Studying Levers

In science we have been studying about forces and using levers. We learned about forces which are a push or a pull. An example of a force is flipping a page in our textbook. Another example is pushing a chair in and out.

We did an experiment with levers. We took three pencils and taped them together in a triangle shape. Then we had a ruler that we taped two cups to either end. We laid the ruler sideways across the pencils. Then we put two big marbles into one cup, and we put many other little marbles in the other cup to see how many it took to tip the cup that way.

We also learned about fulcrums. A fulcrum is where the ruler touches the pencils. In my experiement with my group, we put the fulcrum in the middle first, and then we put it at three inches. The middle fulcrum took nine marbles to tip the cup. When the fulcrum is closer to the big marbles, it takes less marbles to tip the cup. When the fulcrum is close to the little marbles, it takes a lot of marbles to tip the cup.

I liked doing the project that we did because it was a fun way to learn about science and fulcrums and levers.











Written by Cassandra

Benjamin Franklin

We have been learning about Benjamin Franklin in our reading book. Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston in 1706. He was the tenth child in his family. His mom had seventeen children.

When Benjamin was twelve he went with his brother James to work at a printing press. When he was seventeen he left Boston and his brother to go to Philadelphia.
A few years later he married a woman named Deborah Read and owned a print shop.

They had three children. William was the oldest, Francis died when he was four, and Sarah was called Sally by her father.

Benjaman wrote Poor Richard's Almanac. Benjamin discovered that lightning is electricity. Benjaman Franklin went to England to go ask the king for independence for the country. Eighteen years later he came back to the colonies, but he was sad because his wife died.

Benjamin Franklin was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He worked hard to get freedom for America.

Written by Isaiah and Jessica

Mexico City's History

In Social Studies we are learning about the history of Mexico City. Seven hundred
years ago in the place of Mexico City, a city named Tenochtitlan was built
on Lake Texcoco. The Aztec Indians built their city on Lake Texcoco after they saw an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake in its mouth. They thought it was a
sign from their gods.

After they built the city, the Spanish came and fought the Aztec Indians. The Spanish destroyed Tenochtitlan. The Spanish drained the lake in the 1600s. The Spanish named their new city Mexico City.

Then the Mexicans took over Mexico City because they formed their own government. Today, Mexico City is a part of the country of Mexico. Mexico City is the largest city in the world with a population of 21 million people.

One problem with Mexico City is the pollution. Pollution is anything that makes the air, land, or water unclean. The city leaders are trying to fix the pollution by building subways and having days where they don't drive cars.

An interesting fact is they built a museum in the subway. They did this because they found pieces of Tenochtitlan buried underground when they were building the subway.

Written by Victoria and Diego

SLE: -Care for God's world. (fixing the pollution problem)
-Read many kinds of writing.
-Ask questions and think about answers.

Preparing for Visitors

We have spent many weeks preparing for WASC. We have done a lot of art. We have colored shamrocks and they came out good. We have leaned how to work together in groups. Our class has worked on St.Patrick's day art and decorations. We colored St. Nicholas pictures.


Stephen works hard on a Lenten assignment.


Isaiah figures out what to do next for his rainbow/shamrock writing project.


We are looking forward to our visitors and want them to see all that we do.

Written by Lisa and Sara E.

Roy G. Biv

We are making rainbow cities. We did it because it is the rainy season. The colors of the rainbow are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The colors are very magnificent. Rainbows can be seen when water is reflected with the sun.

We made weird buildings in a good way, and they were different shapes and colors. There were lots of scraps all over. Then on the background paper, we glued the paper buildings onto the white paper. This was a fun project because we got to glue all kinds of things.

By the way, Roy G. Biv is the colors of the rainbow. "R" stands for red, "O" stands for orange, "Y" stands for yellow, "G" stands for green, "B" stands for blue, "I" stands for indigo, and "V" stands for violet. This is a way to remember the colors. Roy G. Biv is not a real person!


Zachary works on his Rainbow City project.

Written by Paolo and Mark

Ash Wednesday

Cassandra, Christina, Andrew, and Marcus are proud to have ashes on their foreheads.

Today OLPH School celebrated the Ash Wednesday Mass. Everybody got a cross on their forehead made of ashes. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent to prepare for Easter. During Lent, we make a sacrifice, we pray for the needs of others, and donate food and money to the poor. One type of sacrifice is giving up meat on Fridays.

Our school is raising money for missions in Africa. Each student collects change and puts it into a special box to send to Africa. It is called the "Magic of Change."

Written by Mikey and Esteban

Catholic Schools Week - Visiting the SPCA

The third grade visited the Central California SPCA on Wednesday of Catholic Schools Week. It is an amazing field trip that gives the students awareness of animals in need. The staff at the SPCA are fantastic and take the time to show us the entire facility. The kids love looking at all the animals. This year we even got to see a snake. The SPCA does not turn away any animal. They are an amazing organization.

Mark made a special donation to the SPCA, so they had him fill out some paperwork to become a member! That was a pretty special moment for him. We are so proud!