Robotics Club

Several 5th grade students are creating toothbrush robots, tin can robots, using programming language in Scratch, and the Mars Curiosity Rover Simulation to explore robotics on a basic level.  All the students will complete all the projects, and help others to finish successfully also.

Positional Words in Weavings

The K and 1st graders are looking at positional words and the patterns used to create a weaving.  The first graders just completed a project using prepositions; positional words are prepositions and show where an object is.  K students will create a plain weave pattern and 1st graders will build on the pattern from last year and make a twill or basket weave.

5th Graders Will Research the Berlin Wall

They will work in groups to create a mural and a story about at least one person and the Berlin Wall.  They will research the Berlin Wall and look at the key details to see what is important for the story.  Each group will draw at least 3 key details, define the main idea, and include a background in their mural about the Berlin Wall.  This is a connection with current events and 5th grade social studies.

Radial Symmetry of Flowers

We will closely analyze and observe lines, shapes, colors, and patterns in flowers.  This is a good skill to practice, since observations are used in art, science, math, and reading.  We will compare real flowers and create our own flowers using crayon-resist.  The students will create a pattern using at least 2 colors, and shapes on flower petals.  Then they will look closely at the flower petals and the line patterns that are there.  At the last class, the students will make a crayon-resist painting.

Scientific Method and Airplanes Flying Distance

For fun and experimenting, while most of the 5th grade class was on a field trip, the students still at school made paper airplanes and experimented with wing design to create a longer flight distance.  We flew the planes recorded distance and made changes to find the best distance. One student's plane flew 4 1/2' the first flight; she later had a flight of 42'.  Great use of scientific method!