An Hour of Code

 Engineers from Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Twitter joined forces to present a tutorial on how to write code for students during Computer Science Education Week.  Sixth grade students were challenged to spend one hour of the week learning about computer programming using a visual language program known as, "Blockly". During the course, students were exposed to the foundations of computer science. According to the program, these skills are used anywhere from making apps to controlling the Mars rover.  After completing the hour of code, students were challenged to work their way through a self paced course where they have the opportunity to play the role of a computer scientist.  The program encourages problem solving and computational thinking.  Kade Coon is shown working with the program. Try it out by clicking on the button found in the right hand menu bar.

Toulmin’s Argument Model

     Stephen Toulmin was an English philosopher who identified the basic elements of a persuasive argument.  He believed that an argument should start with a claim.  A claim is a statement that you are asking another person to accept.  The second step to creating a good argument is to support the claim with evidence.  The evidence is made up of data,  hard facts, and the reasoning that is used to support the claim.   The third step is to use qualifiers.  These are words like "most", "usually", "always", or "sometimes".  They are used to indicate the limits of the claim.  The final step is my personal favorite because it requires the students to seek to understand the opposite point of view.  Once the other viewpoint is understood, students work on the final step, which is known as the rebuttal.  This is when you give reasons why you still think you are right and the other point of view is wrong. :)

     The sixth graders are working together to create interviews that share information they have researched over water.  The essential questions that were answered were:  What is water?  What is the water cycle?  Why is water important? What are some problems the world is facing with freshwater supplies?

     As you might guess, the last question is the one that is leading to the most controversy.  Students are learning the meaning of the words mitigate and compromise.

    Below are pictures of 6A working together on their interviews.   The interviews will be videoed using the iPads and uploaded into student google drive accounts.   

Groundwater Models

After testing different types of substances for their permeability, sixth graders made groundwater models to show how the permeability affects the movement of water underground.   The models were constructed using layers of clay soil, sand, and gravel.  A layer of carbon was added to topsoil to complete the model.   The carbon represented the decayed remains of plants and animals, known as humus.

            Once the models were complete, students tested how well the ground removes pollutants from water by pouring a solution of cocoa, pepper, and food coloring over the topsoil.   This solution represented pollution made up of different particle sizes.

            As the water soaked into the ground, students noticed how quickly each material absorbed the water and where the water flowed once it reached a saturation point.  Students also watched for the pollutants to see if they appeared in the water that was pumped from the bottom of the aquifer. 

            Students then injected food coloring below the topsoil between two impermeable layers of clay.  They found that the food coloring would travel downhill toward the water well through the more permeable layer of sand.

            In conclusion, students decided that the earth did a great job of filtering the water.  They also decided that pollutants injected into the interior of the earth could travel a long way from the injection site because of the differences in permeability of the earth’s substances.

A real life application of the experiment is seen in the outdoor classroom wetland area.  Run off is allowed to filter through the ground which is the earth’s way of keeping the water clean for future uses. 

How Does the Ogallala Aquifer Work?

Kansas depends on the Ogallala Aquifer for a water source to water crops and provide water for other human needs.  “What exactly is an aquifer and how does it work? “ is a question that the students have been researching. 

6^th graders are studying types of groundwater in science.  They have learned that an underground layer of permeable rock or sediment that contains water is called an aquifer.   Usually the groundwater is located over impermeable rock that keeps the water from draining away.

Substances that make up the earth can be classified into permeable, water can flow through them, or impermeable, water cannot flow through them.    Gravel, sand, and soil are all permeable.  However, the speed in which water travels through them can differ according to the particle size of the substance.  6^th graders conducted an experiment and wrote lab reports of the results.  

They tested how many seconds it took for 30cc of water to drain through 30cc of the different materials.  Three trials were run on each substance and the mean was found.  Comparisons were recorded into an excel worksheet and converted into a bar graph.  Students found that the clay soils were significantly slower at draining the water than sand or gravel because the particle size of the soil is much smaller. 

Videos of Powerpoint Presentations - Country Reports

Students practiced their research skills while completing reports on another country. Notes were taken over the government, history, culture and natural world of the country.

Information was found using the Discovery Ed Interactive Map and the CIA Factbook. Students used graphic organizers to keep track of information.  The notes were developed into a rough draft using Microsoft Word.

The final presentations were published in Microsoft Powerpoint and the students used an iPad to digitally record each other giving the presentations.

The finished products have been saved into each student's google drive account as a m4v file.   You may access your child's  project in their account.  The students worked hard and have created some interesting and entertaining  presentations.  Enjoy!

Creating Models in Science

The practices that describe behaviors that scientists engage in as they investigate and build models and theories about the natural world are a big part of the Next Generation Science Standards.   Sixth graders teamed up to build models of the path of a river from the divide to the delta.   

6B created the different elevations using their best engineering minds and a lot of paper.  6C took over and covered the terrain with foil.  They created the river pathway showing how the v-shaped valleys are formed and finished with meanders leading to the delta.  6A covered the model with sand and rock and designed alluvial fans at the base of the mountain range and deltas at the mouth of the river.

Halloween Timeline

     Many thanks to Destiny and Hailey for their help in organizing the Halloween timeline.  They developed a list of common Halloween symbols and recruited the help of their classmates.  The students researched the symbols and designed  flyers to post the information on a timeline.  Mrs. Powell provided a history of Halloween fact sheet that was helpful in collecting the research and students worked with Ms. Barkus to edit and revise the flyers. The final products were published and placed in the correct decade of the timeline.  Some of the symbols originated in the 800's.   If you are in the building, stop by and read some of the interesting facts and enjoy the great images the students found to represent these well known holiday symbols.

Mass Wasting Investigation - Slumps or Creeps?

While studying the earth processes of erosion and deposition, sixth graders investigated the difference between a slump and a creep.    Does the height of a slope affect the type of mass wasting that occurs?  Students compared different incline heights to see the difference in the way the soil moved downhill.   A slump is a landslide of loose debris that moves as a single unit.  A creep is a slower movement of debris downhill.  It affects all hillsides and can occur at different rates depending on how wet the soil is.   Students utilized the outdoor classroom to collect soil and experiment with slope heights.  Students concluded that the higher the incline, the more likely the mass movement of a  slump will be seen.

Investigation - Will Steel Wool Rust? What Conditions Will Cause the Most Rust?

Students investigated the formation of rust on steel wool.  Three different samples of steel wool were prepared.  One was submerged in water, one was exposed to air only, and the third sample had 30cc of water added to it, so the steel wool was exposed to both air and water.

 Student predictions were varied, but the majority thought that the sample with 30cc of water would produce the most rust.  The evidence for their prediction was found in this week's lesson over weathering.  "Many common minerals contain iron.  When these minerals dissolve in water, oxygen in the air and the water combines with the iron to produce iron oxide, or rust."  Chapter 3, Lesson 1

The samples were observed again after 24 hours.  

Erin and Megan with the first sample, no water. 

Destiny writing the number of cubic centimeters of water added to the second sample.

Erin and Sarah keeping track of the number of cc's of water it takes to completely submerge the steel wool. 

Making sure the steel wool does not come up above the water line. 

Will the amount of water in sample 2 make a difference in the amount of rust that forms?
 24 hours later, the steel wool in the

Quinton and Quade changing the amount of water for the second sample to 10cc instead of 30cc.

The steel wool that was in the water and air showed the most rust after 24 hours.