled variables for the experiment. Then, I wrote down the procedures of the experiment. Next, I did the experiment. During the experiment, I had to carefully observe the reactions and collect the data. Finally, I had to make a conclusion.

I have learned that the more mentos that I put inside the coke, the soda will react and create an eruption much faster. I could have improved the experiment by getting more information during my research so that I could understand the concepts well. I could have also chosen different kinds of soda to discover which one produced more intense reactions.

- Julia Jeong In Lim