Collaboratory Corner

Designing from the Heart

All of our Collaboratory Cubs have been rolling up their sleeves and tackling some major projects this week!  

Our Pre-K students collected items to test to see if they would float or sink.  They even got to test the apples that we used in one of our previous challenges.  When the students realized that the apples could float, they used the apple pieces to make a boat that allowed all of the items they tested to float!  Their apple boats turned out so cool, and I'm so bummed that I forgot to take a picture of them!

Our kindergarten engineers have been learning all about how to work through each step of the Engineering Design Process, which of course led to us to reading one of my favorite books:  The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires.  The students loved seeing how the little girl in the story worked through the steps of the Engineering Design Process just like they do.  This book is also an excellent resource for teaching perseverance and lends itself to a discussion about what students can do if they start to feel frustrated or upset when they are working on a design.  After we read and discussed the story, the students were challenged to create something that would demonstrate something magnificent about them (a favorite hobby, interest, etc.) so that we could all get to know each other better while working through the steps of the Engineering Design Process.  The students imagined different possibilities of what they could make, sketched the "blueprints" of their ideas on our design tables, and got right to work creating and improving.  I was so impressed with their creativity and determination!  When the students finished their creations, they shared them with the class and we held a "Magnificent Thing Parade" to showcase their hard work!

Our first graders have started construction on their "Dream Neighborhood" project!  They have been learning all about neighborhoods in Social Studies, and they were excited to be able to dream up, plan, and build their version of what they think the perfect neighborhood would be.  Students discussed what they wanted to include in their neighborhood, and then they got to work designing and creating each location.  I was so proud of the students' smart thinking when they were choosing what to put in their neighborhood.  The first places they put on their list (after homes and places to live) were the police station, the fire station, and the hospital.  It's so important for our young ones to know the importance of those places, and it warmed my heart that the students knew to prioritize those places over different stores and restaurants.  I can't wait to see the finished neighborhoods!

Our second graders have been thinking about ways to help local farms.  One idea they came up with was designing ways to get apples from the trees to collection baskets without getting bruised or cut.  This way, more apples would be able to be successfully harvested even if they weren't actually hand-picked off the trees.  Take a look at some of their prototypes!

Our third grade engineers were investigating our very own TES Garden, and they discovered a huge problem: birds have been eating all of the seeds out of our sunflowers!  The students started doing some research, and they created an amazing way to solve the problem!  They are going to design and create scarecrows to put in the four corners of the garden to protect it from the birds!  Our third grade designers have already drafted their blueprints, and they are set to begin construction on the scarecrows this week!

Our fourth graders have been working hard on designing and creating apple display stands for local farms so that more customers will notice the different varieties of apples and want to purchase them!  Each team of students communicated different design ideas and drafted many blueprints.  When each team decided on a final blueprint, the teams created prototypes of their designs.  The students did a great job using the provided materials and incorporating many math concepts to ensure that their designs would be successful.

I can't wait to see what next week has in store for our Collaboratory Cubs!