MS. DETERRA'S MAKER STUDIO

Hello Everyone!

Thank you to Emily’s Dad Mark, who came in today to share his expertise with students about civil engineering and bridges! We learned about the forces and loads involved in creating bridges, and we toured some bridge pictures from around the Lower Mainland and British Columbia. Thank you for sharing with us!

Today, we learned how to access Google Drive using our user IDs and passwords. Please remember as you use this valuable tool:

• Protect your user ID and password; do not share it.
• Do not use the sharing options in Google apps or chat rooms to talk with other students.
• Remember that your Google Account is a School District account. Don’t put anything in it that is inappropriate, that you wouldn’t want seen by Ms. D,  your parents, or the principal.
• If you change the icon for your name in Google’s settings, please do not use your own picture for privacy reasons.
• When submitting documents to Ms. D, use her school google account which I gave you today. Wait to submit until I give you a link to do so in Google Forms.
• Be responsible with the tool. It is a privilege, not a right.

In LA, we finished our “20 interesting sentences,” but if you did not finish and turn it in, please get it in tomorrow morning. I also checked who had completed our Skeleton parts worksheet, and if you did not have yours done today, please finish. A number of people are missing their Personal Space activity, which was due yesterday.

In Math, we finished marking packet 3, and I worked in small groups with some students for independent math. Our quiz on Applied Math packet 2 has been moved to Monday due to other events tomorrow.

We worked on understanding Skeleton function, how bones heal, and the structure and function of the eye, using two resources. Please take some time to read them at home.  How Bones Heal and Kids Health: Bones. The Kids Health website is a great, kid-appropriate place to visit for any personal body questions that you have, as well.

Our Science Games team has been chosen for the March Science Games. This was done by lottery, per the organization running the event. All other teams have been put on the wait list. Students who were chosen have received communication about next steps.

Tomorrow is LIBRARY, STACKING CUPS, MUSIC, and our CARIBOU TEST. What a busy day!

Have a good evening,

Ms. D

Hello Everyone!

We have been continuing our discussions about STRUCTURE by looking at building shapes, the design process (form follows function), the skeletal system and how it works for the human body, and chemical structures.

As we discuss each example of structure, I have asked students to think about what type of structure they are interested in the most. They will be doing more in-depth research on that area and producing a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation to share their expertise with us. I asked everyone to look for PowerPoint or Prezi tutorials online and to spend 15 minutes reviewing one this evening. Try to find one that suits your level of expertise. Challenge yourself to do something unique — step outside of your comfort zone and try something new! Here are only a few I found:

Prezi Tutorial: My First Prezi

Student Prezi Tutorial

Prezi Tutorial 2015 — More Complicated

How to Create a PowerPoint Presentation

PowerPoint Spice — Not all features are available on our version, but interesting tips!

And if anyone wants to try Google Slides, try a tutorial for that, as well. Each student will receive a google drive account to use. Any of the three presentation tools will do. Ms. D will show everyone how to access this tomorrow.

In Language Arts today, we discussed making more interesting sentences and how to take better notes. Ms. D gave some feedback from our first project, and we practiced taking some notes as a whole group. I encourage everyone to ensure their notes are neater, more detailed, and in proper format for this next project.

During Class Meeting, we formed a committee for our holiday party the week before winter break, discussed MACCadia (our cardboard arcade project, for those interested), and our plans for White Elephant. More information on our holiday plans soon!

Finally, during Science, we reviewed information about the skeleton, as yesterday we watched a movie from Eyewitness all about skeletons and their functions in the human and animal world. Then, we began talking about chemistry, focusing on the structure of the periodic table and discussing atoms and elements, the building blocks or structure found at the microscopic level. Everyone has a reading on the periodic table in their binders that was completed in class.

