Building Bridges!

Building Bridges

Today, in science we learned about force. Force is a pushing or a pulling on an object. Students watched and listened as Doug from Mystery Science explained how engineers build bridges.

Doug presented various types of bridges:

Arch Bridge

photo from Creative Commons:By Glabb (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Suspension Bridge

photo from Creative Commons by SageSolar: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sagesolar/7858490506

 

 

Truss Bridge 

photo from Creative Commons: By NotFromUtrecht (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Students worked in engineering teams to build their own bridge made out of two pieces of paper. Marbles were used to test their strength. The key to this experiment was to make mistakes, so that teams could observe what they needed to fix for their next time. In this manner, students really practiced growth mindset. 

First, students tried out different types of bridges and noted their strength

Truss bridges:

 

 

 

 Arch Bridges

 And the winners were:

First place with a total of 60 marbles! 

 They created a lot of support for their truss bridge by crumpling up paper as a base

Second place- 18 marbles!

 

Everyone had a lot of fun learning to build bridges. We had a lot of ties!

 

 

 

What was a challenge you came across in your bridge building and how did you try to overcome it?

What other type of bridges will you try to build next and why?

Hour of Code

Hour(s) of Code!

Hour of Code is an annual event to promote Computer Science. According to their website: 

The Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. The 2017 Computer Science Education Week will be December 4-10, but you can host an Hour of Code all year round. Computer Science Education Week is held annually in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906). 

We're starting Hour of Code and changing the name to Hours of Code!

Thank you, Hadi Partovi for creating this project!

To prepare for our coding lessons, we did a collaborative unplugged activity involving building. The challenge was to build a free-standing tower out of 20 pieces of spaghetti. At the top of the tower was a marshmallow. Only 1 meter of tape and 1 meter of string were allowed to create the tower. 

This building challenge was a great chance to practice the strategy of trial and error. If your design didn't work, try another tactic! 

In preparation, we watched a building video on BrainPop.

Then it was time to start building!

Some spread out the sticks for a broad base. 

The pyramid base was an idea from the BrainPop video! 

After about 18 minutes, the building time was up!

1st Place :: 22 inches

2nd Place :: 20in

3rd Place :: 17 in

Everyone enjoyed the first build! 

After learning about the importance of trial and error, the class signed into our Hour of Code class. 

We needed our secret image to sign in! What a cute array! 

Let the coding begin!

What are you enjoying about the Hour of Code?

What skills have you learned?

What can you do with coding?

Happy Veterans Day 2017!

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On November 11, America celebrates Veterans Day. It is the daywe honor the men and women who have served in the armed force s. Veterans Day is a national holiday! 

Photo by Mrs. Yollis

Veterans: Men and women who have served in the armed forces.

Soldiers: Men and women who are currently serving in the armed forces.

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Here is a link to an informative Brainpop video titled Veterans Day

Here is a link to a wonderful BrainPop video entitled
Armed Forces. 

What did you learn about the 

Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard.

Here are some fabulous mind maps made in class!

Isla's Mind Map

 

 Alexa's Mind Map

 Ariel's Mind Map

Tyler's Mind Map

Rebecca's Mind Map

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To help us learn about Veterans Day and the men and women who serve,  I asked my students if any of their family members are in the military or were in the military. Meet our family of service members!  

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Meet our district superintendent, Dr. Stepenosky. As you can see, he served in the Navy. He served from 1990 to 1994 on the USS Chancellorsville which was guided by a missile cruiser. The Chancellorsville weighed 9,000 tons and had a crew of 330 people. 

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Here is Brooke's Grandfather, Elbert, while he was serving in the Marines. He served in many places including: 

August 1965 - December 1965 Camp Pendleton, San Diego, California

January 1966 - February 1967 Chulai, Vietnam

 March 1967 - May 1967 Camp LeJune, North Carolina

 June 1967 - June 1968 American Embassy, Santo Domingo, Dominican Rep.

 July 1968 - July 1969 American Embassy, Montevideo, Uruguay

 July 1969 - Discharged Camp Pendleton, San Diego, California 

 

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These are Alexa's two grandfathers. 
Here is Grandpa Neil. He served in the Navy during the Korean War. 

Here is Grandpa David. 

He served in the Army. This photo was taken in 1959 while he was in Company H, third platoon. 

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Dylan's Grandfather, Sam, also served in the armed forces. He was in the Army and fought during World War 2. 

 Below is Grandpa Sam in 1944. He is on a tanker in France. 

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Here is Austin's grandfather. He served in the Army as a Staff Sargent. He served from 1943-1945. 

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Today, we had a fabulous Veterans Day assembly. We had some very distinguished guests. Seven veterans came to our school and were honored with a gift of letters from students.

The assembly started with the pledge. Then the veterans spoke about where they served, what branch of the armed forces they were in, and when they served.

Everyone wanted to thank the veterans for their service to America! 

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Are any of your relatives or friends veterans?

Please tell us about them and thank them for their service to America!

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November is Family Blogging Month!

Ms. Tulbure and her students ♥ to share what they are learning and experiencing. In an effort to include more family members in our online community, we are proclaiming: 

November is Family Blogging Month!

Each student made a list of their family members. After looking through the archive, students selected specific posts tailored to the interest of a particular relative. 

We're inviting everyone to comment: moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts, and cousins. 

We welcome friends and pets, too!

Students will be inviting their family and friends to participate in a conversation! 
Maybe we'll get some 2-point comments! 

(We frequently evaluate the comments that our blog has received. In order to earn the 2-points, a comment must be error-free and add something to the post.   Many of Ms. Tulbure's third graders have already met the challenge!)

If you don't know what to say, here is a video made by Mrs. Yollis' third graders. 

Learn FIVE tips for writing a quality comment! 

If you don't know How to leave a comment, here is a video tutorial about HOW to leave a comment on our blog.

Here is the key we will use for  Family Blogging Month.

 

What do you think of our idea?

Who are you inviting to be a part of our online community?

Please leave a comment and introduce yourself!