2nd grade simple machines

2nd graders learned all about the simple machines and then built using them in this pre-robotics unit.  They learned to follow the build cards for 8 different creations.  They used tenacity, patience, and other problem solving skills to build these projects.  They built with a partner and learned how to best share the responsibilities of the project.  Once they completed all projects, they were given time to "free build" and that's when their creativity took over!  Some used the basics of something they already built, but made it uniquely their own.  Others started over completely and just imagined new possibilities.  It was such a fun process to watch for me!  As usual, thank you for sharing your children with me.  Ask them what their favorite project was.

Ms. Adams

Here are some photos of the process:

A boat for two friends to enjoy.

Which type of push (long vs. short) helps the car move farther?

A car that tracks the number of tire rotations.

Battle of the spinners!

Spinners and Robots!

Proud robot creators.

Working together to get the robot built.

Proud robot creator

An enhanced see saw

They decided that their car needed a ramp for extra challenge.

Everyone built each project!

A robot hockey game

"The most amazing boat ever" 

Each student built each project

PreK houses project

The architects and builders working hard around the conference table!

For this unit, we pretended we were architects and city planners.  The students learned the difference between urban, suburban, and rural ways of life.  They discussed how your lifestyle would change based on the type of house you lived in and how your environment impacts this.  We discussed why houses are built out of different materials depending on the temperature outside and the types of things that are available in the community.  The students chose the type of house that they wanted to build and we talked about stability and sustainability.  They drew out their plans for their houses and got into groups to figure out how to best build their homes.  Then it was the magical building days!  We used things from the recycling bin to build our homes.  After the students were sure their homes were stable, we were ready for the big test against earthquake and tornado!  For the earthquake we tested our homes on a pan of jello.  The tornado test was against a strong fan. Here are some photos of the process from plan to build to testing.

3rd grade robotics

Our 3rd grade Little Longhorns are robotics experts!  They learned how to build and program their robots using the Lego WeDo kits.  They received a higher level programming challenge this year since they had some experience building from last year.  They rose to the challenge!  We were able to have soccer kickers, goalies, and cheerleaders all participate in our soccer match.  We are still building now, but I just couldn't wait to share what they have done so far!  Scroll all the way down for the video of the soccer match.  

The building process

more building 

building

 It's challenging to find what went wrong and fix it

Programming takes a lot of tries before it's right.

Cheerleaders need motivational words!

Getting the kicker just right... the right power, the right amount of rotations.

We learned a lot and had a ton of fun!

Some of our goalies even keep score!  Advanced programming!

Kicker vs. Kicker who will score the goal?

Goalie vs Kicker

Their goalie keeps score!

Kickers, goalies, and cheerleaders all have important roles in a robotic soccer match!

Cheerleaders are important as well!

This kick resulted in a GGGOOOOAAAAALLLLL!

What a great kick!

Kicker vs goalie of a soccer match in action!

In the action of the soccer match!

Ms. Hernandez's class was the Blazers vs the Patriots and Ms. Wakim's class had 5 teams playing against each other: Underdogs vs. Choppers vs. Eagles vs. Cowboys vs Bulldogs