Week of February 26-March 2

This week, the 3rd graders learned what the term "stakeholder" means. We looked at the issue of the Keystone Pipeline XL from the viewpoint of various stakeholders that were both for and against the building of the pipeline extension. After doing some research, some students changed their original opinions on whether or not the pipeline was a good idea. Below, the students take on the roles of various stakeholders (TransCanada, environmentalist, Native American tribe leader, Nebraska landowner, and Omaha Federation of Labor president) and each make their case in a modified debate.

During our final week of Lego robotics, the students attempted various design challenges, like getting the robot to move without wheels or getting it to go up an incline. It was fun to see the students go through the engineering design process many times in order to meet their goals!

The 5th graders presented their final inventions/innovations that they came up with to solve real world problems. I was very impressed with the creativity and novelty of their inventions.