Apocalypse Project Brochure Products

Here are some pictures of the brochure products the kids made from the Apocalypse Space Project!

Projects in the Making

I have some project ideas to finish off the year that I am so PUMPED about! I got one idea from www.sciencebuddies.org (if you have not visited this site, as well as shared it with your students, you guys are missing out!!!!). I am going to have the kids build CATAPULTS!!!!! I'm so excited!  I will provide straws, spoons, little cups, skewers, paper, popsicle sticks, glue, and tape for the kids to use to build. Unfortunately, this inspiration came a little tardy because it needs to be started next week! So for next year, I may look to see if Lowe's or Home Depot will donate some wood, hammers, nails, etc. so the students can build large scale catapults. For this year, they will only use what I can provide cheaply and quickly! I think they will have so much fun!

I got another STEM project idea from the Baylor Med Center kids STEM workshop. This will be a short mini project, maybe 4 days. I did it with my tutoring group and they loved it! They will be challenged to create an annular ring aircraft. Just in case you don't know what it is (I didn't know beforehand either!), here is a picture.

They will create them out of paper, skewers, straws, string, etc. I'm so excited! Official project posts to come!

Project: Aborted #2

Another project I had to abort was "Amazing Animals: Adaptations." We never even started it because we ran out of time. Next year I hope to get to this one!

Driving Question:
How does an animal's environment affect its features, behaviors, and interactions with living and non-living things?

Project Requirements:

-Create a new animal whose physical features are determined by its environment.

-The animal must have a name.

-Create a poster  that describes the animal.

-Compare new animal to animals with similar features.

-Explain why the new animal has each feature.

-Think of possible inherited traits the animal may have.

-Explain the learned behaviors your new animal has.

I was going to have students pick the ecosystem out of a hat. They would also pick cards from a hat if their animal was nocturnal, insect, reptile, mammal, or fish, etc. This would provide variability amongst the groups. I would show the "Planet Earth" series in the background while the groups were working as well (just to give some inspiration!).

My sugar glider, Fleur, gave me inspiration for this project! She is a nocturnal marsupial from Australia! (Yes, that is an opposable thumb! So cool!)

If interested in project plan, leave me your email in a comment so I can share it with you!

Project: Aborted

Well I had two projects that I really wanted to do with my kiddos, however, time always plays the best antagonist! The 5th 6 Weeks was all about life science (which is always the kids favorite!!!!!).

The first Project I started, but was not able to complete. I dubbed it "Botany" for lack of a better title.

Driving Question:
Why are plants a necessary part of an ecosystem?

Project Requirements:

• Create a diagram of the Life Cycle
• Create a diagram of the Carbon Dioxide Cycle
• Plant, Grow, and tend a vegetable plant

The students learned and tested the water retention for different kinds of soil. Then we planted our radish seeds! While waiting for the sprouts, the students created a diagram of the Plant Life Cycle. For the Carbon Dioxide Cycle, I had the kids create a comic explaining to lower grade the Carbon Dioxide Cycle. These came out great! I showed them the "Carbon Cycle" video on www.studyjams.com and also played the "Photosynthesis" Karaoke song provided on Study Jams. The kids loved it!

It blows my mind how many students have no background knowledge of gardening! But, I am so glad this project provides them the experience to build it! The kids enjoyed getting down and dirty in the soil, and also tending to their plant. I often see students talking and taking care of their plants, like a pet! It is too funny. This project will just last until the end of the year! I did not present the project in the typical fashion I normally do with a Hook, Challenge Brief, and Rubric breakdown. We just did each activity separately. Next time, it will be done in the proper way! Here is a picture of the seedlings (the seed coat is coming off!!!).

Next year I hope to do this project in early February, so the kids will be able to harvest the radishes. I was also planning on doing carrots with the kiddos, but did not have time. Next year!

The Apocalypse: Earth and Space Science

Teaching students about Space is tons of fun, however, it is difficult for many to grasp the abstract concepts because they cannot manipulate, see, or touch the planets, asteroids, etc.While brainstorming for this project, a colleague of mine came up with a phenomenal idea. Kids (well I think the general public included) are fascinated by apocalyptic events (of course including Zombies!). She came up with the idea that if some apocalyptic events happen to the Earth, its physical features and living creatures would alter. So, if these events happened, how could our school district and the general public be ready to thrive after such changes? The students were challenged to create a brochure that informs the public about the changes and predict what may happen as a result of the changes. I told the students the following apocalyptic changes happened to the Earth:

1. The Earth's rotation slowed to cause 36 hour days.
2. The Earth was pushed back a few light years.
3. The Earth takes 400 days to make one revolution around the sun.

