Minecraft

Our end of year project has been Minecraft.  Thanks to our donors who purchased a MinecraftEdu license for us so that we could have a safe learning environment.  This project was also a collaboration with the Thinkery.  The students were tasked with creating a community.  Second through fifth grade participated in this community.  They decided what buildings we needed and they built them either on their own or with others in the room.  They learned many SEL lessons while collaborating on this project.  They built things like libraries, swimming pools, water slides, roller coasters, homes, restaurants, zoos, schools, tree houses, parkour stations, underground caves, underwater science labs, and much more.  I'm super proud of their teamwork, building skills, and their pride on our society online!

5th graders are Transportation Engineers!

Our 5th grade Little Longhorns have been working on Transportation Engineering while they design a Maglev System.  In preparation for their design, they tested different magnets and recorded their results.  They determined the best ways to make this "floating" conveyor belt system for a fictional toy store in Japan.  The process taught them about life in Japan and what the school system is like there.  Some were shocked and amazed at the differences.  To make their system the students had to work in teams and share their testing results, share their ideas for a system, and problem solve solutions if the first try didn't work.  I'm really proud of their efforts and their end results!

Testing disc magnets for what we decided to call "repel-ability"

It's true magnets work even in water!

More tests with water and disc magnets.

He is explaining why those two magnets will not stay together.

One of the first ideas for a Maglev system.

Another Maglev System plan

I'm building it!  

Testing to see if their design worked!

Some ideas were more complex than others!

Their design worked!  Now for the test to see how many marbles it holds!

Can the magnets hold a load?

More testing!  Their system worked!

Putting the last touches on their system

First design did not work so they are off to find a way to fix it!

It works!!  It works!!