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