6th Grade Science- Building Catapults and Trebuchets
Thank you TESPTO for funding this project through the recent THINK BIG! Grant for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) learning in CLIC.
6th Grade Science- Building Catapults and TrebuchetsFor three days last week, 6th grade science classes came to CLIC to put their physics and engineering knowledge to use engineering and building catapults and then trebuchets. Building the trebuchets proved to be extremely challenging since there are many factors that go into making the ball catapult forward. We learned about how trebuchets are first class levers and the fulcrum and exchange of energy and weight is critical in getting the ball to launch forward. The pouch that holds the ball and the angle of of the pin that the sling sits on also became a major challenge. It is amazing that the children managed to get most of the trebuchets to work since this is really a college project. The children loved storming the castle in the hall hurling marshmallows, licorice, gumballs over the cardboard castle. Ms. Strobl and I loved it as much as the children since it was really super challenging but the kids gave it their all! Thank you TESPTO for funding this project through the recent THINK BIG! Grant for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) learning in CLIC. STEAM Club- Engineering Bristle Bots with Eccentric Motors In STEAM Club last week we began a unit on different types of motors. We built awesomely crazy acting vibrating robots from toothbrushes and eccentric motors. This is a great lesson to teach about how you can make an ordinary motor eccentric so that it vibrates. These motors can be found in phones, Fit bits, pagers, electric toothbrushes for example. They turn the toothbrush heads into robots that twirl and and fly across surfaces in a pogo stick fashion. The children were delighted with their brush bots!
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6th Grade Science-Frog Dissection to learn about anatomyI had the pleasure to work with Ms. Strobl and the 6th grade science classes for the hands on frog anatomy lab. Very rarely do children get an opportunity to do animal dissection and learn about the external and internal anatomy. It is a natural progression to first do skeleton investigation in owl pellets in 4th grade. Students then go onto dissecting squid in 6th grade and then do the frog dissection. Children are such curious and adventurous learners that it makes sense to introduce hands on biology at this age. Students learn about themselves as well since we talk about the various organs as the students identify the parts of the frogs. Such a great lab! 5th Grade Car Engineering LabMrs. Boucher's class piloted a 2 day engineering class before the holidays. Mrs. Boucher wanted her class to design vehicles that could transport the client (Barbie) 15 feet to land on a target with her shoes intact. She could not be attached to the vehicle so students had to encapsulate her so that she could be easily removed. It sound easy but it was really challenging to get the vehicles to land on the target. Students were presented with an array of materials including motors, balloons, etc. By the end of the lab, it was clear to see that keeping it simple and utilizing the different forces worked best. Some students utilized wind from a fan or made rubber band catapults. Many ideas changed during the test and redesign phase. 6th Grade Kuba Tribe MasksFor Social Studies, 6th grade students are finishing a unit on Africa with Mrs. Obuchowski. For their cultural extension unit in CLIC, we are learning about the masks of the Congo Kuba tribe.These masks are rich in ceremonial meaning and show stature of each family member of the tribe. Creating these masks brings up great discussions on what the patterns and materials mean as well as the tradiitions and ceremonies of the Kuba tribe in comparison to our culture. Some things are different, but some things are similar. It seems foreign to once use cowry shells as currency, but then again what is a piece of paper marked with ink? Art is a great way to travel to a culture or place we may never get to go to. Understanding people who are different from ourselves brings respect and acceptance of all cultures. We have so much to learn from each other! PI have begun olar Express Show at Steward SchoolAll aboard! This year, I will working at Steward School doing the Production Design (costumes, props, stage lighting, and sound) for the musical shows at Steward School. I absolutely love collaborating with music teacher, Ms. Swanson. The Polar Express production was magical for the children and adults alike. Mrs. Swanson did a fabulous job of bringing the Polar Express to life and for including every child. They were so excited and engaged in the entire show. I forgot how much fun this age group can be. Seeing Dr. Creeden on stage in costume showed how awesome an educator and administrator he truly is. CLIC would not exist if it were not for his initial embracing the idea of adding this strangely undefined creative program to the Topsfield Schools.
For our final project focused on Bio- inspiration, teams are re-engineering ordinary boxes and backpacks into high tech bags.
