I made this for my district- thought I would change a few things and make it suitable for California state! This is a great little brochure to hand out during Back to School Night! 4th and 5th grade are available for download.
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Back in September I was asked to teach a summer Robotics Class. Nine months later, here I am in a quaint little classroom filled with robots, challenge boards, computers, and future programmers.
Using Lego Mindstorm robots, I gave the kids a choice between two programming platforms: NXT and RobotC. NXT is a picture based software aimed to fit the needs of younger students and is best suited for grades 4th and 5th. Using NXT, kids are able to program their robot to perform various tasks in order to complete challenges. They do this using a sequence of blocks with more advance skill sets involving the use of loops and "if then" statements. For older students, or more ambitious younger kids, I highly recommend using RobotC. RobotC is a programming language similar to C+. Students are able to program the robot using the same skill sets used in NXT, but will do so using actual code. This software can absolutely be more frustrating than NXT but is absolutely worth the time and perseverance. Students using RobotC will need more help, guidance and encouragement as it can become frustrating quickly. Leaving out one semi-colon or neglecting to capitalize one letter can and will through off the entire program and mistakes are often hard to spot- even for seasoned RobotC programmers like myself. This summer I gave students a chance to try about both. Students who stuck with RobotC comment on how "boring" NXT was after they got used to RobotC. Pictured is the summer class' "Ultimate Challenge." The challenge incorporates every skill students learned over the summer and involves the use of every sensor on the Lego Mindstorm. The challenge board is harder than it looks! Students were asked to follow lines until the robot touched or saw an obstacle, they had to circle around the world before crossing a bridge, stop at the line, spin around while the robot shouts "Hooray!" before finally having the robot continue to the finish using the sound sensor. "Clap your way to the finish!" It took the kids an average of nine days to complete the challenge. Working in teams, they were able to collaborate and problem solve to get the robot through each check point. Materials Needed:
Instructions:
Why it Works First of all, you need to understand that everything is made up of atoms. You're made of atoms; the record is made of atoms, even the cereal is made up of atoms. These atoms are made up of smaller particles; protons, neutrons, and electrons. Electrons have negative charges. When the wool rubs the record, electrons from the wool stick to the record. This gives the record a negative charge. Negative charges don't like to be near other negative charges. In fact, when they come in contact with negative charges, they repel them. On the other hand, when they come in contact with positive charges, they attract to them and stick! The negatively charged record will push away negative charges and pull positive charges close to it. As you hold the record above the cereal, it will pull the positive charges from the cereal up to the record. The cereal will stick to the record. When the cereal touches the record, electrons on the record move to the cereal. Now the cereal has a negative charge. Since the record and the cereal both have a negative charge, and negative charges don't like to be near each other, they repel each other and the cereal jumps down from the record. This will happen over and over again until the charges balance out and become neutral. To make it start again, you need to rub the record with wool! This is my favorite Thanksgiving project but, it could be an any time of the year project if you swap fall color leaves for green ones! Below you will find step by step instructions with pictures. For this project you will need:
The template has various types and sizes of leaves. Choose which one will work best for the size of paper bags you have. Start with a paper bag. I use over sized bags but the standard size works well too. Split the bag into fourths. Stop cutting about 1/2 the way to the end of the bag. Cut the bag into fourths. Next, stick your hand into the bag. You need to open the bottom of the bag for the base of the tree. Once you have the base, grab the bag just above the bottom. You will begin twisting from here. It helps to do this on the table with two hands. Have one hand hold the base on the table while the other hand twists the bag. This will make a nice sturdy trunk! Continue this process until you have a sturdy trunk with a nice base. Your tree should now look something like this. All of those pieces sticking up will soon be your branches. Now, take each piece and carefully twist them into branches. You are almost done! Once you have every branch twisted, you will be able to move on to the leaves. Put the tree aside, it should look something like this. Now that you have a tree, you can get started on your leaves. If this is a Thanksgiving project, be sure to print leaves on fall colored construction paper. (Regular paper will work too.) Now, using a leaf template (click here for one!) cut out as many leaves as you want. Write things you are thankful for on each leaf. After you are finished, staple, tape or glue each leaf to the tree. There you go! Your very own thankful tree!! The tree shown below was made by one of my students. This tree is more of a science tree than a thankful tree, but you get the point. :)
Below several different types of leaves were used. You can have students pick and chose leaves, or they can stick with one variety. I leave the choice up to them!
