This week our challenge was to be creative with LEGOS.  The students created structures, vehicles, and story settings.  The students presented their creations to the group.  We were amazed at how detailed the descriptions were. The students really appreciated being given time to create an object of their choice. 

I was finally able to upload some photos.  Above is an example of our first challenge to write one's name with LEGO bricks.  It spells "Vivian".

Our second challenge was to build the tallest "earthquake proof" structure possible with 100 bricks. 

We worked together in groups of two and rebuilt the structures multiple times to make them taller and stronger.  The "earthquake table" is behind the structure above. 

The teams weren't opposed to breaking down the structure to start all over and make it better.  That attitude is critical when problem solving. 

Our apologies, I have not been able to upload the photos to this website due to a change in the system.  We hope to have this problem resolved soon.  For our first challenge the students made their names with LEGO bricks.  On day two the challenge was to make the highest earthquake proof structure possible with 100 bricks.  We used an earthquake table to test it.  The highest structure in our group was 21 inches! 

Welcome to Lego U!

Please visit this site often for updates on our activities.  Below are the dates we will be meeting: 

March 16,23,30; April 6, 20, 27; May 4, 11

Sessions run from 2:50- 3:50 and you may pick up your child in the cafeteria at the end of our session.  Please be prompt. :-) 

We are looking forward to working with your child!

Mrs. Shipley and Mrs. Crofts

As you know, our challenge for the STREAM Expo was to take a treat and make it healthier.  The students voted to make cinnamon cookies.  We made them 4 different ways: substituting maple syrup for part of the sugar, substituting honey for part of the sugar, substituting applesauce for part of the fat, and substituting with both maple syrup and applesauce. 

I brought our batter home to bake the cookies and today the students stopped by to do a blind taste test and vote on their favorite.  The winner is..... #4- with maple syrup and applesauce.  This was the healthiest choice as well!!
We will be making more to bring to the Expo on December 4th. If you have not yet told me whether you are coming, please do so asap.  Thank you!

Capillary Action

We learned about Capillary Action by draping a folded paper towel between a cup filled with colored water and an empty cup.

The colored water traveled up the paper towel into the empty cup.

Each child experimented with capillary action by placing a Smartie on a coffee filter and then dripping water on top.

It is hard to see, but the colors from the Smarties spread out as the water was attracted towards the edge of the filter. 

We continued engineering structures to hold books.  After the first trial where the strongest structure held 25 books, the students had a second chance to design a better structure based on what they had observed.  So far the strongest one held 50, but we didn't have a chance to test them all.

We All Scream for Ice Cream!

To learn about states of matter and chemical reactions, we made ice cream in a bag: Put 1/2 and 1/2 , sugar, and vanilla in a ziploc bag.  Put it into a bigger ziploc bag with ice and salt and shake for 15 to 20 minutes. 

Everyone thought the ice cream was great.

The salt mixed with ice got colder than ice cubes without salt and allowed us to make ice cream.  We experimented by making up one bag with salt and one without and then passed them around the circle.  Everyone agreed that the ice/salt mixture felt much colder.  

We had extra time to do an engineering challenge: fold a piece of construction paper into a column that will support books placed upon it. 

The students worked in teams and used trial and error.

This team is testing its column.  Each team submitted its best column and we measured the strength by adding books one at a time.  So far the strongest column supported 25 paperback books!