Let's begin with a sneak peek of website additions you will find in the next week. First, I will be adding a Holiday Gift Idea page. There you will find a list of a few of the best STEM related toys out there. STEM is a buzz word right now. Toy manufacturers eat that stuff up! So if you search "STEM toys" in any search engine, you will get a million good ideas. Let me just say that you cannot go wrong with anything that will require problem solving, creative thinking, building, fixing, and just actively DOING. If you should find something especially cool, send me an email so I can add it to my list!
The other addition to the website will be information about the annual Hour of Code week which is December 3rd through the 9th. I will be including some family fun. Don't be left out of this awesome celebration of Computer Science! Now, what you have all come here for... an UPDATE. Well Kindergarten classes have been rocking our way through the Engineering Design Process and in our journey, we have also talked about story elements. We have helped several Fairytale characters solve problems by designing and building structures to meet their needs. A beanstalk for Jack, a Chair for Baby Bear, a crate for the Gingerbread Man... And our final project will be building safe houses for the Three Little Pigs. We will even have a visit from the Big Bad Wolf to test out the houses! Stay tuned for some really awesome pictures of our Wolf visit. In the meantime, check out the pictures of our other structures. First graders learned about animal habitats and adaptations that help them to survivie in their environments. Then we took that knowledge and helped a traveler friend prepare to live in one of our habitats. We had to dress him/her and pack a suitcase with supplies they would need. So much fun! Our next unit is all about light and sound. Second Graders are officially computer programmers. We have created a game with a main character that has to travel to a target without bumping an obstacle. The player controls the character with buttons and we even have a You Win screeen and a You Lose, try again! Some kids went above and beyond and created multiple levels and multiple scenes. We are know working on a Turkey Disguise. After Thanksgiving we will start a new unit studying our "S" in STEM. Science here we come! Third Graders completed an intense unit on Genetics. We studied inherited and acquired traits in humans and then took a close look at plants. They did a wonderful job with some really big terms: genotype, phenotype, dominant gene, recessive gene, and inheritance. Our next unit will cover the "E" in Stem. Look out world, we're switching from Geneticists to Engineers! Fourth Grade is about to design a vehicle that will keep an egg from cracking when it crashes into a wall. Yikes! Hopefully our amazing janitors will not be too upset with me. I believe in our kids. The eggs are NOT going to break! Fifth Grade has studying infectious diseases. We know a lot about how to protect ourselves from the flu. And not a moment too soon as flu season is upon us! But now we are diving into our robotics unit. All students tend to love this unit. It is an adventure for sure! Come back soon for pictures and updates. As always, email me if you have any questions.
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