Blog Archives

Week of Oct. 26 and Nov. 31

10/26/2016

7th and 8th Grade
All Geodesic Domes are due by Nov. 4th! Keep working to get all of your domes built. When your group is finished please help other groups to get finished.

5th and 6th Grade
The purpose for today's lesson is for us to learn engineering and design often require applying principles of a specific design to another purpose. You will learn how Karl Benz applied the concepts of the bicycle to combustion to invent the first self powered automobile used for personal use.

Our objectives:

How engineers used the principles of the wheel design to improve transportation efficiency.
The first 3 wheeled automobile.....(if time)
How internal and external combustion work to generate usable energy
how the circumference and an area of a circle are applied to solve real world problems.

Dynasphere from Beth Andrews on Vimeo.

Lets look at a few questions:
1. Who invented the wheel?
2. When was it invented?
3. How has the wheel changed the way we live?
Check out this video on the Origins of the Wheel.

Combustion: is the process that takes place when oxygen atoms, heat, and a fuel source react with each other.

Check out this website on the combustion engine. compare that to the steam engine.

Just a review:
circumference formula C = 2 (3.14) x R
Area of a Circle A = 3.14 x R X R

Week of Oct. 19 and Week of Oct. 24

10/19/2016

7th and 8th Grade

All Geodesic Domes need to be done by Nov. 4th.
Continue to work on your cardboard geodesic domes until they are finished. I want to show them off for parent teacher conferences.

5th and 6th Grade

This week we are looking at Simple Machines, and how they work. Understanding Simple Machines is imperative with the next several challenges using simple machines. We will be taking a few notes on Simple Machines later today using the Cornell Method. You may have used this before in your classes.

We will be looking at Bill Nye's Episode on Simple Machines. You will also be looking at a website that is all about Simple Machines. (If the link below doesn't work click here.)

Bill Nye Simple Machines from Mrs. Jennifer Burke on Vimeo.

Week of Oct. 10

10/10/2016

A reminder: There will be No Enrichment On Monday Oct 17 and Tuesday Oct 18.

7th Grade and 8th Grade

We will continue to work on our Domes. You will need to continue to cut out paper triangles to finish your paper model. Once you have done that you can begin to work on cutting out the same size triangles for from cardboard. Once you have several A and B triangles make sure you begin to hot glue them together.

Just a reminder of why we are building the Domes. In building the domes we are working on a few skills:

1. sequencing
2. Patterns
3. Measuring Angles
4. Algebra
5. Scaling

All of these skills are needed to help develop better cognitive skills, and reasoning skills.

5th Grade and 6th Grade
This week I have planned one of the competitions I have been looking forward to teaching since we started our Engineering Competitions. We will be building catapults! Our goal will be to create a catapult that will hurl a penny through a target from the furthest distance away. To be successful in this lesson we have to have an understanding of the principles of levers, and how a lever's fulcrum point can impact the effort necessary to lift a load.

I have a few websites that I want you to check out for further research.

In the chart are some examples of Simple Machines. Are there any that you have never heard of before?
In the videos below, what are some examples of simple machines you notice?

Complete the form below in complete sentences.

Week of Oct. 3

10/3/2016

7th and 8th Graders
Today we will continue with a paper model. Cut out 22 "A" Trianges and 15 "B" Triangles. We will then design a larger one using cardboard that will be large enough for a person to sit in.

We will be looking at scale. We will be taking the small triangles and then making them bigger through the math. We will then make several of the new trianlges and begin to place them in the form of the geodesic dome. Here is website that will help with scale.

5th and 6th Grade

Many of us may recognize the skyline above as the one from New York City. In major cities like New York to L.A. to Columbus, all of them have one thing in common....skyscrapers.

This week we will be looking at building our own skyscraper that will hold the most weight. We will testing out your structure design. Here is a list of all the tallest buildings in the world. To help us, here is a website that will teach us some of the basics of Skyscraper design.

Here is a short video on New York's Skyscrapers.
Here is a short video on the design of Al-Hamra Tower.

Today in Class

Week of Oct. 26 and Nov. 31

Week of Oct. 19 and Week of Oct. 24

Week of Oct. 10

Week of Oct. 3

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