We continued our final plane launches in Mrs. Salo's class today. Next ... we'll do a lesson on framing a video shot using our iPads :-) Part 1
Part 2
Tower, this is Ghost Rider requesting a flyby.
We launched the last of our airplanes in Mrs. Benson's class today. Results are classified. I could tell you, but then... (JK, the longest was 216", the heaviest was 0.90 oz). [embed]https://youtu.be/bRLRVagVf5s[/embed]
Seeding young minds.
Our flowers have been pollinated, and if they weren't plastic then that means the plant could make seeds. But then, how do the seeds get around? Mrs. Adams class braved the snowy weather today to count acorns in our raised garden beds. The further the bed was from the tree, the fewer acorns we found in each bed. The kiddos all agreed that they would want to be in the bed with the fewest acorns - it might mean less acorn friends, but a better chance of growing up into a tree. Of course, most of what we found were lids, so there must be some pretty happy squirrels around Tritt!
We found over 300 acorns in the bed directly under the tree, over 100 in the one next to it, then 74, then 24, and then fewer than 10 in the furthest garden bed. 
And then we played for a couple of minutes, because snow.
We don't always use toys for science...
.... but when we do we are learning about forces in Kindergarten! [embed]https://youtu.be/U5FK1ia-LjE[/embed]
No leverage on a snow day...
Hard to have leverage on a snow day, unless you are making your own levers!!! Mrs. Blick's class was barely distracted by all the snow coming down today!
Building Inclined Planes
Other the next 3 weeks we are building Inclined Planes, Levers and Pulleys in 4th grade. Mrs. DeMeester's class is wrapping up the inclined planes today:
Wrapping up Pollination
Mrs. G's and Friend's class wrap up pollination:
Mrs. Lupiani's class wraps up Snap Circuits.
Jack/Jack/Will experimented with parallel circuits in ways no other class had, while Mary Scott made a game controller for her team's circuit board! Way to wrap up our series on circuits!
Here comes the sun!
We made sun trackers in 2nd grade this week. Next up will take a look at the sun's shadow as it moves across Tritt throughout the day! This will be vital information as we work to solve our STEM challenge: how to protect the playground from hot, sunny days!
Busy as bees!
Mrs. Moffett's class learned how difficult pollination could bee! We used silk flowers, pipe cleaners and corn starch to try pollinating flowers just like bees, moths, birds, wind and of course, gardeners!
Girl inventor perfects plates for kids!
Ruby Lucken, who spends much of her free time inventing things, created the Food Cubby for kids who want plates where foods don't mush up together. Photo by Bill Brown Photography.
This is a great story from the Denver Post about a Kindergardner using the engineering design process to solve a problem:
Ruby Lucken didn't like different foods touching on her plate. Two years ago, when she was 6, her parents got rid of their plastic-divider kid plates in a purge of kitchen cabinets.
Ruby, a pint-sized inventor who loves to tinker, used some modeling clay to create a curved wall on her plate, and then wondered if a different material would suction better.
Her parents lent her some seed money, and she tested prototypes until she found something that met her approval — it suctioned so well that it lifted the plate.
So then she worked with an engineer to create some easy pull-off tabs, and last summer she started selling her invention — called the Food Cubby — at local farmers markets.
To her family’s surprise, this simple solution is also good for people with special needs or older people who need help at mealtime. The semi-circle cubbies suction onto your plate, but they do more than just keep foods separate. The cubbies create a “wall” to help push food onto a fork or spoon.
It's really quite simple.
Fourth grade is continuing their work on simple machines this semester with Mrs. Blick's class creating inclined planes with the VEX construction kits and the Autodesk Inventor app on the classroom tablets.
The Great Backyard Bird Count
GBBC_Hero_Downy Woodpecker-6653_Sascha Forte_PA_2013
The Great Backyard Bird Count is a free, fun, and easy event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations. Participants are asked to count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the four-day event and report their sightings online at birdcount.org. Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from beginning bird watchers to experts, and you can participate from your backyard, or anywhere in the world. We'll be working on this citizen science project in both Green Paws and Science Detectives over the next couple of weeks.
Raccoon Tracks!
Found it!
We took our first group hike of the semester in Green Paws today. We visited the Nature Nook, Vertical Gardens, the new vertical gardens at the front of the school, and the Nature Trail. Lots of interesting things out there in the winter, but our favorite was the raccoon tracks by the pond!
How Do You Lift A Lion?
Natural Magnetism
Magnetic Goo - Howie
Magnetic Goo - Sila
Magnetic Goo - Nila
The Science Detectives took the art of making goo to a whole new level today. By adding iron oxide to our mixture, the final products were able to suck up a rare earth magnet. We used: 2 oz white glue, 2 Tbl water, 1 Tbl Fe3O4, and 2 oz of Sta-Flo laundry starch.
Magnetic Goo - Lucas
Magnetic Goo - Anna
Radon Test Kits due next week!
We had some awesome visitors from the Center for Disease Control in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades before the Holiday Break. The two scientists had great information on STEM careers and science lessons for each grade. 
They focused the lessons on radon, a poisonous gas that can naturally collect in buildings. Fifth graders even got to experiment with dry ice and radioactive lead! Your student came home with a radon home testing kit and letter explaining what we were up to. It is a really neat opportunity to contribute to the CDC’s database on radon levels in Georgia – a real-world “citizen science” project. 
The class that mails in the most completed kits (postage is free and you only have to hang them up over one weekend) will win a pizza party from the folks at the CDC! But time is running out - All completed test kits must be mailed in after this weekend!
The game has changed.
In Kindergarten we are continuing our work on pushes and pulls (SKP2b),and this week used the toys, like blocks and balls, to see how different objects move (SKP2a).
My favorite was the zigzag motion of the GoldieBlox Spinning Machine.
If you haven't checked out this company, you are missing out! Their commercials are a trip, and their message - getting more young girls involved in engineering - is a great one! Check out Founder / CEO Debbie Sterling on TEDx.
You gotta know it...
It's electric! Fifth Grade is exploring our Snap Circuit sets this week in the Science Lab. The hands-on challenge reinforces the electricity unit being taught in the classroom. Students discussed "open" vs. "closed" circuits (S5P3b), built examples, and recorded the creations in their journals. Mrs. Swierski's class is featured below. 
Boogie
Woogie 
Woogie
Crouching Tiger, Simple Machines!
Our Fourth Graders capstone STEM challenge in the Science Lab this semester centers around forces and simple machines. Students will demonstrate the relationship between the application of a force and the resulting change in position and motion on an object; identifying simple machines (lever, pulley, wedge, inclined plane, screw, wheel and axle) and explaining their uses (S4P3a). The students have been given a scenario where a tiger has been trapped in an enclosure, and it is up to them to help the zookeepers figure out how to rescue it. We will also study animal adaptations (S4L2a) and regularly check in with the tigers at the San Diego Safari Park using their live-stream video feed.