November 25 Update!

Hello everyone!

It was a full day of Rube Goldberg building in the morning, and then TED Talk presentations in the afternoon!

This morning, we began by reading two books about what people do with IDEAS. The first is a great picture book I found at Kids Books called What Do You Do With An Idea?, which has excellent illustrations using the art principle of emphasis. Both books we read talked about what people do with their creative ideas, even when other people around them think the idea may not be the best. We also read a book about a woman from Africa who found a way to clean up her village of plastic bags by creating complicated art accessories with them. We discussed how ideas that may have seemed silly at first can soon become powerful ways to make change in the world around us.

With that in mind, we then went back to business, building and creating. Our classroom became a giant maker lab as just about every square inch of space was being used for building Rube Goldberg machines. I asked students to keep journal entries of their design process and how they are using at least four simple machines. The simple machines they use should be in active use, not just attached randomly to the machine. For example, if someone is using a wedge, the wedge should be doing work, not just sitting there, attached for aesthetic reasons. Day 2 entry for homework should be one page long and talk about how the building went today, what you would change, what new adjustments did you make today, what materials will you need to finish, etc., and also include a quick sketch of your machine as it is right now. Tomorrow, we will have a final building session together to wrap up this creative project.

Many students had an opportunity to present their TED TALK speeches today. Students had the option of either presenting in front of the class or recording them on the iPads. We were finding it difficult to record today due to noise inside or out, and so tomorrow, students who have not presented can either record their speeches in a quiet space in the school building or present in front of the class. Either way, we will complete them by end of day tomorrow and everyone should ensure they have turned in their written copy.

Today, we also had some thinking questions on the technology articles we read, and the Think, Pair, Share sheet is due tomorrow to the inbox. Students also continued working on their math for distance, speed, and time. If anyone has completed the word problems already and finds them easy, please let me know, as I have another sheet of challenge problems which involve higher math and some basic algebra thinking related to D=RxT. This is only for students who want the extension, as the problems come from higher level math and are not required.

Tomorrow, don’t be late! We will have a special presentation from 9-10 AM tomorrow by an engineer from the Association of Professional Engineers in BC. He will be doing a brief activity with us and showing a PowerPoint about engineering!

Next Monday, we will construct our fuel cell cars, and Tuesday we will try running them. I say this because I have had several students asking every day about it! I am glad you are excited.

I also have a fake X-Mas Tree I hope the students will help me put up in the classroom on Monday so we can put some of our creations on it! If anyone has an extra string of lights or tinsel you could offer us for the three weeks, please let me know via email!