Saturday, October 21, 2017

Fun in 5R October 10 - 20

On October 11th we had our second all school celebration after filling the "Paw-some Alph-a-bits" jar.  The whole school went outside for artistic sidewalk chalk drawing in the parking lot.  




A great time for some family fun!!!

MATH

We just finished unit 1 in math!  To kick off unit 2 we did a word sort.  First, students sorted the terms in any categories that their group chose.  After sharing the sorts with each other, students worked on matching the terms with their definitions.  This was an engaging way to introduce new vocabulary that they will need to be familiar with for unit 2.







Sunday, October 15, 2017

The Final Engineering and Design Task - Design and Build Your Own Catapult!

Engineering & Design Introductory Task


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Problem:  Two Lego men named Bob and Jack aren’t getting along.  They are about to go to battle.  The town has decided that they may design a catapult to help them in battle.  The town council agreed that they may both only use the supplies provided by the town.


The supplies each man will receive are:
  • Rubber Bands
  • Two sizes of popsicle sticks
  • Mini Marshmallows
  • One bottle cap


If you were Bob or Jack how would you design your catapult so you would have the best chance of winning?


The students spent several days going through the engineering and design process to create a catapult and go into battle!  There were some frustrations, celebrations, suggestions, and loads of supportive cheers!  



Building prototypes: 




 Testing Prototypes:

 And the Battles Begin!













The final round!  Natalie verses Liam!

 Champion Liam

And the WINNER is... LIAM!  


Honorable mention goes to Norah for teacher voted:  BEST DESIGN!


Taking the Battle Outside with 5B

 

And now, for the students reactions to this whole process:

Adrian -     I realized when I put my mind to something, I can do what I'm doing.  
                 I was confused when my catapult didn't work like I planned.
Cavan -      I was impressed when Natalie's hit my lego man.
                 From what I noticed, my catapult did well.
Frank -       It frustrated me when I was building the catapult because the rubber bands    
                 and the sticks and my design wouldn't work.
Gigi -         I used to think my catapult would work very well, but now I realize my   
                 catapult could've been a lot better because it was very short and it shot    
                 marshmallows to the sides.
Bryan -      I realized that numbering the popsicle sticks helped.  
                To make it better, I would have made it taller.
Owen -      I was confused when my catapult fell apart in battle.
                I wonder what the most effective catapult would be.
Liam -       I realized my 3rd catapult design did not work so well, so I stuck with my 2nd design.
                From what I noticed my catapult was not the most accurate.
Norah -     To make it better, I would have tested it more to find all the flaws.
Maya -      I was impressed with Ashley's model because it was put together well.
                I was frustrated when my model didn't work in the beginning.
Maura -     I used to think my catapult was never going to work, but now I realize tweaking one small thing, 
                my catapult worked better because I think using your imagination and being encouraged by 
                other students gave me courage to fix my catapult and make me win a couple rounds.
Andre'a -   To make it better I probably would have made it more simple instead of using 20 popsicle sticks 
                 and 30  rubber bands.
Janabeth -  I loved it when we got the challenge to create our catapults.
                  From what I noticed, everyone tried their best.
Natalie -    I loved it when we battled with our catapults.
Coda -       To make it better, I would have worked on my accuracy.
                 From what I noticed, the class did an outstanding job.
Ashley -     I  wonder if I made a bigger base, it would have worked better.
                From what I noticed, my catapult can go far, short, or high.
Liberty -    I used to think you could not make catapults our of rubber bands, sticks, and a bottle cap, but 
                now I realize you can because I did it, so now I know I can.
Harper -    I loved it when I got my catapult to fire.
                Have you considered, Norah, to use your hands to fire your catapult instead of using a rubber 
                  band?
Matthew -   I was confused when my design didn't work as well as I had hoped.
                  To make it better I would have changed how the tension was stored.
Brookelyn -  I loved it when I saw the final model of my catapult, I was so proud.
                   From what I noticed, the simplest catapults worked best.
                   I realize that if you try your best you can accomplish the most darndest         
                   seeming things!