In Science, the basis for the explorations this week was to have hands on experiences with Levers and the importance of the positioning of the fulcrum. We began by giving the students a session of play. They took a triangular shaped piece of wood and in laying the flat length of board upon the triangle they discovered the 3 classes of levers. Weights were available to them to explore the differences in how the length of the lever would change the effort involved to make "work" easier.
We then explored a simulation of a Trebuchet on the iPads. The students had a further understanding of how important the position of fulcrum is while having a lot of fun "seizing the castle". Once they explored the simulation they were put into groups to become engineers and design their own Trebuchet using a set material list. They shared their ideas to revamp designs that could possibly enable their Trebuchet to "storm the castle" successfully. On Friday, they were put to the task of building their trebuchets from their blueprints, testing and tweaking along the way. They asked themselves, "What works and why and what needs to change?". The students furthered their understanding of the relationship between the load arm and the effort arm with levers.
“Give me a lever long enough, a fulcrum strong enough and I’ll move the world” -Archimedes
We then explored a simulation of a Trebuchet on the iPads. The students had a further understanding of how important the position of fulcrum is while having a lot of fun "seizing the castle". Once they explored the simulation they were put into groups to become engineers and design their own Trebuchet using a set material list. They shared their ideas to revamp designs that could possibly enable their Trebuchet to "storm the castle" successfully. On Friday, they were put to the task of building their trebuchets from their blueprints, testing and tweaking along the way. They asked themselves, "What works and why and what needs to change?". The students furthered their understanding of the relationship between the load arm and the effort arm with levers.
“Give me a lever long enough, a fulcrum strong enough and I’ll move the world” -Archimedes
Humanities Update from Our Student Teachers!
To kick off our inquiry unit about Alberta’s First Nations histories and stories, we’ve been tuning into what the students already know. We asked students individually to consider the question: “What is a story?” By working in groups and sharing ideas our conversation led to deeper questioning and thoughtful insights about what a story is. Over the past week we’ve looked at the foundational elements of a story, for example, a story can include words with no pictures, pictures with no words, no written words, or a combination of two. These were exemplified by: B.J. Novak’s “The Book With No Pictures”, Shaun Tan’s “The Arrival”, and a Blackfoot oral story called “Earth Diver.” We discussed the advantages and disadvantages to think critically about the things we observed in each story.
Before we move into Alberta’s First Nations and their stories we would like students to bring in an item that represents First Nations people to them. This might be a picture, song, map, piece of writing, or an artifact. They are encouraged to be creative! If it’s something valuable, that you may not want to be left at school, we ask that students take a picture of it so they may still participate in the activity. Students will be sharing why this item represents First Nations people to them. We ask that these representations be brought to school for Monday, January 26th.
In addition to all their hard work with Miss Perry and Miss Glinsbockel, students also completed the final assessment for Alberta the Land and were introduced to the reading strategy of “Making Inferences”. When making inferences, students use the clues provided by the author, combined with their own experiences and background knowledge to make sense of what they are reading and to fill in any gaps in the text. Students viewed the short film, “For the Birds” to practice this strategy.
Have a terrific weekend!
Have a terrific weekend!