Week of January 5-9

This week, the 5th graders were introduced to our next unit: "Engineering Our Passions."  Students brainstormed global issues affecting our world today.  We then discussed how to narrow the scope and think of these issues on more of a local level.  For example, world conflict (ISIS, Israeli/Palestinian conflict, etc.) can be scaled down to conflicts in the school like bullying, and cyber bullying.  Students will now think about topics they are passionate about and choose one issue that they can attempt to solve on a local level.  I am really excited to see the wonderful work students do when their interests and passions are taken into account!
HW: Research current events on kids' news websites like:

http://www.cnn.com/studentnews - make sure to scroll down to "Extra Credit Resources"

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/ - you can explore by subject area (like world) or click "articles"

http://www.timeforkids.com/news-archive/world

http://www.dogonews.com/

Make a list of global issues that interest you and think about how you can address those issues on a local level.  Come up with at least two possible ideas for your passion project that deal with solving a local problem in your school or community.

You can also check out these passion projects created by other students:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7Z-Hq-xvxM - This is an example of how one student addressed the global issue of conflict in his local school.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBzBwOPBte4 - This project is not really about solving a global/local issue, but it shows the importance of setting goals, planning, reflecting, learning from failures, etc.

Each 5th grade class also had a guest teacher for half the period.  5a used the Engineering Design Process to create a Trojan Horse.  Class 5b learned about the importance of design and function when creating a building. They learned about the importance of materials, challenges, and value.

In 4th grade, we began our unit on environmental engineering.  We read a story about a girl named Tehya who lives in Washington State with her native American tribe, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.  She and her friend, Sam, discovered an oil spill in the local river and learned how environmental engineers design a process to clean up spills.  We also learned about the overarching concept that everything is connected and when one event happens, it sets off a chain reaction.  Click the following link for more info on the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe: http://www.elwha.org/

HW: Research three jobs an environmental engineer might do.  Explain each one and evaluate which one is most important.

In 3rd grade, we learned that technology is anything made by humans to solve a problem or meet a need.  Even things like sneakers and paper clips are examples of technology!  We also learned that engineers use their knowledge of math, science, and their creativity to design and improve objects, systems, and processes that solve problems.  

HW: List 10 examples of technology in your house (5 must not be electronic).  Choose 3 - explain the problems engineers saw that gave them the idea to create new technologies.

Create a poster using Google Slides, Docs, or Draw to present one of these “non-electronic” technologies. On your poster, you should have:

• The name of the technology
• The problem the technology solves
• A picture of the technology
• A description of what makes the object technology

Share your poster with me once you finish.