Trip to the University of Michigan Chemical Engineering

On Tuesday, we took a field trip to the North Campus of the University of Michigan to check out some interesting things in the Chemical Engineering labs. 

January So Far...

January is off to a rollicking good start in the 5/6. (Snow Days excluded, or perhaps enjoyed.) Here's a long, rambling recap of some of the things we've done with these first eight days of January.

A quiet work period in the middle of a very busy two weeks. 

Separating iron, salt, and sand

As part of an ongoing study of water, filtration, compounds, and mixtures, students are currently working in small groups to design a procedure to separate this:

A mixture of sand, salt, and iron

Into this: 

Separated samples of iron, salt, and sand

It requires a deepening understanding of many of the concepts we've been working with this year, including filtration, mixtures, and evaporation. It also requires brainstorming a plan with their partners, as well as crafting a detailed procedure to follow. 

Checking out the magnified structures of iron, salt, and sand 

Our class lately. . .

It's been difficult to adequately sum up what's been happening at school lately, as we've been very busy! 

Stream table workshop at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History

On Thursday, we visited the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History for a stream table workshop. We built and tested filters in small groups (and using different materials than our classroom filters), and spent time exploring a large stream table. We used it to observe water flow and erosion, and experimented with methods of curbing it.

Science: Filtration investigation

Various filter designs

As part of our ongoing study of water, watersheds, and water quality, we began a discussion today about water filtration.

Investigating Water

Water, Water, Everywhere

Last Thursday, as part of ongoing science unit on water use and water quality, the 5-6s collected samples from various locations in and around SK.

Eva and Niko make observations of their water sample.

Then, on Tuesday, we had a class discussion about the kinds of observations they made and whether or not those observations were objective or subjective.

Collecting water samples....

Today we collected water samples around the school to see how we can assess water quality.

Field Trip: Mary Beth Doyle

We took a field trip this afternoon to Mary Beth Doyle Park, the location of the capstone of the Malletts Creek restoration project. We'll be doing a lot of work with watersheds this year, visiting key locations along Washtenaw County waterways. 

Read more about Mary Beth Doyle Park here! 

Watersheds, Wet Meadows, and Long Walks

Today the fifth and sixth graders started work on watersheds. They started by making models and looking at rain flow and point source pollution. We ended the day with a walk to the wet meadow and food forest at Buhr Park.

     

 

Spring Trip 2014: Fun with static electricity!

As part of our tour of the Niagara Power Project, we had a hands-on experience with a Van de Graff generator. 

Lee and Karenna

Student Blogs: Christopher writes about our Bigfoot films

During the Mythology theme, our class made videos about Bigfoot. The videos were Bigfoot because Bigfoot is a myth. We made them to demonstrate good and bad science. Almost everyone had some bad science in their videos. A lot of us made people faking Bigfoot. 

In the video by Eleanor, Emma, and Margaret, Bigfoot specialist Pearl Green is hunting for Bigfoot. In Christopher, Gabe, and David’s, two normal people trying to fake Bigfoot. In Adi, KK, and Keira’s video, Adi is a reporter and Keira keeps faking Bigfoot. In Matthew, Lee, and Evan’s, Matthew was a stupid scientist who was trying to find Bigfoot. Lee is a faker and Evan is a hunter. 

Quotes about Bigfoot: 

Lee “I had an awesome costume.” 

Matthew “It was fun demonstrating bad science” 

Marcel “My costume was kind of embarrassing.”

During math, Sam had us dip our feet in paint to measure foot length and gait. Using that data, we made scatter plots and histograms.

2014 Spring Trip: The Niagara Power Project

NOTE: Whoops! Here's a brief blog post from our 2014 Spring Trip that apparently never got posted. I'm publishing it one year late partially so that there's a more complete record of that amazing trip, and partially because it's a cool photo of Sydney that might otherwise go to waste.

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You may remember that we spent some time learning about dams earlier in the year. Our studies then included students role playing a character with a specific vested interest in building or opposing a dam near the town. Each student wrote a persuasive essay articulating their position.

Our simulation was about a small, rural town that was about sixty miles from the next nearest city. While touring the massive Niagara Power Project, we found that though the scales were radically different, the issues were very similar, including the controversial acquisition of tribal lands to make way for construction.

You can read a little more about the history of the site here.

Home stretch!

As the end of the year fast approaches, projects are culminating! Here we see the 5/6s working on assembling their city in the atrium, as the 3/4s rehearse their play outside.

Meanwhile, Kaeli and Sydney are wiring their building up for light:

Bigfoot videos

Bigfoot? Or an elaborate (or not-so-elaborate) hoax?

We've spent a couple of weeks investigating the validity of the scientific evidence supporting the existence of Bigfoot. Now we're taking what we've learned and working in small groups to write, perform, and film short videos demonstrating some of the common "errors in scientific thinking" that we've seen again and again when people investigate these kinds of claims.

Bigfoot Math: Measuring foot length and stride patterns

As part of our investigation of Big Foot lore, we're evaluating the methodology of the evidence gathered. 

In Math, we spent some time creating and measuring a range of human stride patterns: 

STEM: Desktop natural selection

A predator prepares to feed. 

We spent our STEM time today with a simulation that we called "Desktop Natural Selection." We broke into three-person groups, each with a specific role:

Cryptozoology: pondering Big Foot

Our current theme is Mythology, and we've spent much of this week studying the (pseudo)science of cryptozoology, focused largely on the myth of Big Foot. 

We kicked off the week by viewing some infamous footage:

Ford River Rouge Plant tour

We visited the Henry Ford River Rouge Plant last Friday, the highlight of which was touring the factory where the Ford F-150 is assembled. 

Continuing and revising our mini-studies

We've been continuing our work on our mini-studies, as mentioned in a previous blog entry. 

Pencils, tagged and being tracked

Students were given three choices for the subject of their study last week, and we've spent the time since then collecting data and fine-tuning (or radically redesigning) our data collection instruments.