Brain Freeze!

Earlier this semester the 2nd graders tested the temperatures of different materials around the Science Lab trying to find out which made the best insulators or conductors. They used that knowledge to create homemade coolers that had to keep ice pops frozen for 40 minutes. If they succeeded, then they got to eat the ice pop! 

Wiggins:

Teuchert:

Smith:

Baer:

Waters:

Cervi:

Toomey: 

This STEM challenge is in the (book)bag.

No one has been working harder in the Science Lab than the 1st graders this semester! We are wrapping our Project Lead The Way unit on light and sound by creating devices that can communicate over distances through the forest. All that they can use to create vibrations and reflections is what was packed for a day hike on the nature trail. 

East:

Friend:

Foote:

Coyne:

Moffett:

Fernandes:

McElwain: 

Molding young minds.

In 3rd Grade we are wrapping up the semester with a study of skills related to fossils. We made plaster casts of tracks from mammals in Piedmont region, and now are making molds of seashells from the Georgia coast. Mrs. Herman's class demonstrates below!

Structure & Function in Kindergarten

All year in Kindergarten we've been using fairy tales to learn how to be engineers. In our final big project of the semester we got to make our own story! Using the engineering design process we created our own paintbrushes (our structure) that could paint in many different ways (its function). Take a look at the results below!

Smith: 

Bower: 

Garrett:

Tommasello:

Wall: 

Gillespie:

No Bones About It.

3rd Grade continues their exploration of earth sciences with a look into how scientists can observe an animals skull to learn about how they lived. Here Mrs. Adams' and Benson's classes demonstrate: 

Cervi-ng up Legumes: #farmtoschool

Mrs. Cervi's 2nd graders recently harvested green beans from our gardens on Post Oak Tritt Road. Not only did they plant these beans 2 months ago, they've been caring for them with the rest of the 2nd grade team every since! The students helped wash and prep the beans, while Mrs. Cervi did all the cooking on our Mobile Cooking Cart from the Captain Planet Foundation. The beans were flavored with chives (also from the gardens) and salt & pepper. The lemonade was flavored by spearmint from the garden. 

"No One steps in the same River twice..."

"... both the River has changed, and so has the Person." - Heraclitus

Our 3rd Graders just wrapped up a Project Lead The Way unit on "The Changing Earth". We studied different soil types in color, texture, size, and how well they drained water. We also experimented with our stream tables to watch the process of erosion, and brainstormed ways we could slow down that process. We needed to design a model that would prevent a landslide in the stream table from destroying houses (wooden blocks) at the bottom of a hill. 

Sketches:

Adams:

Benson:

Bosma:

Herman:

Lamphere:

Love:

Can you hear me now???

We just started studying sound in 1st grade. To test how vibrations carry sound waves we built cup phones. Below the pictures you can see the directions to make your own at home. Here are students from Ms. Coyne's, Mrs. Foote's, and Mrs. Moffett's class build and test their phones: 

Project Lead The Way

Hey guys: I was fortunate enough to go to Orlando for the 2017 PLTW Summit where I attended lots of great sessions, met awesome people, got together with my Verizon Innovative Learning Lab friends, got a book signed by CEO Vince Bertram, and my favorite: played with the VEX IQ Competition robots. Would any 4th/5th graders be interested in doing that too?

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Compounding the problem...

Fourth grade just wrapped up their Project Lead The Way unit on forces and simple machines. Each group was required to build a compound machine model that could lift a tiger 6" and set it safely in a place. The hardest part: they only had 25 minutes!

Wender: 

Eichler:

Kappel:

Miller:

Swift:

Blick: 

We've got our toes in the (kinetic) sand.

Well, not our toes, but with as messy as the Lab was we might as well have used our toes! We've been covering properties of matter in 2nd grade, and this week we are trying to change the properties of sand! This field, "materials science", is fascinating! Here Mrs. Teuchert's class demonstrates: 

Here you can check out a video on "materials science" by the folks at Crash Course Kids: 

Our ingredients: mix 1 oz water with a teaspoon of dish soap and some food coloring. In a separate bowl combine 2 oz play sand and 1 oz corn starch. Combine both bowls and mix to desired consistency! 

