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.