{Fall Festival}

Albert Einstein was our November Scientist of the Month.

Kindergarten through second grade drew and wrote about Einstein's work as a Scientist.

Third through fifth grades looked closely at Albert Einstein's words and reflected on what his words meant to them.

We celebrated Fall and Thanksgiving by doing a unit all about the harvest.

In week one, kindergarten and first grade got to take a close look at the parts of corn and how it grows. We read about the life cycle of corn and planted some corn kernels in our window. We then conducted an exploration with corn and soda to make our kernels dance.

Kindergarten and First Grade completed Scarecrow Rotations in week two. After reading Otis and the Scarecrow, they designed scarecrows using pattern blocks, constructed scarecrows with Wikki Stixs, and used ChatterPix Kids to make a video of how they would make a scarecrow smile!

Click the picture above to find your Kinder or Firstie's ChatterPix.

Second and third Grade spent this unit learning how to use Google Drawings. We used the shapes and arrows tool to create a life cycle of corn.

In this unit, fourth and fifth grade explored circuitry by using Makey Makey to turn harvest vegetables into pianos and bongo drums!!

As always, you can find more pictures and videos on your grade level's page!

{Things that Go Bump in the Night}

October was such a fun month in Launch! We met our third Scientist of the Month and discovered she worked with some pretty spooky science concepts.

Like always, we began with her words:

"I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift or easy." ~Marie Curie

Curie teaches us that we have to work towards reaching our goals and that it is not an easy journey.

We were so impressed to learn that Curie was the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize and she is the only person to receive to Nobel Prizes in two different areas of science!

Our next learning took place in the Bat Cave! Students had to enter silently and follow the flashlight path to their seats.

 

In week one, kindergarten and first grade read and watched about bats and made a swooping bat. 

They learned about bones in week two and investigated vertebrates and invertebrates.

And explored the world of owls in the third week. We learned that owls cannot move their eyes. We made owl viewers so that we could see the world like owls do.

Second grade made straw rocket bats and third grade completed a hanging bat challenge in week one.

In week two, second and third grade both did the Skeleton Zip Line Challenge.

 

Week three found our second and third graders virtually dissecting owl pellets! 

You can check it out here: http://kidwings.com/virtual-pellet/

In week one, fourth and fifth graders made bat gliders (I didn't get a single picture!!)

In week two, they practiced reverse design. I showed them a photograph of the final product and asked them to figure out how to make it. It was pretty challenging!

Fourth and fifth grade also received their first STEM Career talk form Martin Stancil, an Orthopedic Physician's Assistant.