Teams had to first choose their client. They could choose the photographer needing a bag to protect his camera equipment while in the jungle photographing a jaguar. They could pick the athlete who needed a bag to protect his gear. They could choose creating a bag for a secret agent, or for the musician who needed a bag designed to protect and hide her flute during practice. Although all of the clients have different needs that have to be addressed in designing the bags, all of the bags have an element of camouflage, LED lighting, and protective layering. Since it is very different to camouflage a bag into a jungle setting versus camoflauging a flute bag from being stolen in a city orchestra room, the teams have been coming up with some really creative design solutions. Over the past two months, the students have been learning about how engineers use nature as inspiration when creating new technology. This final project pulls together all that they have been learning about in all of the individual labs. Teams get right to work since they already learned how to wire a home made switch to an LED, for example. These labs are what real life engineers do so this is an exciting way to get kids engaged and actively interested in science. The final test will be to drop weights on the bag to test its protective needs. Also, the bag will be scored on how well it is camouflaged against the photograph the client gave them. They also will have to demonstrate how the LED light fulfilled their client's specifications. The teams love testing day! It is fun and thrilling to see how their designs do, and of course, teams run back to redesign their projects and come back to the testing table. 4th GRADE SCIENCE DISCOVERYOver the past two weeks, 4th graders have been coming to CLIC to learn about animal adaptations,food chains, and food webs. In this lab, we first discuss the many adaptations of the owl that help them hunt and survive. One of these adaptations is the owl's ability to eat small animals whole. The gizzard and glandular stomach of the owl processes the meat of the prey and then compresses the fur and bones into the pellet. After 6 to ten hours, the pellet is extracted through the owl's mouth.
Dissecting barn owl pellets is an action packed way to see a real life food chain revealed right before your eyes. 4th graders are slightly apprehensive at first, but once they realize it is the coolest thing to find skulls, ribs, hips, and everything in between they love this lab. Students first carefully pull apart the pellet to separate the fur from the bones. Students begin realizing that some of the pellets have many skulls of different sizes in them. Did the owl eat a nest of baby mice or caught a bird nesting in the barn? Some pellets have just one big skeleton or a bird skeleton. Excitement builds as students go up to the microscope to identify their rodents by their teeth. Is it a mouse, a shrew, a rat, a mole? What color fur does it have? This is such a great lab for the children to naturally discover what their owl ate in that one day. It is also a great way to introduce the role of the biologist. Students love the microscopes and use the same method as biologists to learn about the eating habits of owls. Some students say the owl pellet lab is the best thing ever. Some had to power though getting used to the idea they were picking through dead animals. Over all, 4th graders enjoyed coming up with their own hypothesis of what their owl ate. No two pellets are alike so it is really interesting to see all of the reconstructed skeletons on the final day. The lab is a great experience in real life science! CLIC Art Club has been busy working within a two month exploration of drawing portraits. We just started our final project of portraits on canvas. Students began with learning how to draw the mathematical proportions of the face. Did you know that everyone has the same proportions? For instance, if you take a measurement of the width of your eye, your head is 5 eyes wide. Your mouth lines up with the center of your pupils. If you draw a line dividing your head in half horizontally, your eyes lie on that line. It is strange for children to begin this realistic method of drawing, but once they get it, their portraits are unbelievably great. Art club has become an art academy since the level of dedication that the children have become a remarkable group of artists.
I like to start with portraiture since it is most rewarding for children to be able to draw people, and it can be frustrating. When students learn the mathematics behind drawing, it makes sense. The best thing is if you can recreate a photo of a person, you can pretty much draw anything. It is all about seeing shapes, lines, and repeating pattern. Art is all about dissecting what you are seeing into a systematic method of recording information. It takes critical thinking and is demanding, but I am amazed at the dedication of the students. They truly want to get better, and it shows. I love the two art club days. Every week, we wish the class would not end, because it is just that great. Thank you for your donations to CLIC! Your donations make it possible for the children to experience painting with real art materials like acrylics on stretched canvas. They love it! STEAM Club ( Science, Technology, Engineering,Art ,and Math Club) meets on Monday and Tuesday mornings 8:00-8:40 am. We have over 50 children enrolled and it is actively engaging children in engineering and problem solving. This club is all about figuring things out without any adult intervention. Students love the diversity of the weekly challenges, and there is something for everyone. We have been focusing on Bio-inspiration over the past few projects.