Here are the Driving Question and Project Requirements:

Driving Question:

How do Earth's characteristics affect our daily lives?

Create a brochure that includes:

• List that identifies the characteristics of the Earth, Sun, and Moon
• Create a Double-Bubble or Venn Diagram comparing current characteristics of the Earth and Moon to the Earth after the “change”
• Survival Checklist
• Analyze and critique the Magic Treehouse Book "Midnight on the Moon" in an essay

The students needed to have sound knowledge about the Earth's current features before they could compare and predict the apocalyptic changes. I grouped students in pairs to ensure engagement of all students. During the "work" phase, one of the DIY's assigned was to write an essay about the Water Cycle. Most students met or exceeded my expectations! I think after 4 years of learning about the water cycle, the are starting to grasp it!

Another activity I assigned the kids was to create a model of the Earth, Moon, and Sun and the relationship of their movement, but also had to provide the limitations of their model. The kids worked with their table mates (groups of 5) and had to present the model and its limitations to the class. Here are some pics!

Some of the student products met my expectations, but many did not. Still many of them were unsure about vocabulary and features of the Earth, which hindered their ability to compare and predict. For next year, I may do more hands on labs for the students to help the acquisition of the concepts. I did a lab on the moon phases (I put a styrofoam ball on a stick, used a lamp in a dark room as the Sun, and had the kids turn counterclockwise to see the phases of the moon).  Unfortunately we were not able to get enough copies of the Midnight on the Moon novel either, so it had to be nixed from the project :(. 

I may try to fine tune the project for next year, add some more activities to the research/work phase, or maybe just change it altogether. Many students did not meet my expectation on the assessment. 

If you are interested in the project, leave your email in a comment and I will send the project plan and rubric to you!

Forces and Motion: K'Nex Cars Project

Thanks to the wonderful site www.donorschoose.com, I was able to do this project! I requested a Forces, Energy, and Motion K'NEX set to use with my project. Visit my Donor's Choose Page to check it out! This is another project that really motivated ALL of my students! I even had fun listening to their very intelligent conversations during this project! I wish I would have recorded the discussions, you would hardly believe 5th graders could sound like professional engineers talking about forces and motion! Because of a lack of materials (I could only get one Kit funded), there were VERY large groups of 6. I foresaw LOTS of arguments, so I created a "Peace Officer" for each classroom. I let the kids vote on who would be the best candidate. If arguments could not be solved in the group, a peace officer will be asked to mediate the situation and facilitate a meeting to solve the situation. I gave the peace officers a workshop on how to remain objective, how to calm students down, and how to help group members communicate with one another (warm/cool feedback). If you are interested in the Peace Officer protocol and warm/cool feedback Stems, leave me your gmail address and I will share the documents with you.

Here are the Project Requirements and Driving Question:

Driving Question:
How do forces affect our everyday lives?

Project Requirements:

• design a K'Nex car that travels the farthest distance without a motor
• create a design of your car
• include a written explanation of what forces are acting upon your car, what makes it travel the farthest?

The students researched questions I provided them. But this time, I created a page that had all research questions on it, and example STAAR questions to show how the information will be given on the STAAR test. Each student was responsible to know every single question. It was similar to a "jigsaw" where the students are experts on their questions and they teach the other students at their tables. I felt the students had a better grasp on the research questions and the information that all students needed to know for the test. 

After the research portion, I had the students build one of the cars from the K'NEX booklet. The purpose of this was not to give them an idea of how to create the design of their car, but to learn the function of each piece so they could create their own design. Here are some pictures.

Once they built these cars, the students started to discuss the design of their car. They needed to answer questions such as, "What size tires? Why?" or "Long or Short Car? Why?" The students were using the science vocabulary words they learned during their research like friction, inertia, gravity, mass, position, etc. They are so intelligent and the conversation came naturally for the students.

Students were required to use the Engineering Design Process to create the best design. They tested and retested. The students learned that to find the best design, you have to try several different designs and keep improving. Not using a motor was very challenging to the students. Some used rubberbands, others used a ramp, and while a few thought of creating a sail and using a fan. I did not let them look at the other designs in the K'NEX booklet because I didn't want their imagination and creativity to be hindered. They definitely performed to and above expectation! The boys especially loved this project. Many said, "This is the BEST project EVER!" Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside!

