By Meridian 4th Graders
The science room is an actual lab that we all get to visit every week. There is a lot of space. It helps that we can see the projects that other classes are doing, instead of just seeing your own experiments. It’s really cool to see what everyone is working on. It’s also great to have Kelsey as a teacher, because she’s really nice and knows so much about science. She talks to you like an individual and an equal, rather than a kid scientist, which is really refreshing!
We do lots of experiments in the science lab (which are really fun). We do water tests, collision examples, erosion, pollution and more. There are experiments related to our Global Studies focus, Oceania, like detecting acidity in water and earthquake/flood demonstrations. The learning tools that we have in the lab like microscopes and all the large tools aren’t in our regular classrooms so it’s awesome we get to do more engaging experiments now that there is a dedicated space for it!
A big focus in the lab this year is studying the life cycle of salmon. We got salmon eggs from a hatchery, and we are raising them right now. We went to Carkeek Park to observe salmon and understand them. We got to see them hatch and move around. Then we got salmon eggs of our own to raise and observe in the science lab. One salmon fry had two heads, which was amazing to see! We are giving the salmon a better chance to survive when we release them because there are no predators in our tank. We are protecting them when they are most vulnerable. Out of about 300 salmon, only two will return to spawn!
Twice a week we test chemical levels in our salmon habitat. We make sure the levels are good for the salmon to live. The chemicals were fine in the beginning but lately they have been kind of high, we
are trying to figure out why (which is a fun experiment itself). It is rewarding, but a big responsibility, because if we make one mistake the salmon could die. We are excited to go back to Carkeek Park to release the salmon this spring. We are hopeful that some of our salmon spawn will be the salmon that the fourth graders get to observe next year!
