The End is Near :(

I can't believe that there is only two more weeks of ALPS left. The pictures above show my fifth graders building spaghetti bridges. They were trying to build the lightest bridge that could hold the greatest amount of weight. Enjoy.

Physics?!?

I've decided to introduce my fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders to the wonderful of physics. Before you start groaning for my students, they do really enjoy it. I remember that the physic's class that had the greatest impact on me (no pun intended) was the one that related the subject to real world situations and problems. We've started on the formula for velocity and integrated it into the study of roller coasters. They're having a good time with it. Of course it also allows me to sneak in word problems which is a great way to prep our students for the upcoming AIMS testing. Hopefully next week I'll have some photos to show you.

Tessellations

I've posted in my room some of the tessellations that my seventh and eighth graders did. I really enjoyed doing this lesson with them.

This Week at ALPS...

Another busy week at ALPS is about to begin...Yeah!!! The first and second graders are about to explore the wonderful world of rockets. They've already shot balloon rockets across the classroom. This week they'll start to construct a water bottle rocket and launch them outside. Launching them in the classroom would cause a small catastrophe for me and Mr. Gonzalez. The third and fourth graders will be wrapping up their hot air balloon projects. They are presenting their powerpoint presentations on hot air balloons to their classmates. The fifth and sixth graders will continue learning about compound shapes and how to find the perimeters and areas of these shapes. I've decided to make it a little interesting and as result they'll have to design a zoo that will incorportate what they have learn about compound shapes' area and perimeter. It's a real world problem that they will have to solve. Finally, the seventh and eighth graders will be introduced to the three dimensional world of geometric solids.

Balloon Launch

As promised here is a short video clip of a balloon launching. The clip was filmed by one of my fourth graders. Saul did a great job. Thanks Saul!!! Also Mr. Gonzalez, our school custodian, was a big help with the balloon launches this whole week. Thank you Mr. Gonzalez!!! Enjoy.

Balloons, Balloons, Balloons

This week the third and fourth graders have been launching their hot air balloons. I've posted some of the pictures for your pleasure. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a video for you to view. Enjoy.

Math for the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh & Eighth Graders

For the students in my upper grade classes, I've been working with them in math. The fifth and sixth graders are learning about discrete mathematics. That means that they get to solve Euler and Hamiltonian paths and circuits. They also get to work on logic problems and game theory. This will be the final week working with them in discrete math. Next week we start working on those fiendishly hard word problems.
The seventh and eighth graders are learning about symmetry. They have worked hard on understanding the four kinds of transformations (rotation, translation, reflection & glide reflection). They know how these transformation relate to symmetry. This week we are going to work with tessellations and learn little about M.C. Escher.

What's New

Sorry for not updating the blog. The new year is busier than the old one. For the next six weeks, I'll be teaching math to the fifth through eighth graders. The first through fourth graders will be taught science.

I've been teaching the first and second graders the mysteries of flight. They've been learning about aerodynamics especially about lift. Instead of building paper airplanes, we've built boomerangs. We started off small. They built finger boomerangs out of index cards. We graduated to the full sized ones constructed out of foam board. Of course some of the student's boomerangs got caught stuck on the roof.

The third and fourth graders have also been learning about aerodynamics. We concentrated, however, on hot air balloons and how they work. They've learned that hot air is less dense than cold air and, therefore, lighter. That's why the hot air balloons are able to float in the sky. The third and fourth graders are constructing hot air balloons out of tissue paper. Next week we plan to launch them.

Tomorrow I'll write about what the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders have been doing in my math classes.

Mission Possible

The seventh and eighth graders have been building Rube Goldberg like devices. What's a Rube Goldberg device? Well, think of that old game "mousetrap" and you got a Rube Goldberg device. Their device is not to capture a mouse but rather pop a balloon. I like doing this project with the older students because it forces them to employ problem solving skills.
The fifth and sixth graders are finishing up their water bottle rockets. Their rockets has to have fins and a nose cone. They also needed to have a parachute system in their rockets. Tuesday's class got to launch their rockets. The students had a great time. By next Monday, we should be done with our rockets, and we'll start planning for a next project. Shhhhhh, can't tell you yet, it's a secret.