We watched two movies to further our understandings: How Can You See An Atom?  and Atomic Structure. Afterwards, we focused in on Hydrogen and Carbon, looking at how the two atoms combine and share electrons to form more complex molecules. We used red gummies for Carbon and marshmallows for Hydrogen, then combined them into structures using toothpicks. Everyone checked their structures in the book Molecules by Theodore Gray, with Ms. D’s help, to see if they had made a more complex molecule such as methane, propane, or ethane. I think everyone was having a good time with this project, as no one wanted to stop and clean up!

For Math we will spend some time tomorrow reviewing for our Applied Math quiz on Thursday, so if you have any questions from packet two, come and ask. We will also finish marking the last packet, if you haven’t done that yet. When we do Independent Math, just a reminder that here are the steps for each unit you are doing:

• Read the lesson pages and ask me questions if you don’t understand.
• Do the homework practice problems, starting with number 4 (1-3 you can just read.)
• If any problem requires counters, please use something on your own or skip the counting part of the question. You can also draw pictures to represent the equations instead.
• If you need graph paper, please come see me, as I have the one used by the textbook.
• When all lesson homework is done, do the “Show What You Know” section, all questions.
• We will mark the homework and Show What You Know using the marks book.
• Review your material.
• I will give you the test for the unit. If it is not available the day you finish, you can continue with the next unit temporarily while waiting.

More tomorrow on Bunraku, chemistry, and maps! Science World on Friday!!

Have a good night!

Ms. D

Hello Everyone,

This week we have been focusing on:

Finishing our Poppy Art for the Remembrance Day Assembly on Thursday at 10:45 AM. Thank you to Jay who will do a quick presentation at the assembly tomorrow to introduce our art pieces. We also made a Remembrance Day wreath out of red origami cranes, as a symbol of peace.

We worked with our grade 1/2 buddies in Division 9 to create Postcards for Peace, which are postcards (art and a letter) to veterans in Canada. We will present the pictures from this work during the assembly Thursday, and Ms. Guzzo, Division 9’s teacher, will be sending off the postcards to a list of veterans provided from the Postcards for Peace organization. Thank you to Sophia who will do a quick introduction of this project and our postcards during the assembly tomorrow.

We are working on STRUCTURE by doing a tower building challenge, making a tower out of 150 coffee stir sticks and limited hot glue supplies. More time to build up your 30 cm minimum height tower tomorrow! How much weight will it be able to hold?

We are almost done working on our Applied Math on Jet Fighters. During our work, Ms. D can see we need some more practice using protractors, measuring angles, and doing division. Some of our independent math work will help address this, and we will also do more practice in the future as a class. Please work on packet #3 for 15 minutes at home tonight, as we hope to finish up and mark it soon. Math quizzes have been passed back and need to be signed.

We were able to finally test our solar cookers yesterday with the warmer weather! Everyone had a chance to record their results. Today, Ms. D took a picture of each cooker and building team, and then asked students to take the solar cookers home and store them for warmer days. Please don’t throw them away! 

For socials, we talked about structure of maps and communities, which will be our focus for the next while. Please bring in any fold-up maps you can spare from home so we can look at them in class.

We will continue with Bunraku tomorrow! Our puppetry expert did not show up on Tuesday, unfortunately, but Ms. D was able to do the workshop with students as she had participated in the workshop before. We have made our paper puppets, and our teams of three puppeteers will get an opportunity to make a short skit with their puppets using drama, movement, and teamwork!

Science Games names have been submitted to the lottery. We won’t find out until November 15th if any of our teams had luck in the lottery. If we don’t receive a spot from the lottery, we may not be able to go this year, as it is a very popular event. Stay tuned for more information when Ms. D receives it!

Remember: No school ON FRIDAY! Pink notice went home today with important dates. Field trip to Science World is next Friday the 18th.

Thank you,

Ms. D

Hello Everyone,

Reminders for the weekend:

• Research strong shapes and ideas for towers made out of popsicle sticks in preparation for building activities next week 
• Read about Bunraku for our workshop next week
• Math quiz on Applied Math FLIGHT, Packet 1 only, on Monday
• Did you return your signed overall participation rubric? You were supposed to go over it with parents and return it Friday.
• Did you return your signed, marked speeches?

