3rd Grade Designs Coral

The 3rd graders worked on creating coral using the 3d modeling program Tinkercad this week.  They learned that many coral have symmetry and we talked about different types of symmetry, such as radial symmetry.  Then they worked on a Project Ignite tutorial that walked them through designing coral with linear and radial symmetries.  There were a lot of new design skills to learn, but they persevered!

The students also reviewed “systems thinking,” and we began to read a great book that teaches how to apply systems thinking in the real world called, Billibonk and the Thorn Patch.

2nd Grade “Builds Big”

The 2nd graders explored some of the interactive features on the Building Big website to learn more about different things that can effect the sturdiness of structures. Then they spent more time working in Tinkercad (using the Project Ignite website).  We all tried to build houses in Tinkercad, and we all found it challenging!  But we are learning from our mistakes, and definitely making progress.  Hopefully we will be able to start designing our 3d lunchboxes soon!

2nd Grade Works on Designing a Better Lunchbox

The 2nd graders have been discussing biomimicry and structural adaptations in living things.  On Monday, they brainstormed some of the problems they’ve noticed in lunchboxes they use.  Then they reviewed some unique structural adaptations of animals and plants, such as the ability of shark skin to repel bacteria.  Next, they chose one or two adaptations that could inspire new lunchbox designs.  The students began to draw their designs, and will be revising them and adjusting them during the next couple of classes so they can be printed out on our new 3D printer!

Here is one of the lunchbox designs:

Photo Jan 05, 1 46 31 PM

5th Grade Takes Design to a New Level

Since many of the 5th graders have already gone through an enrichment program Mrs. Lackey and I are doing this year during Target Time, several of them were already familiar with designing in Tinkercad.  They go the opportunity to try some of the more advanced lessons on Thursday, while I helped a couple of students learn the basics.  I was really impressed by how quickly the novice students caught on.  The experienced students designed all sorts of new products, such as a coffee cup (somewhat miniaturized) for Mr. Mullin and a pencil holder for Mrs. Bailey.  This class is definitely ready to start designing for real-world problems next semester!

2nd Grade Imagines a Different Kind of School

We had a shorter GT period today due to the 2nd grade program rehearsal. However we had plenty of time to watch this neat video about a Kindergarten in Japan.  After the video, the students did a lot of brainstorming about what they would add to a school, and then drew some diagrams of their ideas to share with the class.  You can see some examples below. (Remember, you can click on each picture to enlarge it.)

2nd Grade Builders, Designers, and Engineers

Since it is St. Patrick’s Day, I challenged the students to think of something else that they would like to find at the end of the rainbow instead of a pot of gold. They drew some very creative answers, some of which I included below.

The 2nd graders went to different stations this morning to try some different skills related to our study of structures.  At the K’nex station, they are building bridges.  So far, we have one beam bridge and an arch.  At the iPad station, they worked on bridge challenges using an app called “Bridge Constructor Playground,”  which gave them different scenarios for building bridges and they had to choose the design and materials.  At the Roominate station, they were able to use their imagination to build a room with all different types of furniture.  One of the groups built an animal shelter!  At the Goldiblox station, they read a story and used some manipulatives to learn how to make drive belts of different designs with wheels, pulleys, and ribbon.

Each student was only able to visit two stations this morning, so they will have a chance to explore the other stations next week.  We also did Problem Solving Centers, so it was a very busy morning!