Marshmallow Towers

This was quite the feat!  I'm amazed at what the groups were able to create with such limited resources!  Here are our final projects, though it should be noted that they were all taller prior to the marshmallow.

Research Presentations, Day 2

Here are links to our remaining digital presentations:

Ocean Life

How Minecraft was Created

Ferrari F1 Team

Vaquita

Red Fox

Urban Landscapes, Take II

We had better success today!  The students had 15 minutes to plan improvements, and another 15 minutes to build.

Before:

After:

Research Presentations, Day 1

Here are links to the digital files the students created.  Impressive!

Wolves

Sharks - presentation
Sharks - written report

Marvel - written report

Electricity - written report

Crested Caracara

Literature, Week 2

We completed our reading of A Long Walk to Water today.  This story illustrates incredible resolve and will through the story of Salva Dut.  His amazing, and difficult, journey ends with inspiration.

I would say more, but I don't want to give anything away, as this is a book worth reading.

I was extremely impressed with the students' reactions to the story themes.  Our discussions surrounding the events of the story and our predictions as to what would, or could, occur, were significant and meaningful. 

Urban Landscape - Take I

Students created cities out of cardboard, index cards, and foil.  The groups were quite imaginative!

Then, they were given 15 minutes to plan how they would use the technologies we have explored to keep our pollutants out of their rivers.  These are their urban landscapes with their pollution reducing technologies:

 Uh oh!  Pollution has landed!  The students chose the sequins to represent plastic litter, the sprinkles to represent dog poop, food coloring to represent general chemicals, and dish soap to represent gas & oil from cars.

After 300 sprays of water, there was very little pollution in the rivers, but still more than we would like.  Tomorrow, the groups will be able to improve their plans, and we will test their technology again.

Marshmallow Challenge

Our school-wide engineering challenge this week is to create the tallest free-standing tower using only: 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of masking tape, one yard of string, and one large marshmallow.  The marshmallow must stay intact, and be at the top of the structure.

Each student may work alone, or with a team.  We will have a school-wide gallery walk on Thursday.

Please send spaghetti & marshmallows - I can cover the string & tape.

Thanks!

Permeable Pavement & More Systems (Day 6)

This morning, the class was given time to explore a game  Plan it Green.   This was a continuation of our discussion yesterday in reference to systems interacting. The necessity for homes to be built with roads leading to them, along with wind farms & nuclear power plants, was an excellent way to illustrate this idea.

We also discussed how systems can be open or closed.  We watched two short videos on YouTube: the first 2 minutes of:Open & Closed Systems, and also Open Systems 30 Second Breakdown.  We then brainstormed ideas for open & closed systems - such as circuits, car doors, etc.

In our quest for clean water, we investigated permeable pavement today.  We first watched a commercial from a manufacturer or permeable pavement systems to better understand how the technology works.  Only the first 3 minutes of Stormwater Runoff Solution: Permeable Pavement is actually relevant to building knowledge we needed.  We then watched Green City, Clean Waters. We were now prepared for our investigation.

Students were given the following parameters:

To create a layer of permeable "pavement" in a foil tray that could absorb water and be smooth enough for walking & driving.  They had 25 minutes and $200.  There choices of materials & price list is below.

Craft foam (1/2 sheet) $40
Felt (1/2 sheet) $40
Sponge $20
Plastic discs (10) $20
Paperclips (10) $20/$10
Coffee stirrers (10) $10
Cotton Balls (5) $10
Screen (per square inch) $10
Cheesecloth (per square inch) $5

All of our groups devised successful pavement models!  Here is one of the models: (my phone decided to stop taking photos after this - sorry!)  The other two groups had similar ideas - one was a full layer of sponges covered with a layer of felt, the other was a mixture of sponges & cotton balls with an overlay of felt.

Urban Planning & Systems (Day 5)

Today we learned about how environmental engineers helped solve many issues of runoff in the Charles River in Boston by watching this Special Report.  Students were able to create their own models of green roofs within these parameters:

40 index cards
1 roll of masking tape
12 inches of foil
**Building must be at least 9 inches tall

Sphagnum moss
gravel
potting soil

They had 5 minutes to plan as a group, and only 30 minutes for construction.  Their finished building had to be able to hold 1 cup of water  = no runoff, and able to support the weight of the saturated roof.

Two out of three roofs were successful!  Congratulations!

We also brainstormed how systems interact.  Here is the list of system pairs we came up with today:

Systems (Day 4)

Is every part of a system vital to its overall function?  It turns out, it depends on the system.  Students worked in groups to research a system and determine which parts were vital, and which where not.

We Survived!

Literature, Week 1

A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park, is based on the true story of refugee Salva Dut, an eleven-year-old Dinka boy from southern Sudan.  His home village is attacked by rebels, and he is separated from his family.  The author tells a parallel narrative about a girl, Nya, and her daily chore of retrieving water for her family.

We have read the first half of the book, and stopped to discuss & predict after each chapter.  It is a poignant work, and the students have been very insightful in their analysis.

Here's a link to the book information through Amazon.com.
http://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-Water-Based-Story/dp/0547577311

Systems (Day 3)

We looked at how there are systems across disciplines.  First, we brainstormed aspects of systems within math, language arts, social studies, science, art, and music.  We then created the chart below, and were able to then circle the ones that fit more than one discipline.  There were many that fit all!

Technologies & Systems (Day 2)

Today introduced systems & discussed technologies.

A system is anything with parts that work together.  

Technologies are things created by humans to make things easier or to solve problems. 

We played a game: "Is it a Technology," where students were teamed up and asked to identify if items are technologies or not.  (computer: yes, camera: yes, turtle shell: no)

We then discussed how complicated this idea can become.  For example, a rock is not a technology, but if a human uses the rock to solve a problem (arrowhead or hammer), is the rock then considered a technology?

Here is our collage showing Natural & Man-Made Systems

Think Like an Expert (Day 1)

We looked up the definition of an expert: having or showing special skill or knowledge because of what you have been taught or what you have experienced.

Research shows that to become an expert, it requires either 10 years of experience in the specific field, or 10,000 hours of practicing a specific skill.  (Many students were disappointed that this means they are not officially experts at anything yet.)

We brainstormed ideas about what this looks like for musicians, mathematicians, doctors & poets.  We created a word wall, layering these aspects.  From this, we were able to draw connections to show what commonalities are shown across disciplines.

Breakfast Menu

Welcome!

Science Enrichment 2015

Dear Parents & Families of Room 15,

Welcome to seriously fun summer school!  My name is Miss Checchio and I regularly teach 6^th grade at Kellogg.  I am thrilled to be working with your children these two weeks.

         A few details to note:

1.                  Class begins at 8:00.  If your child arrives late, please be sure they get a slip from the office.

2.                  Breakfast is FREE for ALL students (Served at 10:15).  I would suggest each child pick up the breakfast daily, and if they are not hungry at recess they could have it as a snack later.  

3.                  Students must wear close-toed shoes to be safe during recess. 

4.                  I have created a blog for this summer school group.   I will post pictures and other information.  I will NOT post pictures of students, only projects.

www.summerscience15.blogspot.com

Research projects:

Each child has decided on a research topic, and will present their research next Wednesday & Thursday.  Students will be given class time to research and create posters and/or digital presentations to display their completed research project.

Please feel free to email me with any questions you may have.

Thank you,

Miss Checchio

jchecchio@goleta.k12.ca.us