What’s Going On!

• Students are reading about STRUCTURE through some textbook reading I gave them in binders this week. 
• We are focusing on how FORM of something follows its FUNCTION. For example, we looked at different balls in the PE equipment room, described them, and then talked about how certain ones are designed for certain sports. If you are designing a chair, how does the purpose behind the chair impact its form?
• A STRUCTURE is made up of SMALLER PARTS. So, we used the human body as an example. What is the smallest part of us? What words describe those parts? (Atoms, molecules, cells, tissue, organs, organ systems, organisms)
• What are the strongest shapes to build with? What do you have to take into mind when designing something? Students were given a batch of uncooked spaghetti, tape, and marshmallows to build a strong tower in a limited amount of time. When we finished, we reflected on not only our building technique, but also on our collaboration skills. See this TED video by Tom Wujec on Build a Tower, Build a Team, which we watched in class to discuss who is the most successful during challenges like these.
• How does studying bees help us understand structure? We watched a video from TED on bee hive construction, then another from the BBC on the math behind bee hives, and then we constructed honeycomb structures of our own out of paper! Through this, we learned about the strength of the hexagon, the circle, and equilateral triangles. And, we talked about compression, tension, cylinders, and redistribution of weight.
• Structure is an important part of communication and order. We are working on making strong paragraphs and sentences. For some, this means adding details, and for other students, it translates to using conjunctions and transition words effectively so sentences are more complex. We will also continue to work on the structure of a speech, as well as our public speaking skills.
• We are working on building our classroom community. Everyone is working on two key words from our Learner Profile: CARING and PRINCIPLED. To be caring means being more aware of your surroundings, being proactive when you see something needs to be done, and thinking about how what you say and do makes a huge difference in our classroom community. To be principled means you know right from wrong in your heart, and you do what is right even when someone who is in charge of you isn’t looking. We agreed that many of the people we admire in our lives are BOTH principled and caring. Without people who are like this, the world would be a much different place. With more people like this, the world can be an even better place. 

Thank you for a great week and a fun Halloween Party! So many great costumes! Thank you again to parents for supporting the kids with treats and decorations.

We are making some great art for the Remembrance Day assembly on November 10th at 10:45 AM. I look forward to our Bunraku workshops next week, and thank you to the PAC for funding it! 

Have a great weekend!

Ms. D

On Monday and Wednesday afternoons next week, thanks to our PAC who provided funding to us for in-class workshops, we are having a workshop on Bunraku Puppetry! Maggie Winston from the Lost and Found Puppet Company will be joining us to teach us about this Japanese art.

The puppetry requires three people in groups to make the puppets come to life. Given there is a specific structure to how this is done, it fits well with our thinking for our second unit. Plus, it is a great exercise in collaboration!

Please read and watch materials from some of the links below so you have some background on Bunraku before our workshop. Thank you!

Encyclopaedia Britannica What is Bunraku?

A very cool Bunraku Cat Puppet

Look at the way the puppets work: Japanese Bunraku Technique

History of Japanese Bunraku Theatre

Kids Web Explore Japan

PBS Learning Matter Bunraku Japanese Culture

Japan Zone Japanese Culture: Bunraku

More complex World of Theatre Bunraku

 

Hello Everyone!

Today we started our new unit It’s All in the Design.

The key concept we are focusing on is STRUCTURE. Not just buildings and architecture, which are about structures, but also the concept behind the word structure. What is a structure? Why do we have them?

Unit Focus Statement: The structure of something is designed to serve the needs of the user.

Areas of Inquiry:

• The conceptual idea of structure
• Effective structure in architecture
• The structure and function of the skeleton and eye
• Chemical structures (mixtures, solutions, atoms, molecules, crystal structure, electricity related to chemistry, nanotechnology)
• Community structures (history of British Columbia and resource-based communities)

We will continue to build on information learned in the first unit. For example, we will build on our knowledge of solar energy and test our cookers at the first available sunnier day. We will add to our understanding of forces through our building/architecture discussions. In math, we will focus on both geometry and measurement. In art, we will focus on creating structures and sculptures after we have finished our Remembrance Day art.

