Better Late than NEVER!

I really am sorry that this post has taken so long to show up on the blog.  Somehow I misplaced my camera and only found it earlier this week!  Glad that I am able to put this whole 'whack' of photos from our great field trip to the Fort Saskatchewan museum and RCMP Precinct 

Rather than telling you all about it here, my suggestion is to cuddle up with your kiddo and ask them to tell you about the photos!  They may not be the actual child shown but they will be able to explain where they are in the park and what they learned in that location.  It will be a great opportunity for them to 'show and tell.'

Here we all are, both classes, all the parents and grandparents who volunteered to keep the children in groups and of course, the children who learned so much!  Always such a fun field trip!

I want S'More!

The students had an amazing hands-on energy filled day!  Check your e-mails to see the videos of the students testing out their dams.  Their goal was to "make a dam out of popsicle sticks and plasticine."  They knew that they would be successful if "the water does not get to the other side of the plastic container."  It was a wonderful rich learning experience for them all.  I loved the vocabulary that was being used: stablize,  reinforce, absorb!  

We've been patiently waiting for a day just like today to try out those 'contraptions' that we made out of pizza boxes.  Did you guess that they were solar ovens?

The students got to each make their own little sandwich that was going to be cooked through the power of the sun!

They broke the graham cracker in half, put one on top of the other, put on a section of chocolate and then added a marshmallow on top.

Into the oven it went and about an hour later, we brought the oven inside.

The bottom graham cracker went on top of the marshmallow, got a bit squished between some excited fingers and then CHOMP!

YUM!

GRIN!

The best science day ever!  What can the power of the sun do?  I bet these little ones won't forget that the sun has enough energy that it can cook!

I expect that a few budding scientists are going to be asking mom and dad to make a solar cooker at home this weekend!

Wind Power

The funny thing is that school classrooms are being asked to incorporate more and more technology.  I've really been trying and almost all of the lessons that I have delivered on energy have been introduced with information that I have put onto a platform called Google Classroom.

The funny part was that even though the students enjoyed the technology, they really loved the hand-on experience that they were able to participate in as they created their own wind powered device, the simple pinwheel.  Just being able to read and follow directions, do their own drawing and cutting and ending up with something that worked was so satisfying to them.  They are, after all, children!

Pure joy!

Our second project last week was a bit more involved.  Each student designed their own wind powered car using the materials found in the picture below, along with tape to hold things together.

Once each student had a labelled plan they became a partner in a team that would only build one car.

The art of compromise came into play.  The language was rich!  This team decided that they would use the bottom of one design and the top of the other!  They were truly communicating their ideas in a collaborative fashion!

The second part of the project was to see how far the wind powered car would go with three blows through a straw.  This step incorporated measuring into the picture.

Some cars didn't move at all.  Some moved a little and others zoomed along.  Another opportunity for rich discussion as the students puzzled over their designs and how they could be modified.

Although the lessons are based on science concepts and energy facts, the reality is that the best learning is happening because of those 21st Century skills being practised: creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking.  We added compromise today!!