Harvesting Carrots and Helping Birds!

After a week of playing habitat games before the February break, it was back to work in Green Paws. While we were weeding, the Thursday class harvested about 60 carrots between 1-4" each. These were holdovers from the class that ended last November, but moving forward we'll always plant some root veggies to grow over the winter. 

Friday's class helped plan out our garden schedule for the semester, but even more fun were the bird nesting boxes we created! We cut doors in recycled milk jugs (I'm always collecting those) and added a bunch of red string. Our hope is that nesting song birds use the strings to help build/line their nests and that we can spy on them from the ground. You could also add dryer lint, hair from a brush, and other yarns and strings to entice them to use your nesting box! 

There's a party over here...

... and there's a party over there. Some of our partners from Georgia Tech will be here with telescopes to share, but you are encouraged to bring your own and they'll help you set them up! Dress warmly! Parents are required to stay. All are welcome, but this is a 4th grade party! 

Tritt Elementary, Simpson Middle ‘Lead the Way’ on STEM Education Tour

We made the Cobb County School District newsreel! We had about 10 visitors from Project Lead the Way (Indianapolis), Gwinnett County Schools, and Cobb County Schools visit during Mrs. Friends 1st grade class a couple of weeks ago. They were interested in how we were implementing this engineering curriculum with our state science standards. You can see pictures and read all about it here: http://cobbcast.cobbk12.org/?p=17533

 

Grasping the concept of structure and function:

Kindergarten is continuing to investigate structure and function as you can see here with Mrs. Smith's class. Like any good scientist, we recorded before / after data and compared the results of our ability to put pegs in a foam board without and with our fingers taped! Most students saw a decrease in the number of pegs placed. Next we'll look at what doctors use to keep our bones from moving and brainstorm some ways to help our fictional friend Angelina with her broken wrist. 

And the winners are....

The judges were so impressed with all of the projects. In many cases only a few points separated the places, but they were able to choose the winners from each class. 

Lupiani
First: Jackson, “Does what a physician wear make the patient feel different?”
Second: Alaina, Nana + Lauren, “Time to Melt Some Crayons”
Third: Elizabeth, “Food Choices Matter”

Pirlot
First: Jacob, “Best Place for Bacteria Growth”
Second: Ethan, “How well do different liquids and light conditions help grow red bell peppers?”
Tie Third: Lilly, “Enzymatic!”
Tie Third: Elise + Maddie, “The Temperature Test”

Pizzuto
First: Prakash, “Electrolytes”
Second: Nathan, “What liquids work best for plants?”
Tie Third: Johanna + Kara, “Excellent Education”
Tie Third: Cavan, “Pressure”

Smith
First: Lucas, Howie + Henry, “Electric Potato”
Second: Ava, “Bubblicious”
Third: Amanda + Heather, “Candy Coke Explosion”

Stone
First: Allison, “The Golden Age of Sugar is NOT as Sweet as you Think!”
Second: Kendall, “A Plant’s Taste”
Third: Watson, “Mesh Speeds”

Swierski
First: Reed, “How do video games affect vital signs in kids?”
Second: Sila, “Does music with lyrics help people concentrate better or not?”
Tie Third: Carter + Ryan, “Drone Speed Test”
Tie Third: Ethan, “How do liquids affect metals?”

The following projects will be advancing to the District Science Fair on February 11th:
Jackson Hornsby, “Does what a physician wear make the patient feel different?” 
Allison Chaloupek, “The Golden Age of Sugar is NOT as Sweet as you Think!”
Reed Glaser “How do video games affect vital signs in kids?” 
Sila Karakayali, “Does music with lyrics help people concentrate better or not?”
Jacob Mark, “Best Place for Bacteria Growth”
Prakash Mitra, “Electrolytes”

Why yes, the world does revolve around me.

Second graders (pictured: Mrs. Woolley's class) are investigating how the Sun's position changes throughout the day. How do you do that in a 45 minute class? You use the Skyview app on the iPads to track the Sun's orbit throughout the day and use flashlights to create your shadows! After an all-class example, students worked in groups to gather data that we'll graph next week to use to help Mylo/Suzi/Angelina solve a problem about shade at the playground. 

Nothing to sneeze at -

Our friends Mylo/Suzi/Angelina have found a bunch of "weeds" growing in their school garden! Where did the come from? How does the form (shape) of something affect its function (purpose)? Mrs. Friend's class is finding out by learning how plants are pollinated, and taking a crack at how farmers might help them. 

Give 'em a hand!

Kindergarten is continuing to study how engineers consider structure (shape) and function (job) by examining the human body. Did you know that our fingers each have three bones, but our thumbs only have two? Does this structure change what our hands are able to do?

Mrs. East and Mrs. Colley's class demonstrate the model we made in class to take home.