The Great Popcorn Pop Off!

Do you like to eat popcorn? If you do, we can help you on decide which one you might like to buy on your next shopping trip! We recently tested out 6 different kids of popcorn and looked at their calories, fat content, number of kernels popped and price point.  We also looked at the price of each sample.  All of these factors helped us determine which popcorn we would purchase again.  Here are a few pictures and the results from each group! 

President's Choice Butter Flavour

We worked on sample a.  Sample A was $0.76 per bag and it was one of the most expensive.  It tasted greasy and soft and buttery.  It was greasy because it had oil and butter.  It's fat content was the same as sample C, D, and E which was 2.5g per 50g. Some of us would buy this popcorn because it is tasty and buttery but some of us would not because of it's a little greasy. 

No Name Butter Flavour

Our group tested sample B, No Name Butter Flavour.  It cost $0.49 per bag.  It had a buttery taste. that was just perfect.  It was puffy and it had a golden colour.  We thought it was a good choice but not the best choice because the calories were 200 per serving.  It is hard for us to decide if we would buy it or not because it had a good taste to it but it is really fattening. 

Smart Pop Butter Flavour

Our popcorn was Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop.  Each bag cost $0.41 and it was the least expensive.  Our popcorn tasted very salty and some burned.  It had an average amount of calories when compared to the other samples and it had the least amount of fat. We would not by this popcorn because it was too salty and too greasy.

Blue Menu Butter Popcorn

This popcorn had 2.5g of fat per serving. Only some of it burnt.  It tasted pretty terrible to us.  We would not purchase this popcorn again. 

President's Choice Natural Flavour  

We tested President's Choice Natural Flavour.  It costs $0.76 per bag.  It is very buttery and salty.  It kind of had a weird taste. Though it is not completely healthy, it is the best choice of the popcorn we tested becuase it has the least amount of fat and the least calories. We would not purchase this even though it is a healthier choice because we did not like it. 

Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop Sweet and Salty

Our brand of poporn was Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop Sweet and Salty. This popcorn costs $0.41 per bag. It was not the most expensive and it is tied with the least expensive.  Our group thought it tasted a little like caramel, but it was sweet and delicious.  It is not a healthy choice but it is a good sometimes food.  It is not a healthy choice because it has 15g of fat per 50g bag and 250 calories per 50g portion! Some of us might buy it for our family because it is tasty and delicious but we might not because it is really salty and has a lot of calories and fat per serving.

Overall, the popcorn most students liked was Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop Sweet and Salty but we all agreed it was a sometimes food becuase it had the most calories and fat per serving. We hope our information will help you next time you go shopping for popcorn! Happy snacking!

Canada's 30 x 30 Nature Challenge

We are participating! Are you?!

This month, the students in Room 4 are going outside the box - well, outside the classroom! We will be participating in David Suzuki's 30x30 Challenge this May and we can't wait to get started!  

Here was part of the note we sent home so families would know what was coming up! 

Thursday, April 30^th, 2015

Dear Parents/Guardians,

This letter is to inform you that throughout the month of May, Room 4 will be participating in the David Suzuki 30x30 Nature Challenge. The challenge involves leaving the classroom to spend 30 minutes a day in nature for 30 days. We ask that students are dressed according to the weather of the day to ensure all can join in the fun. This challenge is weather permitting which means that if we are not able to learn outside one day, we will be learning outside for 1 hour the next day.

The David Suzuki 30x30 Nature Challenge is best described as a way to get people of all ages into nature more often. Activities might include using all senses by breathing in the fresh air, listening for bird songs, or watching for local wildlife. Other activities might include scavenger hunts, sketching or journaling, writing, solving real-life math problems and walking in nature. All activities will be supervised by a Radisson School teacher.  We will also take a walking field trip to the bio-reserve to see the nature right in our backyard! This learning fits in with provincial, divisional and school priorities of teaching students about Sustainable Development and the importance our natural environment.

“It’s a simple yet meaningful way to develop a deeper connection with nature while improving our health and well-being. Best of all, it’s free and easy to implement!”

For more information please check out the website - http://30x30.davidsuzuki.org/

Laura Steinhoff

Grade 4/5 Classroom Teacher

Happy Earth Day!!

I

Fix a Leak Week!

We have recently learned that there are many reasons why we should conserve water. Water is important to the survival of plants, animals and humans, and we need be sure we are doing everything to conserve water.   Here is a list of ideas to help you get started!

Room 4's Top 10 List of Ways Kids Can Help Conserve Water!

1) Instead of taking baths, take showers instead.  Baths use more water, which in turn, is wasted.
2) When you finish a drink that has ice, instead of throwing the cubes down the drain, use them to water a plant!
3) Ensure you turn the sink off completely.   A few drops wasted really add up over time.
4) Don't use the toilet as a garbage can.  If you use a tissue, for either your nose, or to kill a bug, throw the used tissue in the trash can instead.
5) Use reusable water bottles whenever possible instead of bottled water.  Bottled water is expensive and because it takes energy to make and recycle the bottles, (or can end up in landfills) they are not environmentally friendly.
6) Don't hold the water fountain for other people.  It wastes water.
7) Use a barrel to save rain water and use it to water your plants.
8) When you are brushing your teeth, don't run the tap.
9) Drink all of the water in your water bottle. Don't dump it out and waste it.
10) Instead of running water and waiting for it to get cold, use ice cubes!


Below are some pictures from this year's Fix a Leak Week! We went to different areas of the school and measured the amount of water (if any) was leaking.

Here are this year's results:

We have prepared some informative posters and will be sharing our message with staff and students soon!  Remember to do your part and conserve water!!!

Instruments, Kaleidescopes and Robots, Oh My!

Recently, Room 4 had a wonderful day sharing their design process projects with other students and staff in our school. We'd love to share the details, and of course some pictures as well!

At the beginning of the term, we began our Science unit by asking the question "Inventions: How do they help us in our everyday lives?"  We used this question to focus our study on Sound, Light and Simple Machines. 

To share our learning about Light, the grade 4's created a Kaleidescope that reflects light to create beautiful images. 

If you'd like to make one just like us, here's how!

Click here!

To share our learning about Sound, the grade 4's made instruments. They needed to make more than two sounds and many students made multiple instruments !

To share their learning about Simple Machines, the Grade 5's made Robocritters and Lego Mindstorm Creations. 

Science Experiments and Hands On Activities

Arctic Exploration

Happy New Year!

Room 4 will be taking part in a drawing contest sponsored by the Royal Canadian Mint. The theme of the art contest is the "Arctic Explorer". In the next few weeks, we will be spending time learning about how the Arctic landscape looked in the past, and how it has now changed.  We will also learn about the people, plants and animals of the North and how they differ from our home here in Winnipeg.

Today, we spent some talking about the Arctic as we explored the interactive activity together.  We then sketched and coloured a few pictures as a way to practice our skills in preparation for the upcoming art piece. 

Students are invited to check out Heart of the Arctic at home, where they can continue to explore and discover the land through the interactive adventure.

Please leave a comment below after checking it out and let everyone know what you learned about the Arctic!

Happy Exploring!

Mrs. Steinhoff

Diorama-rama!

Check out Mr. Hoeppner's Blog to see pictures from our 1st Annual Diorama-rama!  We have many pictures to the left on our Instagram feed that will also give you a good idea of what we were up to! http://radissonsrockinroom18.blogspot.ca/2013/11/diorama-rama.html

Polar Bears