The challenge that we will be testing this week is body armor shirts inspired by animal defenses. We talked about the many ways animals and plants defend themselves with shells, quills, plates, etc. Students then had to create a protective garment for Angelina, a roller derby player who needed a garment to protect her stomach. Using limited materials, inspiration from nature, and a whole lot imagination students have been designing body armor for their client. This week we will be dropping weights on the shirts (with floral foam in the stomach area inside the shirt) to see how well the shirts protect from impact. Students will get to see how the foam dents on impact, and then get a chance to retest and redesign their technologies. Teams will also show how they used animal defenses to keep people from even wanting to bump into the shirt. The challenge before this was all about being inspired by Bio-Luminescence. We learned how animals chemically create light to mate, communicate, attract and defend. Students then had to create a LED- embedded flag for a spy to communicate with. The project was truly challenging because students had to turn the LED on and off from at least two feet from the flag. Many of the students had never even worked with LED's and batteries but they powered through and figured it out. This was definitely an engineering feat, but as usual, the kids came up with many ingenious solutions! I love that the children have really embraced good design practices. They have learned how to build things to last for Testing Day. Testing Day is exciting because they get to see their technologies ut to the test. They really love the design, test, redesign, and retest part of engineering. Russian Cultural Project and Science ClassesWhat's Up in CLIC!CLIC morning and after school clubs and classes are continuing into November. You must send in a permission form before your child participates.
MORNING CLIC this week: Monday (8:00-8:40 am)- STEAM Club- Bio-inspired Body Armor Lab-Beginning Tuesday (8:00-8:40 am)-STEAM Club- Bio-inspired Body Armor Lab-Finishing and Testing Wednesday (8:00-8:40 am)- Chess Club (Drop in, no permission form needed) Thursday (8:00-8:40 am)-Art Club- Portraiture Painting on Canvas-Day 1 Friday (8:00-8:40 am)-Art Club-Portraiture Painting on Canvas-Day 2 AFTER SCHOOL CLIC this week: PPP Club (Proctor Planet Protectors) -Wednesday, November 4, 3:00-4:15 PM We will be building a Crayola marker sculpture illustrating how we will be involved in a "marker to fuel" project this year. It should be fun! Fun Thursdays- 3:00-4:00 PM. Limit 30 children. Fun Thursdays will be an hour of free time creating. Students can come work on classroom projects or create their own projects. Students must send in a permission note to stay after school. CLIC During the School Day! 4th graders are coming to CLIC for science learning about animal adaptations. We are learning about owls and dissecting owl pellets to learn about food chains and animal adaptations. Students will also learn to use microscopes to identify bones and contents of the owl pellets. We are also creating food chain tubes. 6th graders in Science came to CLIC this week for chemistry building three dimensional atom models. Students in Social Studies came to CLIC as part of their unit on Russian culture. We created Faberge Imperial eggs and learning about the Russian cultural significance, the politics, and the beauty of the 50 eggs. Your Support is Needed! Thank you for your donations in October. We have been able to raise $4,600. Only $10,000 to go! CLIC needs your support, your donation is tax deductible, and you can donate any time of year. CLIC Program is unique in that it is funded partially by public dollars and private dollars. Every drop of paint and roll of tape is funded through private donations. I must fund raise for every dollar spent in CLIC so please consider donating to this innovative program. All CLIC classes and clubs as well as all of the classroom integration projects during the school day are funded through you and the community's donations. Help keep CLIC Program open to all and free of charge. EVERY DONATION HELPS! If you have any questions or comments, please let me know. Are you cleaning out your craft drawer or basement? CLIC loves odd materials and craft supplies! Contact me any time. Thanks, Jen LaRussa at jlarussa@topsfieldps.org. Global Cardboard Challenge!