When I made the jump from elementary school to middle school, writing a syllabus was a bit of a daunting task. I would have loved it if someone would have given me a template to follow so... for any of you beginning middle school or high school teachers out there- here is the syllabus I used. I hope someone out there finds it useful!
In my earlier years of teaching I was super thankful for any help anyone gave me. About eight years ago I stumbled upon this great PowerPoint template. It was so long ago I can't for the life of me remember where I got it from or who gave it to me. I thought I would pay it forward and post it here for anyone in need of a Back to School Night PowerPoint presentation! The fonts and formatting will most likely get thrown off when you download it, but I adore the backgrounds and animations on this. Enjoy!
I am on an earth science kick these days. The summer has given me less time than expected to keep up with this blog, but I have been able to sift through some of my fun Earth Science resources! Here is one of my favorites- a hands on model of fault motion. I originally got the idea from a CalTech student who brought in a gigantic model showing fault motion. I adapted it for student use. Its great fun! Hope you enjoy!
You will need a fault line template for this. It is a trapezoidal prism- each side matches up at a slant to demonstrate plate movement. a trapezoidal prism is pretty crucial to this activity. A simple cube doesn't give as good of a visual. The top of the box is decorated by students to show the earth's surface. Below the surface are three different layers of the crust. This bit is crucial to show what happens when plate move and how geologists are able to study plate movement based on how the layers are mismatched on each side of the fault. You can take this activity pretty far! Have students show strike slip and dip slip motion with their models. Have them observe and take notes as the go along. I love this activity! Materials:
Instructions: 1. Fill the bottle up with about one inch of warm water. ( When yeast is cold or dry the micro organisms are resting.) 2. Add all of the yeast packet and gently swirl the bottle a few seconds. (As the yeast dissolves, it becomes active - it comes to life! Don't bother looking for movement, yeast is a microscopic fungus organism. We will observe the yeast under the microscopes later.) 3. Add the sugar and swirl it around some more. Like people, yeast needs energy (food) to be active, so we will give it sugar. Now the yeast is "eating!" 4. Blow up the balloon a few times to stretch it out then place the neck of the balloon over the neck of the bottle. 5. Let the bottle sit in a warm place for about 20 minutes If all goes well the balloon will begin to inflate! Why it Works As the yeast eats the sugar, it releases a gas called carbon dioxide. The gas fills the bottle and then blows up the balloon as more gas is created. The more the yeast eats, the more gas it creates and the bigger the balloon gets!
Believe it or not, yeast is actually living microorganisms! When bread is made, the yeast becomes spread out in flour. Each bit of yeast makes tiny gas bubbles and that puts millions of bubbles (holes) in our bread before it gets baked. So essential, the bubbles in your bread are waste from microscopic organisms called yeast! Yum? Questions to investigate:
Alright, the day I was assigned a 6th grade Earth Science teaching position was admittedly not my favorite day. I LOVE science, but as a kid earth science bored me to tears. Three years later, I have to say it is my favorite thing to teach (and study!) Making earth science fun for kids isn't hard. Here is one of my favorite lessons, a Transform Boundary in action using Legos and Play-Doh - what kid wouldn't love this?! Here is what you will need:
Below are some examples of what I used. Please note: I dumped out an old box of old Legos and played a fun game of mix and match. I am sure you could do this by carefully purchasing pieces but, what's the fun in that? :) Step 1: Building the Plates Next up, build each side of the earth's crust on either side of the plate boundary. It is best to have two layers of the flat plate Lego pieces for this. You will want a sturdy base. You will also need your 1x_ bricks to act as a track for the sliding plate. Step 2: Build Your Track Next, you need to put a track on the building plate. Use the Plates built in the step above to measure where the tracks need to be placed. For the tracks you will need 1x_ bricks and flat tiles. The flat tiles are needed to make the track slide smoothly. You can do this with out them if absolutely needed but the track will get stuck. Make the track slightly longer than your Plates Step 3: Finishing Up Lay each Plate side by side. This will allow you to figure out where the tracks need to be placed. The Plates should be right next to each other. This step ensures that there will be no gap between the plates. All done! Push different colors of Play Dough on top of the Plates and watch the movement!
I started this system eight years ago during my second year of teaching. Over the years, it has gone through a lot of tweaking and is now at a place that I love. This system is one I can't do without. The kids love it, and so do I. After the initial month of teaching it, the kids take over and the system is run almost entirely by them. It is a great way to provide positive rewards, and adds an extra special element to the classroom.
Here is a general break down of what you need.
Benefits of a Classroom Economy:
Disadvantages:
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"The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don't tell you what to see." - Alexandra K. Trenfor |