| Students in 8th grade physical science designed roller coasters to understand potential and kinetic energy. Individually, students began a lab report about their ideas and then shared with their team before building their designs on the simulator. After student teams finalized their design, they built their roller coasters using tubing and marbles to test it in real life. Students were engaged |
throughout this hands-on project because of their interest in roller coasters. The simulation provided a lot of guidance so their roller coaster would work as intended.
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Working in pairs, students scouted suitable locations in the virtual world, selected materials, and got to work. In addition to creating the bridge, the teams were required to document the process by taking screen shots of their creations, providing directional coordinates, and measuring the distance of the bridge span in meters. The students were also asked to reflect on challenges they faced and explain how they worked together to solve problems. Perhaps we will see a version of one of these bridges in the real world someday!
nervous system, digestive system, respiratory system, muscular system, and circulatory system.
Code Fred is a free online game developed by the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. The game helps players learn about the human body's responses to trauma. The object of the game is to help "Fred" escape from the woods while he is chased by a wolf. To keep Fred running players have to pump blood, increase the flow of oxygen, and send adrenaline through Fred's body. If a player doesn't respond to the needs of Fred's body fast enough, he will get caught by the wolf that is chasing him. We also explored the digestive system by arranging the organs and simulating digestion with Gizmos™. These online tools helped students gain a better understanding of the human body's needs and functions. Students were motivated to learn using these fun, interactive tools. "Programming as a Second Language" In honor of the Hour of Code taking place this week and next across the world, 5th graders in Ms. Laya's English Language Arts class spent an hour last Friday learning another language: the basics of JavaScript, in the computer lab with Mr. Nelson. Students were first directed to learn about JavaScript from Code Academy, where they learned how to write simple commands, such as finding the number of characters in their name: "Name".length as well as creating a prompt window in Google Chrome: prompt("Enter Answer"); Once students had mastered some of these basics of JavaScript, they then practiced typing code in Code Monster. This Friday students will return to the computer lab for a second session of programming with JavaScript, and we'll see if they can get to learning how to program booleans. Below are a few pictures taken during Friday's class, and if you're interested in learning more about the Hour of Code, contact Mr. Nelson. We have been doing some gamification using the library computers playing different online and interactive games. Mission US has some awesome games that perfectly fit our curriculum including for Crown or Colony, Fight to Freedom, and Cheyenne Odyssey. What is gamification? A “serious game” or “applied game” is any game that the primary objective of playing is not purely for entertainment, but rather for building knowledge or a skill. Are you interested in using games to help students learn? Check out Nelson Taylor's gamification presentation on our After School Tech Training Page. |
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