90% of students passed the assessment, several students earned a 100! This to me proves student interest and what they have learned!

Science Tutoring

For my science tutoring, I have been conducting is using projects. One project challenge we did (Thanks to the Baylor med center folks I saw at CAST) was to design a cell phone tower that is pleasing to the eye, over 30 cm tall, and can hold the transmitter (a plastic egg). The kids had a blast designing and testing! I provided yarn, clay, tape, wooden skewers, mini umbrellas, and plastic eggs (for transmitters). I gave them a budget, each item costing a certain amount, which they had to add, subtract, etc. Here are some of the designs!

Petroleum Exploration: Pasts to Profit From

Earth Science is by far my favorite! If I could get another degree, I would get my Geology degree. I love rocks and the Earth! It's fascinating. ANYWAY, for this project I worked with a Geologist from the petroleum field to design and give workshops during the project. I grouped kids into three. I chose someone, then they were able to choose someone, etc. This worked out great in some circumstances....but not all. Especially when friends chose friends. Before each student chose, I reminded them that choosing someone who will help them be motivated, stay on task, and be serious will help them achieve their goal. Most students, but not all listened to my word of advice. Here is the Driving Question and Project Requirements.

Driving Question:
How can we explore Earth's current landscape to identify the organisms and processes that create our past and present landscape?

project requirements:

create a 3D model of the Earth's surface and subsurface include ancient landforms such as deltas, canyons, and sand dunes in the subsurface of the model include 3 types of fossils within the model create 3 landforms such as deltas, canyons, and sand dunes on the surface of the model layer with different soil types and label age of each layer provide or create a petroleum and water reservoir in the subsurface of model create a topographical map of the subsurface and surface landforms- map must include a key and scale explore another group's model create a well log during exploration take a core sample of the model The kids created fossils out of clay. They learned about different kinds of fossils (molds, imprints, etc) and decided which kind they wanted to create. They had a lot of fun! One group thought to make an imprint of a spine with the metal wire of their spiral. Pretty neat!

The kids really enjoyed creating the landforms for their project. First they had to draw their topographical maps of where the landforms would be in the project, once approved after a desk crit, students were able to begin creating the landforms. We made them out of salt dough. It took much longer than anticipated for them to dry....BUT they LOVED getting their hands sticky and dirty making the landforms.

The geologist that helped me mastermind the project came to give the kids a workshop on the rock cycle. They filled in notes from the workshop on a graphic organizer (thinking map: flow map) that I designed on the computer. If you would like for me to share it with you, leave me a comment with your gmail! The geologist also said that she first fell in love with Geology in 5th grade. This made some of the kids perk up....maybe this 5th grade science teacher/class will inspire some of them to be scientists when they grow up!!!!!

During this project, I focused on the research questions the students were using and answering to endure understanding and mastery. I wrote the research questions for them to use, then they went and found the answers themselves. I provided one or two websites and videos to help confused students. I wrote each question on chart paper and had the kids "carousel" around, writing the answer that they found to each question on the paper. Here is a picture!




This was a great way for the students to see each other's answers and to make corrections to any incorrect research found. HOWEVER, I noticed that the students who didn't answer the specific question did not master it. So for the next project I did something new. (Will write about it in the next post about the next project.)

The kids final project turned out great. They were proud of their hard work and so was I! Unfortunately this project was the forever project (happened in December with Christmas programs, field trips, and parties galore!) so I had to cut it short. The kids were not able to explore other students' projects. But, now I know for next year that it needs to be altered.

After taking the assessment, about 75% of the kids proved mastery. I feel that sometimes poor test taking skills hinder the students. Through discussion, 95% of students were able to explain what they did for their project using correct vocabulary terms. Looks like I may need to give a workshop on test taking skills...

Hurricane Survival Kit: Exploring Circuits Project

This was definitely one of my favorite projects! I must give credit and thanks to my brilliant engineer husband who thought of this project and brilliant engineer brother who helped me fine tune the requirements. The kids really got into this project, especially since it was hurricane season when we did it! The groups were slightly larger than normal (groups of 5) because lack of materials I could provide for the circuits. For our project launch, I recruited one of the local news station meteorologists, Alan Holt, to come talk to the kids about what hurricanes are, how to use a hurricane tracking map, and some safety tips to keep in mind. Here I am with Alan (The tall, skinny one on the left!)




The kids were FLOORED when they met him. He was so sweet and signed his autograph for many of the students (I have 100!).

