The work, rants, and ideas from room 231!
The 5th graders at Daly studied force, motion, friction, gravity, and the relationships between these terms. They also went through the RFP (Request For Proposal) process. Their goal was to sell an original roller coaster to Daly Elementary. This roller coaster needed to be powered by an alternative energy source. The video below shows some of the activities we did during this process.
2015 Coasters from Frank Fitzpatrick on Vimeo.
Room 661 took their best shot with lasers and the study of reflection and refraction. We are working on how light interacts with the world around us. We defined reflection and refraction and talked about how we use reflections every day. The students were split into collaborative groups that were challenged with hitting targets that were placed around the room, including on the ceiling. The placement of the targets and the direction that the students had to aim their lasers (see directional arrows under the stools) forced them to use mirrors to reflect the light around the room in order to hit the targets. A dark room + laser pointers + mirrors + awesome teamwork + targets with bullseyes = Science fun!
Students were asked to predict what it would take to illuminate a light bulb. They didn’t know the materials that they had available when they drew their prediction. Each pair of students was asked to light bulb at first and then had additional challenges given to them.
I am pretty sure the next Roller Coaster Tycoon will be coming from Room 661. The roller coasters were created using pipe insulation and a marble. In order to be successful, the roller coasters needed to have at least one loop and 2 changes in direction of 180 degrees. The classroom was full of energy, “good noise”, and cheers. Everyone did an amazing job building their roller coasters.
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