Week of January 3-6

This week, our third graders were environmental engineers hired by Mayor Higgins of Greentown to investigate problems with animals and plants dying in the pond and garden. We used pH strips to test soil and water samples from various locations around town and compared this data to data taken three years ago. We noticed that some areas had become much more acidic, causing problems in the pond, while other areas had become more basic, causing harm to the garden. We then made visits to the locations in question to learn more about what was going on. Now we are working on making recommendations to Mayor Higgins about how to solve these problems and prevent future problems with the ecosystem in Greentown.

samples we tested with pH strips

In 4th grade, we learned a lot more about how the programming blocks work. We learned that making the power negative moves the robot backwards. Some groups began learning about the various types of turns the robot can make by adjusting the power of the left and right motors. Now they are working on programming the robot to move through an obstacle course using these turns.

In 5th grade, we discussed how some inventions (like the flushing toilet) were invented way ahead of their time, and they didn't have the supporting technology to make them really useful. We made a tech web to show all of the supporting technology necessary to make Gorilla Glass and other inventions successful, and we realized that many of these webs included electricity as a necessary supporting technology. We then did a little research about electromagents and how they are used in inventions and created our own electromagnet!

We found that when we wrapped the wire around the nail more times, it became stronger and could pick up more objects-like in this pic!

Week of December 19-23

This week, the 3rd graders learned about ecosystems. We created a model food web to show how the living and nonliving things in an ecosystem are connected. This helped us understand how much devastation an oil spill can cause. We also learned how birds are affected by oil spills. We put feathers in oily water and discovered that water is not effective at cleaning the oil off the feathers. We then used dish liquid to carefully remove the oil and were much more successful. That's actually how birds are cleaned after a real oil spill!

The 4th graders invited their classmates in to play the carnival games they created during the math cycle. Everyone had fun playing the games and learning about probability! We also continued to program our lego robots. We learned that the move tank block controls both motors, so in order to make the robot go straight, the left and right powers must be equal.

4th graders playing carnival games

In 5th grade, we went on an invention hunt around the school and identified inventions as either type II (known problem with unknown method to solve it and unknown solution - like fans) or type III (unknown problem with unknown method to solve it and unknown solution - like the Promethean Board). We discussed how inventors have to be observant problem-finders and think up ideas that people didn't even know they needed. We then learned about the 4 steps in the inventive process: idea, invention, innovation, improvement. Our challenge was to take the invention of cardboard and create an innovation and improvement using that invention. This group made a puppet theater and improved it by making handles on the back to open it more easily.

Week of December 12-16

This week, the 3rd graders were given a design challenge: build a tower at least one foot tall that can support a stuffed animal cow. The only materials available were 50 index cards and 2 feet of tape! Even though not all groups met the goal, we all were successful at using the steps of the Engineering Design Process to analyze what worked well, what didn't, and ways we could improve our designs. It's all about the process, not the product!

Success feels so good!

Mission accomplished!

In 4th grade, we finished building our Lego robots and started programming them. We learned that there are different modes you can use to tell the robot what to do. For example, you can use degree mode, rotation mode, on for seconds, and more to move the robot a certain distance. We used our math skills to figure out the one rotation is equal to 360 degrees. Some groups even found the circumference of the wheel in order to figure out how to get the robot to go a certain distance!

Students watch their programs in action!

In 5th grade, our lesson focused on why people invent. We learned about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and talked about the old proverb: "Necessity is the mother of invention." We had some heated debates about what we need for survival versus what we need for happiness. Then we created inventions to meet each level of need using only 100 popsicle sticks. I was very impressed with the students' divergent thinking and creativity!

Students make inventions out of "wood"

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!

Week of November 28-December 2

This week was our last week of the math cycle. The 3rd and 4th grade classes demonstrated what they learned by completing a post-assessment. It was amazing to see all the progress we made in just a few short months!

The 3rd graders also began working on a measurement project where they became city planners who must design a playground using skills they've learned in this unit like finding the perimeter that will give us the most area, figuring out how much space each piece of equipment will take up, making a drawing to scale, and much more! This project is something they can continue to work on at home or in their regular class when time permits.

In 4th grade, the students were busy designing their own carnival games. They made sure that the theoretical probability of winning was slightly less than the probability of losing so that the carnival will make money. Once the games are completed, we will invite students from their classes in to play our games!

The 5th graders worked diligently to learn about booleans and conditionals in order to get our game characters moving correctly across the screen. Now students have everything they need to finish coding their own video games! Some students have finished their games. Go to our 5th grade page and give them a try!!!

Week of November 14-18

Unfortunately, both of my daughters were sick this week, so I was only able to see my Monday and Tuesday classes. I was NOT happy about this!!! My 3rd graders have been learning about surface area. We have been using this new knowledge to figure out how many cans of frosting we would need in order to frost the top and 4 sides of 12 pieces of cake. We will continue to work on this next week.

In 4th grade, we continued to play probability games involving spinners and discussed what it means to be a fair game. Next, we will be using what we learned in this unit to design our own carnival games that are slightly unfair. After all, the carnival owners have to make some money! They can't have their customers winning all the time!

In 5th grade, we started to learn how to make our game images move by changing the input along the x and y axis. Next, we will learn how to prevent these images from flying off the screen never to return. We also began working on our own video games, applying all of the info we learned to fix a broken game and make it our own.

Week of October 31- November 4

This week the 3rd graders were asked to use their knowledge of liquid measurement to be smart consumers and decide which brands of lemonade the class should buy for their party. We learned that in order to compare the brands, we needed to calculate the cost per unit (or cup), and we realized that when you buy in bulk, the price usually goes down. We also started to talk about the volume of solids by building pieces of cake for our party out of connecting cubes. We realized that while area deals with the space inside a two-dimensional figure, volume is about how many cubes fit inside a 3-dimensional shape. In order to find the volume of the cake, we could count each cube, or we could multiply the lenght x width x height.
Watch this video for a reminder of how to calculate volume!

In 4th grade, we discussed what it means for a game to be fair. We realized that the theoretical probability of each player winning has to be equal in order for it to be a fair game. We then played a game involving spinners and learned that we needed to calculate the theoretical probability of each player winning in order to be sure if it is a fair game. Our experimental results varied from group to group and were not reliable.

In 5th grade, we are continuing to work on using the design recipe to write contracts, examples, and definitions of functions. We are learning about how variables are used in these functions and how programming is closely related to algebra. For example, students came up with a definition for a funtion called "average" that would take in two numbers (our variables) and calculate the average by adding them and dividing by two. We learned that each variable must have a unique name since it represents a different value.