ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • APRIL 3 - 9, 2014 A11

MAP CORNER

This special Newspaper In Education initiative is made possible through The St. Louis American Foundation and its NIE Corporate Partners:

The St. Louis American is proud to partner with Hazelwood, Ferguson-

Florissant, Normandy, and the St. Louis Public School Districts to provide

this classroom tool for STEM education for students in 3rd, 4th and 5th

grades, with content based on Missouri Learning Standards.

stlamerican.com

In this activity, you will practice

converting liquid measurements.

Remember, there are 8 ounces in a cup,

there are 2 cups in a pint, there are 2

pints in a quart, and there are 4 quarts

in a gallon. Using those standards as a

guide, answer the following questions.

_________ pints = 2 gallons

_________ quarts = 10 pints

_________ gallons = 3 quarts

In this activity, you will observe the

movement of water as it travels through

capillaries, in this experiment, the

fibers of the paper towel. This

is similar to the process where

moisture travels from the roots to

the rest of a plant.

Materials Needed:

• A Glass of Water

• An Empty Glass • Paper Towels

Process:

q Twist the paper towel to form

a wick. The wick should be long

enough to reach between the two

glasses.

SCIENCE EXPERIMENT

Use the newspaper

to complete these

activities to help you

prepare for the MAP

test.

Activity One — Create Your Version of

the Story: Choose one news

or feature story and identify the

main idea. What opinions,

predictions or conclusions can you draw

from the story? After reading, create an

outline, web or other graphic organizer

for the story.

Activity Two — Write a Sports

Story With Flair: Sports articles often

have great examples of vivid, figurative

language. Review a story from the

Sports section with a partner and

find that kind of writing. Underline

descriptive words or phrases. Discuss why

use of vibrant language is important in writing.

Next, write your own descriptive paragraph about another

sports event.

Learning Standards: I can read to identify main idea. I can

make predictions and draw conclusions.

I can identify figurative language and

use it to create descriptive writing.

Converting liquid measurements

The EScaping Water Test

AFRICAN-AMERICAN INVENTOR:

Lonnie G. JohnsonLonnie G. Johnson was born

on October 6, 1949, in Mobile,

Alabama. His father was a World

War II veteran who worked at the

local air force base. His mother

worked two jobs: in a laundry and

as a nurse’s aide. His family picked

cotton in the summers. Johnson’s

father was a skilled handyman

and he taught the children how to

build their own toys. Johnson took

his sister’s doll apart, hoping to discover what made her eyes

move. When he tried to cook rocket fuel, their house caught fire.

Yet, there were many successful times, as well. Johnson built a

go-kart and a chinaberry shooter. Chinaberries are small yellow

berries that grow on trees in the South.

Johnson attended Williamson High School, during a period

of segregation. His idol was George Washington Carver, and

he wanted to be an inventor. His teachers encouraged him to

settle for being a technician. However, Johnson persevered and

followed his passion for inventing. His friends gave him the

nickname of “Professor” when he built an air-powered robot

and represented his high school at the state level science fair.

Johnson received a scholarship to attend Tuskegee University.

In 1973, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical

engineering. Two years later, he earned his master’s degree in

nuclear engineering.

Upon graduation, Johnson joined the Air Force as a systems

engineer who worked with space shuttle missions. He was a part

of the Strategic Air Command. Yet, he still continued inventing.

He wanted to create an environmental heat pump that used

water instead of Freon. In 1982, the prototype was complete and

he decided to test it out in his bathroom.

When he aimed the nozzle at the bathtub

and a very powerful stream of water

blasted out, he knew he had

inadvertently created the

perfect toy. He tweaked

the design and seven years later, the Super Soaker was

available to the public. It has been ranked in the World’s Top 20

Toys every year since then.

Inspired by the success, Johnson started a company: Johnson

Research and Development. His company has received 100

patents, including those for the ceramic battery, hair rollers, and

the Johnson thermoelectric energy converter. In 2008, Johnson

received the Breakthrough Award from Popular Mechanics. In

2011, he was inducted into the State Hall of Fame for Alabama’s

engineers.

Learning Standards: I can read and comprehend a

biography about a person who has contributed to

the fields of science, technology, and math.

_________ ounces = 5 pints

_________ pints = 4 quarts

_________ cups = 8 gallons

Learning Standards: I can convert liquid

measurements using

multiplication and division.

SCIENCE STARS

Teachers, if you are using the St. Louis American’s NIE program and would like to nominate your class for a Classroom Spotlight, please email: nie@stlamerican.com.

Hamilton Elementary School 4th grade teacher Danielle Watson

helps with a STEM lesson

on hearing using the

newspaper with students

Matthew Tankins, Rashad

Hamilton, and Jordan

Givens. The school is in

the St. Louis Public School

District. Photo: Wiley Price /

St. Louis American

Cont

ent—

Jenn

ifer W

irthw

ein

• De

sign

—Be

th S

harp

e

Water covers

70% of Earth’s

surface.

w Place one end of the paper towel in the

glass that is empty and one end in the

glass that is filled with water.

e Observe the transfer of water.

This will take a long time. Record

your observations every 10-15

minutes.

Reflect: Describe the process that

you observed as the water traveled

from one glass to the next.

Learning Standards: I can

follow sequential directions to

complete an experiment. I can reflect

on the results.

CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT

SCIENCE CORNER The Water Cycle !Water is a very versatile substance. You

can find it in three different

states: liquid (the form of

water you drink), solid

(ice cubes are water

in a solid form),

and gas (fog, mist

are examples). The

water cycle is made

of six processes:

condensation,

infiltration, runoff, evaporation,

precipitation, and transpiration.

Condensation—when a gas is changed into a liquid.

Infiltration—rain water soaks in the ground through soil

and rock layers.

Runoff—water runs off the land’s surface and into streams,

rivers, ponds, and lakes. It returns to the earth as

precipitation, such as rain or snow.

Evaporation—the process where a

water changes from liquid to gas.

Precipitation—rain, sleet,

snow, or hail that falls to the

earth.

Transpiration—the process

of evaporation of water as it

passes through the roots, plant

leaves, and into the atmosphere.

For More Information, Visit: http://www.ducksters.com/science/water.php.

Teachers, here is a resource just for you: http://nie.jonesmedia.biz/doc/dpa/water_works_final.pdf.

Learning Standards: I can read nonfiction text for main

idea and supporting details.

MATH CONNECTION

DID YOU KNOW?

We each use an

average of 180 liters

of water per day,

60% of that is used

to flush toilets or

take showers.

The Old Faithful

geyser in

Yellowstone

National Park

can spout water

52 meters in

the air.

Quitters never win.Winners never quit.

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.

Water can be used to create

electricity through hydropower.