The kids were definitely interested after that! Here are the project requirements:

project requirements:

Create an emergency beacon that uses light, sound, and mechanical energy. Include food products that are sustainable and nutritious that don't need to be heated. Include an inventory list of all objects in the kit. Include a hurricane charting map that includes directions of how to use it Explain how the group built the emergency beacon Through this the kids learned about nutritional labels, general nutrition, and how to be prepared for a hurricane! I HOPE the parents were motivated to create or double check their own hurricane survival kits at home!   The most important part of this project was for the kids to learn about the different kinds of energy. To introduce a basic circuit, I had the kids make a complete circuit with a light bulb. Other than that, I dumped materials on the table and the kids got to work! ALL of the kids were so engaged with their hands on wires, motors, switches, and batteries to create the perfect circuit for their "beacon." I had not seen the kids work so well together….EVER….even to this day…..They couldn't wait to build new circuits….maybe I have several future electrical engineers?! Even my VERY unmotivated students were engaged and talking about the project. Here is a picture of some students building a circuit!

The kids did an excellent job presenting their kits and explaining their circuits. Most groups met or exceeded my expectations for this project! Woohoo!

AND it showed….98% of my students  passed the assessment. On the district benchmark assessment, most kids answered all questions about circuits and different forms of energy correctly! Big high five to the kiddos!

Density Submarine Project

Next in the Scope and Sequence were Physical Science TEKS. I think this is one of the hardest units/projects for the kids to understand, grasp, and learn. I launched the project by having the kids watch a Magic School Bus video about Sinking and Floating. I grouped the kids by who I thought would be able to collaborate well together. Of course, no group can be perfect. Here are the project requirements.

• Create a submarine that could float, sink, then float again. 
• Use the Engineering Design Process to create the submarine.
• Explain (using science vocabulary) how your submarine was able to float and sink.
• Keep an object (hand warmer) that is inside your submarine warm (conductors or insulators?)

This was the first project that the students had to do a lot of research and critical thinking to solve the mystery of making their submarine float after sinking. It was great to see them problem solve. They begged me for suggestions when their design didn't work as expected, and it was awesome saying, "Well at least you know what  did NOT work. Make a new design and try again!"

To introduce density to the students, we did a lab using cooking oil, vinegar, water, and a plastic ring. I put food coloring in each liquid. The kids poured the liquids into a graduated cylinder and watched with amazement how they all separated.

After the assessment was given, however, many students did not have a strong grasp of physical science. So back to the drawing board to tweak this project!

Strangely enough, I didn't take pictures (what was going through my head?!) so you will just have to imagine the wet floors of our science lab from testing all shapes and sizes of submarines! Some of the kids came up with neat ideas!

Leave your gmail address in a comment if you would like me to send you the rubric I made for this project.

Careers in Science Project

The goal of this project was to open the kids eyes to all of the fascinating jobs that involve science! Their minds were blown when they learned a chef and park ranger are scientists! I grouped the kids into similar interests of careers. Here are the project requirements:

Project Requirements:

• Create a list of 5 science careers.

• Choose a science career you are interested in.
• Research an important individual that has contributed to the science career you chose.
• Write a short report that includes the level of education necessary to succeed in the career of your choice,  an important contributing , what s/he did, when it happened, and how s/he did it, make sure to include a bibliography (list of resources)
• Conduct a science experiment using the Scientific Method in the career field you chose.
• Provide a Lab Report that includes a Summary of the Experiment, the Question or Problem of the experiment, a hypothesis, a materials/equipment list, a step by step procedure, name the variables, a table AND graph to show observations, and conclusions of direct and indirect evidence.

The kids had a great time because they got to choose what experiment they wanted to do. Since this was the beginning of the year, I did not conduct as many desk crits and I was very disappointed in the final product. Most kids worked very hard on the experiment, however, when it came to typing up the lab report and the career report, the products were not up to par. By conducting more desk crits and checking in with the students about where they stand in their project, I feel that the products could exceed expectations.

If you are interested in the project plan, rubric, etc. just leave me a comment with your email and I will share them with you through Google Docs.

Here are some pictures of the kids learning how to use Science Tools before they start their own experiments.

It's Been Awhile!

It's been awhile since I've posted! This school year has flown by! Enjoying teaching through the PBL model. My goal has been to bring in lots of professionals to introduce students to possible careers in science. I'm going to start posting about all the projects we have been working on since the beginning of the year. I feel I must be doing something right if after every project I hear the kids telling each other, "Man! That was the best project EVER!" Gives me motivation to go the extra mile for these kids!