We are SUPER EXCITED about the new robotics equipment our school has this year! We have 17 new RoboRobo kits to help our students learn about how to construct, wire, and program robotic devices. Mrs. Ledbetter's 5th grade class was our first group to dive into the program, and they had a great time! Students did an awesome job carefully following the instructions to build their first model, the Easy Bot. Many students even enjoyed tinkering with the extra equipment in their kits to modify Easy Bot and allow him to perform more functions. Once Easy Bot was built, students used Rogic software to write programs that allowed Easy Bot to complete tasks, such as flashing his lights in different rhythms, beeping his buzzer to create music, and spinning his rotor at different speeds and different directions. Students are excited about their next robot adventure where they will construct a new bot and complete challenges that allow him (or her, of course!) to move along a course and accomplish a more challenging mission. We were especially excited to have visitors at our school today from local businesses who came to see how we are using robotics to develop critical thinking skills. A HUGE "THANK YOU!" TO LOCAL BUSINESS TEN-CATE AND OUR LOCAL GEORGIA POWER BRANCH FOR THEIR GENEROUS DONATIONS TO HELP FUND THIS SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR OUR STUDENTS! 4th graders have been learning about pitch during their recent sound unit. In STEM, students had the opportunity to explore how pitches can be changed by filling jars with different amounts of liquid and striking each jar. Students investigated pitch in an investigation called The Science Sound Band. Students were given lyrics to three children's songs--"Hot Cross Buns," "Mary Had a Little Lamb," and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Each note of the song corresponded to one of six numbered jars at the students' work stations. The challenge was to figure out how much liquid needed to be in each jar to correctly match the pitches of the song. This was harder than most students expected! When correct pitches were identified, students used graduated cylinders to carefully measure the amounts of liquid in each of their jars and record this data for future use. Once they had mastered these songs, students were challenged to match the pitches of one of their favorite songs and create the "sheet music" for how to play the song using their numbered jars. Take a look at some of our fun! You'll also want to be sure to listen to some of our awesome musical composition videos too! 5th graders have delved into microbiology in their STEM explorations this quarter. We started our study with an exploration of bacteria. Students had learned in their homeroom science classes all about different types of harmful and helpful bacteria, so we decided to do some tests around school to see if we could identify any bacteria samples. We learned all about collection techniques, then we made our way all over the school swabbing locations we suspected may have high bacteria content, taking special care not to cross-contaminate our samples as we transferred them onto petri dishes containing agar, a favorite food of bacteria. We watched our dishes carefully over the next week or so and were SHOCKED at our results! We saw many different shapes and sizes of bacteria. Be sure to ask one of our 5th grade microbiologists which locations were most surprising! Once we learned where bacteria were found, we completed a virtual lab investigation to answer the more important question: HOW CAN WE KILL OR PREVENT UNWANTED BACTERIA GROWTH? In the virtual investigation, we learned about several types of harmful bacteria and tested different cleaning products and medicines to see how the bacteria reacted. We used the data we collected to write a Doctor's Lab Report making suggestions for our to treat a patient with certain bacterial infections. We also wrote a letter to Ms. Halley making recommendations for how our custodial staff might treat surfaces exposed to different types of bacteria. Students were very excited that during this unit, they also learned how to use an electric microscope. Many quickly picked up on when and how to use the coarse and fine adjustment knobs to best focus their microscope. (Miss Rogers was very impressed!) Students enjoyed not only viewing prepared slides, but also learning how to make their own slides. A favorite activity of many was learning how to use dyeing techniques to view clear samples of plant and animal cells (onion skins and human cheek cells). Students had a great time exploring the properties of light as they worked to complete challenges in a game of Hit the Target. Take a look at some of our fun! (Scroll below to read the blog post that explains activity details.) 2nd and 4th graders had a great time today at our first ever EJES Cardboard Carnival. As part of their STEM classes, 4th graders designed and built carnival games using lots of recyclables and a few basic supplies. Their games had to meet several constraints, the most challenging of which was to iinclude use of at least 2 simple machines. (Students discovered when they started building that this was a lot harder than they expected!) One of the best things about this project was that 4th graders really practiced PERSEVERANCE! Even when their first plan didn't work, they tried new options and were GREAT PROBLEM SOLVERS! They also showed great responses to failure and kept working without showing frustration (That's a hard one!). As one of our favorite book characters Rosie Revere, Engineer says, "Life may have failures, but this was NOT it. The only true failure can come if you quit!” 2nd graders, who also study forces and motion in their science classes were great audience members who came to test out the games. Take a look at some of the 4th graders' creative creations. It's cool to see how resourceful our kids can be! Its was a fun morning of learning! (Special thanks to Art Teacher Ms. Ricci for her help and resources to decorate our creations.) We have some very creative thinkers at at EJES, and we can't wait for you to see their work! Our 3rd graders are having an invention competition. A team of inventors from each class was given a problem to solve using limited resources and given a limited time frame. They worked great under pressure! After building their inventions, students put their persuasive writing skills to the test to plan a quick commercial to "pitch" their product. Click here to see all of our products and vote in our competition!
4th graders have been learning about properties of light, including the 3 B's: (1) Light can BOUNCE (reflect). (2) Light can BEND (refract). (3) Light can BE BLOCKED. We had a great time playing a game called Hit the Target to see study how light reflects. In this activity, students had to use mirrors and a laser beam to try to make a beam of light hit certain targets. Of course, the game wouldn't be fun without a challenge! Students had to reach their goal and stay within the following constraints: Once they were able to successfully hit the target bouncing the light off one mirror, our explorers had to figure out how to bounce it off two mirrors, then three mirrors and still hit the target! While it was interesting to observe the properties of light during the investigation, we also learned a lot about angles and how important it was to position our mirrors and lasers at certain angles to reach our desired target. We even had fun testing different surfaces in our classroom to see which were reflective. Take a look at our explorations below:
5th graders had a great time exploring animal body structures with homemade play-dough. Students were challenged to build a scale model of both an earthworm and a gifraffe that met certain size requirements. The earthworm was a piece of cake! The giraffe....not so much! After some failed attempts at standing giraffes (with floppy necks, buckling legs, and collapsing bellies), we brainstormed ideas as to what material we could use in addtion to play-dough to make the task easier. Students suggested straws, toothpicks, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, and other materials. When straws and toothpicks were added to the mix, the task became much easier! We discovered that each of these materials in our models served the same purpose as bones in real animals. We talked about how animals, such as earthworms and giraffes, can be classified as vertebrates or invertebrates based on their body structures. In their homeroom science classes, students will soon be learning more about how plants and animals are scientifically classified. It felt great to finally have structures that were STANDING TALL!
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Ms. Kaycie Rogers3rd-5th STEM Teacher Archives
September 2016
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