What a great celebration of 5th graders two weeks of hard work with the Global Cardboard Challenge! Last Thursday the whole school came together to play and celebrate STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) learning. 5th Graders created anything and everything out of cardboard, tape, and a ton of creativity and team work. Everyone loved playing with the arcade games the 5th graders engineered. CLIC Morning Clubs are in full swing, and the children are loving the club format! You must send in a permission form before your child participates. The CLIC Clubs will run for a semester. CLIC After school programs and classes begin this week. *Art and STEAM Clubs are in the middle of a unit so please wait until November to join. This week's line up: Mondays (8:00-8:40 am)- STEAM Club- Bio luminescent LED Lab Tuesday (8:00-8:40 am)-STEAM Club- Animal Camouflage Painting Lab Wednesday (8:00-8:40 am)- Chess Club (Drop in, no permission form needed) Thursday (8:00-8:40 am)-Art Club- Portraiture Painting on Canvas Friday (8:00-8:40 am)-Art Club-Portraiture Painting on Canvas NEW! PPP Club (Proctor Planet Protectors) begins this week! Wednesday, October 21, 3:00-4:15! PPP meets every other Wednesday. Proctor's award-winning student club, the Proctor Planet Protectors, will be doing many great things again this year! Kids who were part of third-grade student council's "Young Earth Savers at Steward" will find familiar themes for promoting good habits for a healthy planet for us all! This year we have lots of ideas, and the club will decide together which ones we run with! We can work in the school garden, create themed art installations, pilot classroom programs for composting and saving energy, learn about things like 'carbon footprint" and the "materials cycle", learn what kids in other parts of the world are doing for the planet, run assembly programs, and make "eco-products" to sell or give-away. One thing we plan to do for sure is put on a special "earth day" event for the whole Topsfield community in the spring! This club is about making real improvements in the real world - Kids have a strong voice, and they get to use it here! Ask your child if this is something they want to be a part of, so they can get signed up! NEW! Fun Thursdays- October 22 and 29, 3:00-4:00PM. Limit 30 children. Fun Thursday will be an hour of free time creating like Morning CLIC used to be. Students can come do holiday projects with our Masco student volunteers or students can design their own projects. Students must send in a permission note from home to stay after school. CLIC During the School Day This Week!!! 4th graders are coming to CLIC for science learning about animal adaptations. We will be learning about owls and dissecting owl pellets to learn about food chains and animal adaptations. Students will also learn to use microscopes to identify bones and contents of the owl pellets. 5th graders celebrated their cardboard creations with the whole school at the Cardboard Global Challenge last Thursday! The whole school loved playing with the many aracde games at the event. For 4 class periods students design and engineer everything and anything out of cardboard. 6th graders in Science will be coming to CLIC this week to begin a unit in chemistry building three dimensional atom models. Students in Social Studies will be creating Faberge Imperial eggs and learning about the Russian Imperial family and the politics as well as beauty of these lavishly extravagant eggs. Thank you for your donations in September. We have been able to raise $3,000. Only $12,000 to go! CLIC needs your support, and you can donate any time of year. CLIC Program is unique in that it is funded partially by public dollars and private funding. Every drop of paint and roll of tape is funded through private donations. I must fund raise for every dollar spent in CLIC so please consider donating to this innovative program. All CLIC classes and clubs as well as all of the classroom integration projects during the school day are funded through you and the community's donations. Help keep CLIC Program open to all and free of charge. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know. Please consider volunteering! I love parents to come in to CLIC to share what they do. If you love to sew or build or want to share your profession, the children love these unique experiences. I will make it painless, and if you choose to come in in the morning you will be out by 8:45 am! Contact me any time. Thanks, Jen LaRussa at jlarussa@topsfieldps.org. The CLIC After School Programs are starting! PPP Club (Proctor Planet Protectors) is beginning soon! PPP Club is the environmental student club at Proctor School. PPP Club will begin meeting Wednesday, October 21, 3:00-4:00PM. PPP meets every other Wednesday. Please go to the After School Club link to get more information about the club and permission forms. Open CLIC- I will be offering Open CLIC after school on certain days from 3:00-4:00 PM for children to come freely create projects. This is a time for your child to come work independently on projects or work on things that we are doing in clubs or during the school day. Please refer to the After school club page and look at the October CLIC calendar for available days your child can attend.
If you have any questions, please email me at jlarussa@topsfieldps.org. |
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