Today we started our final STEAM project of the year! We will be building a putt putt course! Each student will work on developing one hole. We worked on observing various obstacles in some holes and then we designed how would could apply those obstacles. Next week we will identify the geometry and math in our designs and learn about acute, obtuse, and right angles.
Today we made some very easy balloon car racers and we discovered that after doing very hard builds, it was very easy to do this more simpler build! We also talked about forces and motion and how to make the cars go faster and longer distances.
Today we continued to build our WWII vehicles. These are pretty hard builds, so I'm very proud of everyone! I think everyone will be finished by next week!
Today was open STEAM to allow everyone a chance to finish up his or her radial design. If you haven't popped in the building to see those, please do! They are stunning!
Next week, we'll begin our challenges to accompany Number the Stars. It is not necessary for you to read that book, but it would be a great read aloud for you--It's a classic award winner!
Some students finished their radial designs this week, so we have those displayed in the building! They are beautiful! We will finish those up for those that need it, and continue with open STEM with those who have already finished. We will begin our storybook STEAM challenge week after next. For those of you that are new, we will read Number the Stars and complete STEM activities based upon that book. This is a great opportunity to have a family read aloud time and share the story together. A lot of our families listen to the audiobook together and discuss the book as they listen. It is also not required to complete the reading to go along with the STEAM class. In other words, if you do not choose to do the reading, that is okay! The STEAM challenges will still be a fun learning experience.
Today we started working on one of my most favorite designs! We started our 3 dimensional radial design project. We discussed symmetry and even sorted some symmetrical shapes. The we used some orgami folds to start our beautiful designs! They will be stunning once they are complete.
Today we finished our circuit cards, so hopefully those made it home and you got to see all the light up fun! Next week, we'll be working on some Christmas STEAM challenges.
Today we learned that the first Christmas card was sent in 1853, so to celebrate that, we built a light up Christmas card. We completed a circuit on paper using a battery, LED lights, and adhesive copper tape. We learned about conductors and the flow of electricity.
Happy Thanksgiving! We have two more classes in this semester! We'll be doing pajama day on 12/9, so wear your pjs to class!
Don't forget to sign up for spring semester!
Today we worked on using Keva planks to create structures that Amelia would be running on in Victorian London. This was a fun experience and we learned terms such as ramp, incline, ascend, and descend and how these apply to engineering.
Today we checked our pH predictions against the true pH scale. Some of our predictions were pretty close while others were WAY off! It was a good reminder of how the pH scale is set up and what acids and bases are. We finished that lightning quick, so students spent the remaining time building. Next week, we'll start building Christmas STEAM projects to go along with The Girl Who Saved Christmas. I hope you all will read along--it's such a fun book!
Today we had a great time learning all about acids and bases! We used ph indicator strips and test a variety of liquids to determine how acidic or basic it is. Next week, we will examine the ph scale and determine where our liquids are! Next week will be our last week working with the Sherlock book. After that, we will begin reading The Girl Who Saved Christmas. I highly recommend this book for the holiday season! It's so fun and full of magic! It's also fun to listen to as an audiobook!
Today we worked on our Sherlock skills and learned about chemical reactions. We used baking soda and vinegar to inflate a balloon and discuss the chemical reaction that took place. We saw evidence of a chemical reaction (bubbles) and knew a gas was created. Then we discussed how the particles were organized in a solid, liquid, and gas. We discussed how the particles would move in each, which explained why the balloon inflated once the gas was created.
Today we worked a bit more on our math glyph for Halloween and discussed how graphs represent information in picture format. We also discussed the difference between horizontal and vertical. Then we spent the remainder of the time building!
Next week, we'll continue to do some Halloween type activities, but we'll also add in some Sherlock related activities (chemistry, especially)!
Today we learned about glyphs and started to make our own pumpkin glyph. We will keep working on these throughout the month. We also worked on our engineering and continued to build our robots.
Today we built new robots! I was so impressed with this group! I had originally planned on taking the entire three weeks for our Rabbots, but everyone has sailed right through the building and is ready for more of a challenge. Today, I asked them to build new bots completely on their own. I simply gave them the directions! I was so proud of their resiliency and intelligence. We will finish these when we return from break and possibly work on some Halloween themed projects before we begin to work on chemistry experiements for Sherlock Holmes!
Today we worked on programming robots. First we started with paper coding a path for a bus to bring children home from school. Then we worked on coding our bunny bots to collect carrots. We're almost done with our robots unit. Next, we'll move on to some chemistry while we read about Sherlock Holmes and the Disappearing Diamond.
Today we worked on learning about multiple types of robots and students responded with a labeled diagram and making their very own robot. We also finished up making our own rabbit bot and bot buddy. We began programming our paths for our bunnies. We will work more on programming next week. We will also learn even more about bots!
Today is the day everyone has been waiting for! We started our robot unit! We began by jotting down everything we know about robots. Most students knew very little, so we will work on building that knowledge in the subsequent weeks. Then we worked together with our teams to create a Rabbit Bot and a Bot Buddy. We will begin working on coding next week.
If you are following along and reading The Wild Robot, we will be reading pages 1-70 this week.
Today, we focused on the M part of STEAM! We learned how to collect data and then record our data in a table and in a bar graph. We also played a very fun game called Tenzi, which is a lot like Trionimoes. We had to make groups of 10 with our triangles. Very fun! Next week, there is no class, but when we return, we'll begin our robotics unit. If you would like to read the literacy component with this, you can read The Wild Robot, which is the book the ELA class is reading. There are three total books in the series, so if you've already read the first one, you can read the second or third!
Today we learned about the elements of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) and then we completed a notecard STEM CHALLENGE. The true purpose of this challenge was to get the students to work together in a group and to communicate ideas with one another. We'll have another STEAM challenge next week and then after Labor Day, we will begin our robotics unit.