DAPHNE, Ala. — In Mrs. Michelle Gay’s fifth-grade class, they are learning about the water cycle in science. First they played a game called “water or land” to determine if there is 5 percent more water, or land, that covers the Earth. They found out there is more water. They had fun watching a Brainpop video on the water cycle. Mrs. Gay had them set up a mini water cycle to observe this week. They are excited to see if there will be any evaporation.

 The Citizenship Club had its first meeting. The Citizenship Club is a group of students chosen by their peers to help with school-wide events, such as assemblies and canned food drives, because they show good character and responsibility on a daily basis.

The fourth-graders in the Citizenship Club for the 2008-2009 school year are Melvin Lyons, Nick Noland, Arron Rowell, Morgan Davis, John Laneville, Andie Reinhart, Sarah Fuller, Gavin Klinge, Kayle Sapp, Brooks Ellis, Jade Richardson and Roman Scardina.

The fifth-graders are Allen Yazdi, Ali Scafidi, Kyle Goines, Autumn Peyton, Adison Barnett, Sarah Hunter, Peyton Galich, Carder Dransfield, Kerrigan Herret, Brooke Johannessman, Hannah Spradlin and Ty Smith.

The sixth-graders are Shelby Stepp, Alston Lin, Kaleigh Akers, Emma Kirby, Josh Gardner, Christian Park, Brittany Nelson and Alex Vail.

Students in Erin Payne’s fifth-grade class are learning about Earth’s landforms and how they can change over time. First, they talked about the Earth’s layers and used their new Promethean Board to interact with resources that demonstrate the 12 tectonic plates and the four layers of the earth. After this introduction, students were able to draw, label, and color a model of the Earth’s layers, while also giving facts about each of the layers’ properties. Students will soon enjoy talking about physical events on the geosphere such as earthquakes and volcanoes.

Cynthia Riley’s fourth-grade science classes are completing their study of electricity and magnetism. The students created series circuits with nothing more than a wire, battery, and light bulb. The students also tested various items to determine if they are insulators or conductors. They demonstrated that they themselves are indeed conductors through a classroom experiment using an energy ball. The students were able to manipulate magnets and observe their effect on various objects.

Angela Stewart’s fifth-grade class is reading the book “Island of the Blue Dolphins.” This is a story about a girl who survives through the winter on an island by herself. In language, they are writing expository stories about insects that they like or don’t like using their five senses. During math, they are working on the place value of numbers.