Hi 6th Grade Families,

Over the past month, students have been investigating the driving question, “How can I smell things from a distance?” One of our main learning objectives has been on creating models that explain the different phenomenons we are studying. Last week, students created physical, 3-D models out of gum drops and toothpicks to show and explain how the molecules that make up the air are a mixture of gases. The kids have been working so hard and have developed strong definitions of what an atom, molecule, element, pure substance, and mixture are.

As a class, we then continued to investigate why substances have different odors. Students were given unknown smells that they had to guess what the scent they were actually smelling was. The kids noticed that the molecular structure on the label of each odor was different, although made up of the same three atoms (hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen). At the end of the lab, I was so impressed with each groups conclusions. As a class we all agreed that different substances have different properties because they have different arrangements of atoms. The properties are different because the atoms are composed of different molecules.

The kids have been doing a fantastic job exploring and investigating our driving question. I am excited to continue to watch them grow as we finish up this unit in the next few weeks.

Have a wonderful weekend!