Collaboratory Corner

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Once Memorial Day arrives, I feel like the time flies by so fast that you just blink and you're in the middle of June!  But our Collaboratory Cubs haven't lost any steam with their hard work and dedication to their projects!  Take a look at what each grade has been up to since Memorial Day!

Our Pre-K engineers tackled the following challenge:  How might we build an indoor flagpole in honor of Memorial Day?  Their ideas were so creative!  They designed their own flags and then used our tower tubes to build their creations!  There were two amazing moments during this design process.  The first was when one student began to do the Pledge of Allegiance (without prompting!!!), and the second was when another student saluted his flag to honor all who have protected our country.  Our youngest engineers never cease to amaze me!

Once the warmer weather hit, our Pre-K friends also wanted to explore the world of bubbles!  They decided to repurpose some pipe cleaners to make their own bubble wands!  Not only did they get to become designers, but they also got to practice their shapes and embark on a sensory adventure!  We had so much fun creating these wands, and I was so proud of their perseverance when the challenge got a little tricky!  This challenge actually led to a second bubble challenge as well.  The Pre-K students wanted to find a way to make more bubbles at a faster pace, so they designed their own foamerators!  We had a blast!  There is just something magical about bubbles that never leaves you even as you get older.

Our kindergarten engineers got to see the final results of their recycled paper!  They even had some ideas for how to improve their process for creating it next time to make it stronger and more durable.  The kindergarteners have also been working hard on drafting their blueprints for their solar ovens!  They are so excited to build them and test them out this week!  

Our first grade engineers are completely enthralled by the world of magnetic levitation!  They have completed all of their research experiments and used what they learned to imagine and plan out their very own maglev trains!  They are carefully following their blueprints, and they are working hard on creating, testing, and improving their designs!  We can't wait to see the finished products this week!

Our second grade engineers have been working hard to develop their oil spill clean-up processes and make sure their ideas were under budget.  Right now, they are in the process of testing their designs to see what works well, what can be improved, and how they can more effectively spend their money.  It's been amazing to watch the cross-curricular connections that the students have been making throughout this unit, especially in the areas of science, math, and writing.  You can tell the depth of their learning by the way that they are able to apply it to real-life scenarios.  

Our third grade engineers have entered the world of simple machines!  They did some research about the six main types of simple machines: an inclined plane, a pulley system,  a lever, a wheel and axle, a screw, and a wedge.  Then, they embarked on a scavenger hunt through the school to find some real-life examples of these types of machines hard at work!  The best part of this mini unit was having the students get the chance to test out how each simple machine worked!

Our fourth grade engineers have been working hard on exploring different combinations of circuits with their trinket tray tools.  They are using what they discovered about circuits to create schematic diagrams for their alarm circuits that they are excited to build this week!

We are looking forward to the adventures that await during our last full week of school!