6th Grade PLTW
The sixth grade students have spent the last couple months studying the forces of flight as it applies to gliders and rockets. They use WhiteBox Learning, a STEM learning system for Engineering, Science, and Technology Education classrooms. Completely web-based, students can design, analyze, and simulate their designs, hundreds of times, from a web browser, and compete with other students in the classroom. After the students designed the flying machines, they built models and competed with one another on the field.
6th grade science
This last trimester in science we have tackled the questions: “How do forces shape Earth’s surface?” and “What is in the earth’s atmosphere and what role does it play in our weather and climate?” In exploring these content questions, the students continue to improve their science process skills through inquiry investigations. Presently, we are engaging with the question: “How have humans changed the composition of our atmosphere and what affects does this have on our health and our environment?”
7th grade science
Students in life science have spent the last two months investigating the question: “How does form fit function in an ecosystem?” After examining the nine major phyla of animals through careful dissections, we explored the different components of ecosystems.
Here is the link to a slideshow of our Florida trip.
8th grade science
The students in 8th grade continue to explore concepts in chemistry, including a unit on the periodic table. The students created a periodic table of everyday objects to demonstrate an understanding of periodic trends and organization.
7th and 8th grade PLTW
The students in Design and Modeling are presently immersed in their final challenge of the course.
The goal of this lesson is to apply the knowledge and skills that they have acquired in the Design and Modeling unit, as they design and fabricate a therapeutic toy for children with cerebral palsy.
The challenge as presented to the students is as follows:
- Collaborate within a team.
- Use creativity to brainstorm ideas as a team.
- Apply the design process and create all the necessary documentation in each of the steps of the design process.
- Create sketches for your design ideas.
- Develop a 3D design using a CAD application (Autodesk® 123D® Design).
- Fabricate your design solution.
- Test your solution and analyze the test data using a data analysis application (GeoGebra).
- Evaluate your solution and, if time permits, revisit your design.
- Present your solution.
The 8th graders impressed the community at Mindworks with their mini-golf course.