Our fourth graders explored simple machines such as wheel and axles, levers, the inclined plane, and pulleys. They investigated the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object. Angelina, Mylo, and Suzi go on a field trip to the zoo and are faced with the design problem of how to rescue a trapped tiger. Using our VEX kits students then applied their knowledge of forces to devise a way to rescue a heavy zoo animal while keeping it safe throughout the process.
Our students investigated and classified different kinds of materials by their observable properties, including color and texture. They learned about states of matter and properties of materials including insulators and conductors through an experiment using hand warmers and thermometers. In the design problem, Angelina, Mylo, and Suzi, are challenged to keep ice pops cold during a soccer game – without a cooler. We applied our knowledge and skills to determine the best material to solve this design problem.
Our students investigated and classified different kinds of materials by their observable properties, including color and texture. They learned about states of matter and properties of materials including insulators and conductors through an experiment using hand warmers and thermometers. In the design problem, Angelina, Mylo, and Suzi, are challenged to keep ice pops cold during a soccer game – without a cooler. We applied our knowledge and skills to determine the best material to solve this design problem.
Our students investigated and classified different kinds of materials by their observable properties, including color and texture. They learned about states of matter and properties of materials including insulators and conductors through an experiment using hand warmers and thermometers. In the design problem, Angelina, Mylo, and Suzi, are challenged to keep ice pops cold during a soccer game – without a cooler. We applied our knowledge and skills to determine the best material to solve this design problem.
Our students investigated and classified different kinds of materials by their observable properties, including color and texture. They learned about states of matter and properties of materials including insulators and conductors through an experiment using hand warmers and thermometers. In the design problem, Angelina, Mylo, and Suzi, are challenged to keep ice pops cold during a soccer game – without a cooler. We applied our knowledge and skills to determine the best material to solve this design problem.
Our students investigated and classified different kinds of materials by their observable properties, including color and texture. They learned about states of matter and properties of materials including insulators and conductors through an experiment using hand warmers and thermometers. In the design problem, Angelina, Mylo, and Suzi, are challenged to keep ice pops cold during a soccer game – without a cooler. We applied our knowledge and skills to determine the best material to solve this design problem.
Our students investigated and classified different kinds of materials by their observable properties, including color and texture. They learned about states of matter and properties of materials including insulators and conductors through an experiment using hand warmers and thermometers. In the design problem, Angelina, Mylo, and Suzi, are challenged to keep ice pops cold during a soccer game – without a cooler. We applied our knowledge and skills to determine the best material to solve this design problem.
In first grade we have been investigating the properties of light and sound, including vibration from sound waves (we made our own cup phones!) and the effect of different materials on the path of a beam of light. After students develop an understanding of light and sound, they were challenged to solve a design problem Mylo, Suzi, and Angelina face. In the story, the characters are lost and must use only the materials in their backpack to communicate over a distance by using light and/or sound. Students use the design process to sketch, build, test, and reflect on a device that solves this design problem.
In first grade we have been investigating the properties of light and sound, including vibration from sound waves (we made our own cup phones!) and the effect of different materials on the path of a beam of light. After students develop an understanding of light and sound, they were challenged to solve a design problem Mylo, Suzi, and Angelina face. In the story, the characters are lost and must use only the materials in their backpack to communicate over a distance by using light and/or sound. Students use the design process to sketch, build, test, and reflect on a device that solves this design problem.
In first grade we have been investigating the properties of light and sound, including vibration from sound waves (we made our own cup phones!) and the effect of different materials on the path of a beam of light. After students develop an understanding of light and sound, they were challenged to solve a design problem Mylo, Suzi, and Angelina face. In the story, the characters are lost and must use only the materials in their backpack to communicate over a distance by using light and/or sound. Students use the design process to sketch, build, test, and reflect on a device that solves this design problem.
In first grade we have been investigating the properties of light and sound, including vibration from sound waves (we made our own cup phones!) and the effect of different materials on the path of a beam of light. After students develop an understanding of light and sound, they were challenged to solve a design problem Mylo, Suzi, and Angelina face. In the story, the characters are lost and must use only the materials in their backpack to communicate over a distance by using light and/or sound. Students use the design process to sketch, build, test, and reflect on a device that solves this design problem.
In first grade we have been investigating the properties of light and sound, including vibration from sound waves (we made our own cup phones!) and the effect of different materials on the path of a beam of light. After students develop an understanding of light and sound, they were challenged to solve a design problem Mylo, Suzi, and Angelina face. In the story, the characters are lost and must use only the materials in their backpack to communicate over a distance by using light and/or sound. Students use the design process to sketch, build, test, and reflect on a device that solves this design problem.