Discrete Mathematics

The seventh and eighth graders are studying discrete mathematics. So far we have gone over Euler and Hamiltonian paths and circuits. The students really enjoy these sorts of problems because of the real world applications. This week they are going to learn about game theory. They will have to figure out the reason why they win and lose games.
In science they are building Rube Goldberg devices. The students like the planing and construction phases. I think they will really like the devices when they are activated and run through their various steps.

Math & Science

The animation projects are finished. They were fun but required a lot of time and energy. If I see another piece of clay, it'll be too soon. I'm now teaching math and science to the fifth through eighth graders for the next six weeks. I'll be working hand-in-hand with Mrs. Iniquez.
In math fifth and sixth graders are working on geometric shapes and a nifty little program called "Logopaths". "Logopaths" allows students to write a routine that directs a turtle to move and draw on the computer screen. We're using the program with the knowledge of geometric shapes and running our turtles through its paces. As their work becomes available, I'll post some of them.
In science the fifth and sixth graders are building water bottle rockets. We hope to launch right after Thanksgiving break. In this project the student have to keep their rocket aloft for the longest period of time. As a result they've got to build a parachute recovery system. They also have to measure how high their rockets went. For that they had to learn a little bit of trig. For my next posting I'll let you know what my seventh and eighth graders are doing in math and science.

Another Animation Project

Cristian and Xavier decided to exercise their funny bones.

An Example of an Animation Project

Here's an example of one of the student teams that did a really good job at animation. Way to go Michael & Ryan!!!

Stop Motion Animation

Eighth grade students working on their animation. The students are using legos in their project.

Gotta Love Those Eighth Graders

One of my concerns this year was how the older students would react to having the younger students on campus with them. Well, I gotta tell you. My worries were nothing. Today at lunch I watched the students play dodge ball. The oldest and youngest students were having a ball (no pun intended). It was great to watch the older students look out for the younger ones. One of the eighth grade boys when he was throwing the ball always took extra care not to throw the ball too hard at the little ones. It was very sweet to see his concern. He was also making sure none of the older students threw the ball to hard at the younger students. This kind of behavior wasn't an isolated incidence. It's been the norm. I think the younger and older students have a lot to teach each other. I'm very glad to be able to witness this behavior.

Progress Reports

Well, the team has just finished up the progress reports for this trimester. We're sending them out to let parents know if there are any problems developing and need attention or just to let parents know how well their child is doing. I delivered the progress reports this afternoon to the three schools that I liaison with. Those three schools are Kenilworth, Emerson, and Whittier. I know Mrs Iniquez, Mrs. Rentz, and Mrs. Kwan were also busy delivering ALPS progress reports this afternoon. If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know. We are always available to talk to.

Short Week

Well it's been a short week. We didn't have students on Monday because of Labor Day and next week will be another short week because of Parent-Teacher Conferences. The first and second graders got to do some experimentation. They were looking for their taste buds and filling out a tongue map to show where they had found them. We used salt in water for the salty taste. Juice was used for the sweet taste. Lemon juice made a great sour taste. For the bitter taste I used tonic water. Next week we'll experiment on how taste and smell work together. The third through eighth graders continue to work hard on their animation projects. Hopefully by next week they will start filming them.

Week Four of ALPS

The third through eighth grade groups have started their animation projects in earnest. Last week they worked on their scripts and storyboards. They'll finish those up this week if they haven't already and start making their characters, the props and backgrounds.
The first and second grade groups got to experiment with roller coasters. They built roller coasters out of pipe insulation tubes. The learned the importance that gravity and centrifugal force plays in the construction of roller coasters. We all agreed that if we could, we would love to take a field trip to Six Flags to see one up close and personal. Maybe even ride one! This week we plan to map the tongue and its taste buds...yummy!!!

2009-2010 ALPS Team

*Mrs. Howell is no longer with us. She's the reading specialist for Kenilworth Elementary.

1st Project of the Year

I love teaching!!! This week I got to start the first project of the year with my class. They are going to be doing animation. Mrs. Iniguez and I have teamed up on this project. Her part of the project is to have the students do the research for the animation topic. I get to show the student how to actually do animation. This week I talked and showed the students a brief history of animation. I got to show them some very old black and white animations that were over a hundred years old and boy, did that shock them. I also talked to them about the various kinds of animation and show them short animated clips to illustrate my point. Next week I will show them the essential elements that are needed to make a good animation piece.