As the students completed the sound investigation, teams created two drums and hypothesized as to which drum will create a lower pitch, and which will create a higher pitch. After the student created the drums, they tested their hypothesis. It was a very exciting time!
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Over the next few weeks, the kindergarten students will be investigating sound. The students will understand how sound is created, what vibrations are, the difference between high and low pitch, and finally, we will discuss sound waves. Kindergarten students are learning about their five senses in their classrooms, so this investigation ties right into their learning.
For the last few weeks, the students have been working on cooperation. This skill is very vital as we begin team projects in the upcoming weeks. After the students understood that cooperation includes taking turns, working on one project together, sharing, talking nicely, planning as a team, and including everyone; they finally practiced at each of the stations. The stations included the Hot Wheels ramps, train track design, block architecture, and Lego creations. Each center involved making a plan, and creating one project as a team. In the beginning this was difficult but after constant reflection, and practice, the students quickly became cooperation masters!
The kindergarten students listened to the Story, Iggy Peck, Architect. After we read the story, the students determined that architects build buildings. Later in the week, the students worked in groups to select a famous building from around the world. The architects then recreated the building with wooden blocks. As the students built the buildings, they practiced cooperation. Finally, the students created blueprints of their buildings, towers, and walls.
The kindergarten students are practicing cooperation in the STEM lab. Cooperation includes sharing, being friendly, taking turns, listening, and including everyone. The mini figure challenge reinforced all of these traits. Mini figures are so much fun, and it really was a challenge to cooperate as they sorted the pieces, and put them back together!
For the next few weeks, the kindergarten students will be learning about cooperation, and putting it into practice. I used these videos to capture the student's attention as I introduced cooperation. Following the videos, the students described the attributes of cooperation, and discussed it in teams. To practice, the students were given a challenge. They received five minifigures, and had to cooperate as they put them back together.
What is cooperation?
What does include mean?
Lego Mini-figure Cooperation Challenge
To add some flare to their Bee-Bots, the kindergarten students worked in teams to design and create Bee-Bot jackets! The students were super excited to write, test, and improve their programs this week!
The kindergarten students are learning computer science this quarter. As computer scientists, they are programming Bee-Bots to move around a grid by creating algorithms. The students began with very simple code, and have quickly began writing more complex programs to move the Bee-Bot. As the students work in groups they are problem solving, thinking critically, and developing logical sequencing skills. They are really using their brains! In our engineering unit this quarter, the students were challenged to identify a storybook characters problem, and build something to solve the problem. This weeks character was Knuffle Bunny. The problem the student's identified is that he gets lost. To prevent this from happening again, the students built prototypes that would keep him safe. The criteria the students identified to know if the prototype was successful or not was that it had to be strong and sturdy, Knuffle Bunny had to fit, and he must not fall out. All of the groups were very successful with their creations! Peter is a boy that has out grown his favorite chair. To solve his problem, the kindergarten engineers will work in groups to build his a new one. For the chair to be considered stemtastic, Peter must fit in the chair, it must have arm rests and a back, and it must be strong and sturdy. The final results were amazing with wonderful improvements, including a cup holder! |
AuthorMrs. Houseman-STEM Specialist Archives
May 2017
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