In first grade we have been investigating the properties of light and sound, including vibration from sound waves (we made our own cup phones!) and the effect of different materials on the path of a beam of light. After students develop an understanding of light and sound, they were challenged to solve a design problem Mylo, Suzi, and Angelina face. In the story, the characters are lost and must use only the materials in their backpack to communicate over a distance by using light and/or sound. Students use the design process to sketch, build, test, and reflect on a device that solves this design problem.
Our Kindergarten students have been studying engineering, structure and function by reading different fairy tales and creating projects from them. After making towers (Jack & the Bean Stalk) and houses (The 3 Little Pigs), it all culminates in designing / creating / testing their own paintbrushes so the stories can continue at home!
The closest star to Earth has a planet! Proxima Centauri b orbits the Centauri trinary star system. At a mere 4 1/2 light years away, the Centauri system is the closest neighbor to our own, but it would take 18,000 years to travel there in the current fastest man-made spacecraft. We are still need to learn a lot about the planet, and physicist Stephen Hawking has a plan to do just that. Called "Breakthrough Starshot", he proposes using lasers to propel a spaceship the size of a stamp to take photos of this new world. The unmanned craft would travel at 20% the speed of light and would only take 20 years to get there, plus another 4 1/2 to send back data.
Pretty cool stuff to think about. What is out there?!? Will we ever be able to see it up close?!?
It was a hard summer and fall on our crops at school, and by the time we got back in early August many of our crops had died from the extreme heat and drought. In late June though I was able to stop by Tritt and harvest corn, beans and squash from our "3 Sisters Gardens", and tomato and peppers from the "marinara garden". We'll head into Summer 2017 with new crops in mind and a sustainable watering schedule.
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In the Summer of 2016 I was honored to be chosen by Project Lead the Way to travel around the country and share their incredible engineering curriculum with other teachers. I visited Thomasville Board of Education in Georgia, Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Meyers, and the University of New Haven in Connecticut CT (where I was able to tour Yale too). However no place stood out like the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Delaware in Newark. After flying into Philadelphia (it was Independence Day weekend, and the city was amazing), Dr. Jenni Buckley hosted me and a dozen other teachers for 3 nights, and I wish I had her as a professor back at Stetson University! The labs and workshops were all amazing, but more than anything the students and their work was so inspiring. I would highly recommend it to any Tritt/HTMS/Pope kids! Check out some of projects here (they aren't all car related) and some pictures of my new wish list below.
Third Grade has been studying conservation and pollution this week. We learning about point source and non-point source pollution, and demonstrated how it affects our water ways. The Chattahoochee River was recently named the "Most Endangered River" by the American Rivers Association(http://www.americanrivers.org/). Next up we'll be learning what we can do to help!
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The Green Club kids planted a Three Sisters Garden this week after-school. [embed]https://youtu.be/Fx9CDVkN9xU?list=PLc-Z9AAiD1N9U4W5t8Ohc2u5xumHMRR69[/embed]
Several different Native American tribes refer to corn, beans, and squash as the “three sisters,” because they grow well together in the same mound of soil. The corn stalk provides a ladder or trellis for the bean vines to climb. The beans help make the soil better for the corn and squash. Their vines also keep the corn stalk steady when there is a lot wind. The squash grows on the ground below the corn and beans. Its leaves shade the roots of the corn and bean and help keep the soil from drying out when it is hot. The shade of the squash leaves also discourages weeds from growing near the three sisters plants (good, since weeds compete with other plants for the nutrients in the soil). In addition, the prickly hairs on the stems of the squash plant discourage bugs, raccoon, and other pests that would damage the corn and beans.
First grade has been studying plants all semester in Science Lab. We have also looked at form 
(something's shape) and function (what something does). Lastly, we read Jerry Pallotta's Who Will Plant A Tree? and saw how different animals help disperse, or spread, seeds in nature. From a camel spitting out a date and a squirrel burying an acorn, to a moose snagging pear branches in his antlers and other animals unwittingly carrying burrs in their fur, all sorts of animals help spread seeds.
Beginning April 19th, parent volunteers are needed in the Science Lab to help assemble student craft projects. We are making devices from craft supplies, inspired from nature, to spread sunflower seeds around the school. Please contact your student's room mom to sign up!
