Sixth Graders Prepare for the Hour of Code

Sixth graders are working hard and long to prepare for the Hour of Code event planned for December 8th with the third graders at Marshall.   Teaching certificates are being earned by the sixth graders to show they are highly qualified to share what they know about the coding activities with their third grade partners.

Some sixth graders, including Elesia and Kyron have gone above and beyond earning certificates.  They have written code to create a program on "Scratch" that will play the song, Jingle Bells.  The girls used tuning forks to help them decide the notes that they should use and through trial and error have been able to complete the program.   All students are learning that programs and apps have human minds behind them that have spent hours coding each step of the programs that we enjoy using.  The computer  is capable of artificial intelligence or simulating human intelligence, but it takes a human brain to do the creating.
 
Why are we doing this?? According to Hadi Partovi from Code.org “Every student deserves the chance to learn computer science to access the best careers of the 21st century.”  

Grams/Volume=Density=STEM

While studying surface water, sixth graders learned that ice is less dense than water.   In an effort to understand exactly what this means, students completed a STEM activity where they determined the density of 12 materials ranging from different types of plastics, to wood and metals.

The Science and Math part of the activity was completed when students used balance scales and measuring tapes to find both the mass and volume of the objects. To determine density, they used math skills to complete the algorithm M/V=D.

In the Technology piece, students used Microsoft excel to complete a bar graph to display the differences in densities found and wrote statements of analysis.

Engineering uses the properties of materials to determine uses for the material.  Students were able to see that out of all the metals tested, (steel, copper, brass and aluminum,) aluminum had a density of 2.72 compared to the other metals with densities above 7.0.  This is why aluminum is used in making airplanes. 

Ice is one of the few solids that is actually less dense than the liquid form of the same substance.  The formation of ice on the surface of a lake or pond helps protect the organisms that live in the water from extreme winter temperatures.  Maybe God understands density better than the rest of us!

Population Changes in Surface Water

Sixth graders have been collecting water data both virtually and in real time as they compare the pond populations in EcoMUVE to specimens found in the outdoor classroom. 

One of the most serious causes of poor water quality in our county is eutrophication.  This is when nutrients flow into the water with sediment and cause algae growth.  Bacteria feed on the algae when it dies and deplete the water of oxygen.  Fish kills occur because of the lack of oxygen.

Students are working in small groups and using the data they have collected to create and analyze graphs that support the theories they have developed on why the fish are declining in population. 

The theories are not the same, but a lot of scientific reasoning is taking place while students try to prove their theory to their friends.