Week of December 5-9

This was a very exciting week because we welcomed new students and began our engineering units! In 3rd grade, we talked about the meanings of the terms "technology" and "engineering" and cleared up some misconceptions that technology must involve electricity. We learned that it actually can be anything made by humans to solve a problem or make life easier (see the Powtoon below for a quick overview of what we discussed). We also learned that engineers design, develop, and improve technology. They are problem-finders and problem-solvers.

In 4th grade, we talked about the difference between robots and machines and learned that robots can sense their environment and react to it. We looked at some examples of robots found in the real world like the Roomba robot vacuum, the Big Dog military robot, and the da Vinci robot that can stitch up the skin of a grape. Then we began building our lego robots with our partners. Next week, we will begin to program our robots. We can't wait!

Busy building our lego robots!

In 5th grade, we began our unit on inventions by discussing some qualities inventors should possess. After much debate, we decided that the most important qualities are: 1. Creativity  2. Grit  3. Passion.

We also learned about the difference between divergent and convergent thinking.

Then we took E. Paul Torrence's test of creativity by brainstorming uses of a paper clip (fluency), categorizing the items on our list (flexibility), choosing the most unique one (originality), and creating a one minute commercial to go into detail describing this wacky use of a paper clip (elaboration). Here is a commercial for paper clip earrings!