AN ADVENTURE IN DESIGN
Our young designers learned how to use the basic design tools to draw in the program, Figma. With their new understanding, our students learned how to draw very quickly on their computers. Going back to basics, we learned how to add a circle, rectangle, polygon, stars and lines to our designs. As simple as this sounds this is a fundamental technique used to learn how to draw complex shapes. Throughout the week, we assigned our students to create their own Oreo designs, tracing over templates and customizing them with their own colors and texts.
ANIMALS IN ART
This week we used paint markers, graphite transfers, and watercolor paints to create an image of the student’s chosen animal. We also learned about sculptures and created paper sculptures before starting a 3D cat model in Yayoi Kusama’s vibrant, polka dot art.
CREATIVE PROGRAMMING WITH SCRATCH
This week, our class started focusing on our artistic endeavors and character-creation skills! Every day, we did a couple of drawings and worked with Scratch to create backgrounds, music, and character motion. So far, we have made Pong, ball-animations, a simple version of MS Paint, and many more small tidbits! As a closer to the art week’s lessons, we went on a walking trip to the Japanese Gardens at UH Manoa to inspire some amazing backgrounds and art!
CREATOR SPACE ADVANCED
This week we started making shrinky dinks! Our first ones are keychains. We also started mapping out our mixed media canvas designs and some of us learned to do a couple of new friendship bracelet tyings— stripes and chevron patterns.
DUNGEONS, DRAGONS, AND TABLE TOP RPGS
This week we built our parties and began our first campaigns. The players navigated traps, fought monsters, and talked their way out of sticky situations.
JOURNEY TO THE STARS
This week we learned all about the sun! We studied how the sun was created and how it is is necessary for us on earth. We discovered how the Earth’s orbit and Sun create the seasons. We explored how over the course of the day, as the earth moves around the sun, our shadow moves. We did this by measuring a pencil’s shadow at different point in the day.
MINECRAFT: A VIRTUAL LEARNING ADVENTURE
In week 2, we completed build challenges in both groups and individually. This time, the students could propose build ideas. For example, some of the students chose to battle to see who can build the best “Garden”. And, of course, the students continue to play in their created worlds together.
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: SHOOTING STARS
We are in the thick of it! Rehearsals are under way, and we are working hard! A Reminder for Fun Friday: we watch a musical film each Friday, so please make sure your student has a snack to enjoy with our film!
ROBOTICS WITH LEGO WEDO
This week’s building challenges included
Monday: The pulling force
Tuesday: Robust structures
Wednesday: Frog’s metamorphosis
Thursday: plants and pollinators
Friday: Rescue helicopters.
ROBOTICS WITH VEX
This week our team building activity was “Four-Legged Race.” Students had the opportunity to earn points for this activity. We also went to Ka Papa Lo’i o Kanewai where students got to learn about the importance of sustainability. All teams have working robots for their competition next week and are working on their programming now.
SCIENCE OLYMPICS
This week’s theme was LAUNCHERS! Teams explored motion by
– Building a car ramp and jump launcher, (although we couldn’t get the cars to jump very well).
– Building a simple catapult with popsicle sticks and a cup popper with cups and balloons.
– Building a more complex catapult with pencils.
– Building two slingshots, one with popsicle sticks and the other with cardboard tubes.
– Building an airplane launcher.
Through our build challenges, we learned about gravity, momentum, buoyancy, elastic energy, and torsion.