AN ADVENTURE IN DESIGN
Our young designers printed out the designs they created for their tote bags and are ready to wear them out! We also started a new poster project. Each student randomly chose an experiment from Lilo and Stitch and started designing a poster based of the experiment’s colors and powers. We’re excited to see how our young designers adapt and organize their research and artwork into their posters.
ANIMALS IN ART
This week we covered abstract art. Specifically, Picasso and Matisse! All of the students completed at least one painting project and started another one that will be finished next week. Some students also took home a paper sculpture that we built as an intro to next weeks projects.
CREATIVE PROGRAMMING WITH SCRATCH
This week, we focused on making background music, sound effects, and ambient noises in Scratch to add to our games! Students learned the ways background music can be used to enhance the vibrance or set the mood of their animations and video games. In the middle of the week, planning began for our big final project. We can’t wait to present these projects to all the parents!
CREATOR SPACE ADVANCED
This week we tie-dyed our t-shirts, continued working on our mixed media canvases, and made our second shrinky-dinks.
DUNGEONS, DRAGONS, AND TABLE TOP RPGS
The students continued their campaigns. This week, other students took turns trying out being the dungeon master for at least one encounter.
JOURNEY TO THE STARS
This week was our unit about the moon! We learned about earth’s moon and explored the moons of other planets. Our class went on an exciting virtual field trip to the moon. Then we had a tasty lesson, learning about the different phases of the moon using Oreos :).
MINECRAFT: A VIRTUAL LEARNING ADVENTURE
Our theme this week was Architecture and the Environment. Students worked together to replicate their group’s chosen landmark in Minecraft. They created a slide presentation to present information about their landmark to the class and to show off their builds.
Students also chose a Minecraft biome and were tasked with examining and researching a plant or animal from that biome to share with the class. Students shared the differences between their chosen plant or animal in the Minecraft world and in real life as well as fun facts about it.
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: SHOOTING STARS
What a week we had! We have mapped out our entire program and everyone has auditioned for their solos and duets! We are deep into rehearsal and we are looking forward to our class preview in week five! We hope you can join us for the show!
ROBOTICS WITH LEGO WEDO
This week, we transitioned to projects related to STEAM.
Monday (6/23): Students created a Spinning Windmill, learning the concept of wind energy and how motion is generated.
Tuesday (6/24): Students created a Balance Scale, understanding balance, measurement, and how to estimate.
Wednesday (6/25): Students created a Pulley Elevator. They learned how pulleys reduce effort and how lifting mechanisms work.
Thursday (6/26): Students create a Bridge. They were able to experiment with stability, tension, and load distribution.
Friday (6/27): Students created a catapult/launcher and experimented with force, angles, and predictions.
ROBOTICS WITH VEX
This week many robots made a lot of progress on their autonomous stage. The class also participated in their mock competition to see how many points they could score in the real competition. They are now in their last few stages of preparation before their final competition on week 5!
SCIENCE OLYMPICS
This week students learned about propulsion, drag, and Newton’s 3rd law of motion, and they were challenged to a series of builds that explored these concepts.
– Built a helicopter that we dropped off the 2nd floor balcony and watched it twirl to the ground.
– They built a hoop glider from straw and paper that glides surprisingly well!
– Experimented with four different designs of paper airplanes to see which one flew the farthest and fastest.
– Built three different designs of rockets (straw, balloon and bottle). The bottle rocket used baking soda and vinegar as propulsion.
– Designed and built a parachute and cushioning device to allow an egg to be dropped from a height and not break.