June 16, 2015
It's our first week of summer school! We played a scavenger autograph game that helped us get to know each other better, where we went around to our classmates and asked them questions about themselves. If the descriptor matched the person that we asked, such as, "someone who has a dog", we could have our friend autograph for us. We also got to make our own straw airplanes using paper, tape, and straw. Our teachers helped us to make a "KWL" chart, a know, want to know, and learned chart, about aerodynamics for this unit.
It's our first week of summer school! We played a scavenger autograph game that helped us get to know each other better, where we went around to our classmates and asked them questions about themselves. If the descriptor matched the person that we asked, such as, "someone who has a dog", we could have our friend autograph for us. We also got to make our own straw airplanes using paper, tape, and straw. Our teachers helped us to make a "KWL" chart, a know, want to know, and learned chart, about aerodynamics for this unit.
June 17, 2015
Today we watched a video about the Wright brothers. We learned about the technique they used to improve their airplanes and about how their perseverance and teamwork paid off. We also made whirlybirds out of paper and paper clips. The whirlybirds were made up of two or three rotors and the fuselage. Before we tested our whirlybirds, we hypothesized about which paperclip would make the whirlybird spin the fastest and fall the the fastest.
Today we watched a video about the Wright brothers. We learned about the technique they used to improve their airplanes and about how their perseverance and teamwork paid off. We also made whirlybirds out of paper and paper clips. The whirlybirds were made up of two or three rotors and the fuselage. Before we tested our whirlybirds, we hypothesized about which paperclip would make the whirlybird spin the fastest and fall the the fastest.
June 18, 2015
Today we got to make parachutes! We were able to apply what we have been learning about aerodynamics. We used paper clips, clothes pins, tissue paper, and string. If we wanted to change the weight of the parachute, we added more paper clips, but if we wanted it to have more lift, then we took away the clothes pin so that it would be lighter and could float for a longer period of time. After building it we got to test the parachute by dropping it off from a building and seeing how long it could stay in the air.
Today we got to make parachutes! We were able to apply what we have been learning about aerodynamics. We used paper clips, clothes pins, tissue paper, and string. If we wanted to change the weight of the parachute, we added more paper clips, but if we wanted it to have more lift, then we took away the clothes pin so that it would be lighter and could float for a longer period of time. After building it we got to test the parachute by dropping it off from a building and seeing how long it could stay in the air.
June 19, 2015
Today we learned how to make kites out of plastic trash bags, wooden dowels, and string! We practiced our teamwork since we worked in pairs. We helped each other trace the kite stencil and cut our kites out of our trash bags. After we were finished assembling our kites, we could decorate them using colorful markers! While we waited for our friends to finish making their kites, we read books about science and aerodynamics. We are looking forward to flying our kites next week!
Today we learned how to make kites out of plastic trash bags, wooden dowels, and string! We practiced our teamwork since we worked in pairs. We helped each other trace the kite stencil and cut our kites out of our trash bags. After we were finished assembling our kites, we could decorate them using colorful markers! While we waited for our friends to finish making their kites, we read books about science and aerodynamics. We are looking forward to flying our kites next week!
June 22, 2015
Today we flew our kites! It was not very windy so we had to run really fast to help our kites fly. After that, we wrote a journal entry about what we needed to do in order to make our kites work. We had a lot of fun!
Note: Sorry the videos are upside down! If you click the download button in the lower right corner of the video, you can flip the video right side up after it has saved on your computer.
Today we flew our kites! It was not very windy so we had to run really fast to help our kites fly. After that, we wrote a journal entry about what we needed to do in order to make our kites work. We had a lot of fun!
Note: Sorry the videos are upside down! If you click the download button in the lower right corner of the video, you can flip the video right side up after it has saved on your computer.
(We apologize that these videos are upside down. We did try to flip them but the video would only upload this way. Feel free to download them and watch them right side up!)
Week 2, June 22-26
We made contraptions out of recyclable materials that we will test to see if it can hold a water balloon, without it breaking! Today we will get to test it and drop the contraption off of a ledge, and if the water balloon does not break, then we made a successful water balloon protector. We used an assortment of materials, such as styrofoam, packing peanuts, lots of bubble wrap, plastic bags, plastic trays, cardboard, and more! We were really creative and each group had a very unique perspective on what design would be best. Even if our water balloon did break, we learned a lot and none of us ever gave up!
We made contraptions out of recyclable materials that we will test to see if it can hold a water balloon, without it breaking! Today we will get to test it and drop the contraption off of a ledge, and if the water balloon does not break, then we made a successful water balloon protector. We used an assortment of materials, such as styrofoam, packing peanuts, lots of bubble wrap, plastic bags, plastic trays, cardboard, and more! We were really creative and each group had a very unique perspective on what design would be best. Even if our water balloon did break, we learned a lot and none of us ever gave up!
We made a video titled "Balloon Drop" but it is having problems uploading, so please look at the 10:00 class' page to view it. Thank you!
The Design Process
We used a design process to help us to create our awesome water balloon contraptions! It starts with identifying a problem, brainstorming, designing, building, testing and evaluation, redesigning, and then sharing our solution with the class. Our problem for this activity was figuring out how to keep a water balloon from popping. We then got together in groups of three or four and brainstormed our best ideas. We designed our contraption in our journals, and built them together with all of the recyclable materials we had. After building, we tested them out. If it stopped the balloon from popping, then we knew we were on the right track and could brainstorm how to make it even better. If not, then we could evaluate what could help the contraption to work for next time. We had time to redesign our contraptions and were able to retest them too. We shared our solutions with our classmates as well, and were able to see how unique everyone's designs were.
We used a design process to help us to create our awesome water balloon contraptions! It starts with identifying a problem, brainstorming, designing, building, testing and evaluation, redesigning, and then sharing our solution with the class. Our problem for this activity was figuring out how to keep a water balloon from popping. We then got together in groups of three or four and brainstormed our best ideas. We designed our contraption in our journals, and built them together with all of the recyclable materials we had. After building, we tested them out. If it stopped the balloon from popping, then we knew we were on the right track and could brainstorm how to make it even better. If not, then we could evaluate what could help the contraption to work for next time. We had time to redesign our contraptions and were able to retest them too. We shared our solutions with our classmates as well, and were able to see how unique everyone's designs were.