It's like pigs live here!!

Kindergarten has been learning all about engineers in the Science Lab this month! We read The 3 Little Pigs and designed their very own houses. But beware, the Big Bad FAN is coming to test out how well they did! Here Mrs. Garrett's class shows off there work:

See Mr. Giunta in "Dorothy Must Die" at the Red Door Playhouse

Since Dorothy took over, The Land of Oz has become a dark and scary place. Ask The Witches and they all agree, Dorothy Must Die! 

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Bring your Family. Dress in Costume. Explore the Haunted Funhouse. See the Show…if you dare. (All Ages)

A modern tornado sweeps Kansas teen Amy Gumm into the Land of Oz. But it’s ten years in the future, and she discovers The Emerald city has changed for the worse. Dorothy has taken over the kingdom as a ruthless dictator, greedy for the Emerald Magic she craves. The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Lion, have enhanced their gifts from the Wizard to an obsessive and terrifying degree. Meanwhile the Witches both Good & Wicked have banned together in an underground plot to bring down Dorothy and restore the rightful ruler to the Palace. Can Amy Gumm, the other girl from Kansas, complete impossible task of taking Dorothy down? Experience the darker side of Oz this Halloween. Based on the Best Selling novels by Danielle Paige.

One Weekend Only: Oct 27-29, Friday and Saturday - 7:00PM, Sunday - 3:00PM

BUY TICKETS HERE: $15 gen adm

Wahsega. Wow!

I was super fortunate to be able to join the 4th grade students, teachers and parents on the trip to the Wahsega 4-H Center this week. Students learned about astronomy, pioneer life, survival skills, stream ecology (my favorite), and wildlife; and had fun playing games, dancing, hiking, and singing around the campfire. I can't wait to reference these times we spent together throughout the school-year as we dive deeper into each subject! 

"The Rise Of The Slime Economy" - NPR

From NPR: "It has become a social media sensation and even led to a run on glue sales. We're talking slime — and not the green liquid Nickelodeon famously dumps on celebrities. And for many young people on YouTube, Instagram and Etsy, it's a moneymaker.

Of the more than 5 million posts on Instagram tagged with #slime, most depict brightly colored stuff filled with glitter and pigments of all kinds. So the slime of today is far more viscous and elaborate than that green liquid on Nickelodeon. Slime has become so popular that the American Chemical Society recently published a fact sheet about it including a detailed scientific explanation for how the magic happens." Check out the rest of NPR's story about the escalating popularity of goo here. 

This week in 5th Grade we are using goo to learn about variables as a part of the scientific method. I'm partial to this recipe from the YouTube channel Get Crafty Crafty: 

Georgia Science Teachers Association: STEMtalk Video Competition

GSTA STEMtalk Video Competition

Students, how is STEM shaping your future? Tell us and win a chance to speak at the 2017 STEM Forum.

We're thrilled that you're interested in doing a STEMtalk! We can't wait to hear your thoughts on how STEM is shaping your future. And, our winners will share their inspiration with the 1,500 teachers who will attend this year's STEM Forum October 25-26, in Athens. Think you might be interested?  View the winning videos from past years.

GSTA has modeled our STEMtalk concept on the work of TED and TEDx. Building on the work of experts at TED, here are a few suggestions on how to give a great talk. These aren't comprehensive, but they will give you some guidance as you develop your STEMtalk. Submissions are due Thursday, October 12, 2017.  Winners will be announced by Monday, October 16.

Find additional information about the competition on the GSTA STEMtalk webpage.

Not so simple...

How do you rescue a tiger who has fallen into a moat around his enclosure? In 4th grade we are using this PLTW lesson to learn about simple and compound machines. Using VEX kits teams will build their own solutions! 

Here is Mrs. Wender's class building levers: 

And Mrs. Blick's class building pulleys:

When a river throws you a curve:

Fifth grade has been "diving in" to the destructive and constructive forces of nature. Here we used stream tables to witness erosion from river banks that created oxbo lakes and deltas.