Collaboratory Corner

Extraordinary Engineers at Work

As always, our #CollaboratoryCubs have been hard at work tackling many new and exciting adventures.  Take a look at some of the great things that they have been doing!

Our Pre-K engineers have continued working on their teamwork challenges.  The students were challenged to build the "Tallest Teamwork Tower" that they could, first using the foam blocks and then using the foam blocks and shaving cream combined.  The students investigated why their second tower was more successful, and then they applied what the learned to create other types of towers.

Our kindergarten engineers began their "Designing Bridges" unit this week by reading the first part of the unit's intro story:  Javier Builds a Bridge.  The students discussed Javier's problem and already started to brainstorm some ways that they could solve it.  Some of the key words introduced in the story were "sturdy" and "stable" because Javier was in need of a stronger bridge, which led to the kinders exploring and testing some different building materials and deciding if they were "sturdy" or not.  After testing the materials, the students reported out on their findings and evaluated which materials would be safest for bridge-building. 

Our first grade engineers began their "Designing Lighting Systems" unit by starting to read the intro story: Omar's Time to Shine.  We learned about the Valley of the Kings, which is where Zane, who is an optical engineer, was working on developing a coating that would protect the paintings from fading due to light exposure.  Our first graders decided to do their own experiment regarding the effects of fading.  They made some "Collaboratory Cave" pictures and we cut them in half so that we could put each half in a different area in the room with different light exposure.  This way, by next week, we will be able to compare what happens to the pictures in the two different locations.  

Our second grade engineers began their "Designing Water Filters" unit by reading the first part of the intro story: Saving Salila's Turtle.   The story takes place in India along the Ganges River, so our students did some research about the Ganges River to gain a better understanding of the magnitude of some of the problems that exist in that region.  This research led the students to learning more about the global water crisis and the effect that it is having on people and other living things all around the world.  Our students are currently brainstorming ways that they can help promote awareness of the water crisis and take action to help those suffering all around the world. 

Our third grade engineers finished up their "Pumpkin Elevator" systems!  The students were very creative in their designs and really thought about how these systems could help people with different needs.

Our fourth grade engineers continued working on their "Designing Windmills" unit by investigating how different materials could "catch" the wind in the most effective ways.  Students designed, created, and tested kite prototypes to explore which materials were the best wind catchers.  This research is going to prove very useful when we begin blueprinting our windmill designs later in this unit.

We are looking forward to continuing our Collaboratory journey in the weeks ahead!