And of course, we will go to Science World to see their nanotech exhibit!

As part of our art, we also have Maggie Winston, from the Lost and Found Puppet Company, coming to teach us about Bunraku puppetry during two sessions on Nov. 7 and 9. Thank you to the PAC for funding that helps with this special workshop related to structure and the arts!

I look forward to the month of November!

Hello Everyone,

Last year, Division 5 had two teams attend the Science Games run by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC at Science World. In fact, one of our two teams won the gold medal!

I am hoping to attend again; however, the registration has changed. Last year, we were able to take maximum two teams of 4-5 students each. This year, we can submit as many teams as we like; however, the teams are put into a lottery. If our teams are drawn from the lottery, then we can only have one team attend.

An exception, though, is if we get an all-girl team, as they are trying to encourage more girls to become engineers!

The competition this year is on March 4th, Saturday. It costs $5 per student if you have 5 on a team. Transportation to and from the event at Science World is the parent’s responsibility. The event runs from 11-5 approximately. Some study and work at home prior to the event is required. Teams need to be able to work together well in order to win!

For more information, please see the AEGBC website.

Registration has to be done by the teacher at the school.

If you are interested in this event, you need to let me know by Friday, November 4th, and I will put you into teams that can be submitted for the lottery. Fingers crossed that we will get a team accepted!!

Thank you,

Ms. D

 

Hello Everyone,

What a great day! We all picked out pumpkins, thanks to the parents who set up the Pumpkin Patch outside, and we had some great hot chocolate! Thankfully the weather was pleasant, and we took a group photo outside on our first sunny day in awhile!

Today we ended our first unit. There are a few people still working on the audio for their stop motion (because we need quiet for recordings, and that takes longer to do), but most people have their projects done. We went over the questions students had posted on the board during the unit to make sure we answered the majority of them during the unit, and it seems we did a good job!

In preparation for unit #2, we brainstormed the concept of STRUCTURE. Next week, the unit board will be changed and we will move on to talking about some of the things students brainstormed today. Everyone has been noticing new supplies (such as a full skeleton guy at the back of the room!) arriving to indicate it is time for a new topic.

We also talked about what we can do to better understand one another, especially since we do a lot of cooperative work in MACC. We talked about personality types, and determined whether we were introverts (I) or extroverts (E), sensing (S) or intuitive (I), thinking (T) or feeling (F), and perceiving (P) or judging (J). We did a quick test to see which of these personality traits best described us, and we talked about how understanding ourselves and the different types of people out there can assist us when interacting with partners during projects. No test can tell us everything about ourselves, and these are just tools to get a general idea, but it is a start toward understanding how people are different. See this website if you are curious about what each of the letters means.

Applied Math and Science today involved exploring human power again and expressing it in Watts and Horsepower. Students received a milk jug with water, rope, and a pole. The jug was attached to the middle of the pole with the rope. They recorded the mass of the jug and the distance of the rope. Then, each person took a turn rolling the pole to get the jug to come up toward them, and their partners timed it. With this data, they could find Force, Work, Watts, and Horsepower related to their own human power completing the task!

Finally, we had free choice time!! Some people are using the time to build games for the arcade out of cardboard, while others played games, read, did drawing, or caught up on work.

We look forward to Monday’s Halloween festivities! Please bring back your pumpkins all cleaned out so we can carve them at 11:30 AM. Then we will change into costumes at lunch (don’t wear them to school, just bring it with you.) There is a costume parade at 1:15 PM, and you receive house points for wearing a costume or orange and black! After the parade, we will watch part of a movie and have our snacks. Don’t forget to bring your contributions to the party, whether food or decorations.

Science World field trip forms went home today! I already have one parent volunteer — that was fast! If you are interested in coming with us, let me know right away. We will need two more for the trip. Here is the Science World Field Trip Form if you forgot to take it home.

Have a great weekend!!