They participated in a number of design challenges, sometimes working alone, but mostly focusing on group cooperation skills, as well as the problem that they needed to solve. In the first one, they needed to construct a tower with spaghetti, striving for height with limited materials and a specific time limit. The second activity was similar, but they needed to use a finite amount of clay and toothpicks to construct a structure that cantilevered over a line as far as possible. This, too, proved challenging, but they had gained some experience and strategies from their first building activity. The last group challenge was The Egg Drop. Recyclable materials were provided for students to use to pad their raw egg and keep it from breaking when it was dropped from the alcove above the art and music room. However, they needed to “purchase” everything, including tape and string with only 25 tickets. The day of the challenge was great fun, with some eggs landing safely, and some ending up like Humpty Dumpty.
Students experimented individually with different paper airplane designs, thinking about how size, weight and shape impacted the flight. Their final individual challenge was to design a vehicle. They had three choices - a rubber band powered car, a hovercraft or a sail car. Students first constructed these according to a set of directions. After trying out their vehicles, they had the opportunity to change their design to see if they could improve its performance. There were many interesting ideas that were tried (and sometimes rejected), as well as some very successful adaptations.
Additional pictures and video will be added soon, and will also be shared at a Whole School Meeting, on Wednesday, May 13th, at 7:40 a.m. We hope that you can join us then.
In math, both grades are learning about fractions. Third graders are beginning to understand that fractions are numbers and can be placed on a number line, as well as equal parts of an object. This is a hard concept so we have been having lots of hands on practice and are constantly going back to fold paper. We are also learning to understand the idea of fractions of a group ( ⅓ of 9). When the students have a solid understanding of the multiplication and division math facts and the relationship of those operations, it makes the work so much easier and more automatic. We will finish up fractions next week and move on to reviewing addition and subtraction strategies, and looking to be more efficient with our problem solving.
In the fourth grade curriculum, students learned to identify fractions of an area (⅔ of a rectangle) and fractions of a group or set (⅔ of 24). They worked with equivalent fractions to compare them, as well as add and subtract fractions with like and unlike denominators. They also began to multiply fractions and whole numbers. Students placed fractions and mixed numbers on number lines, both given to them, and on ones that they created themselves. Models and a variety of manipulative materials were used throughout the skill work. We are finishing this unit by learning about decimal fractions, comparing them, and using them to practice efficient addition and subtraction strategies.