WOW! I cannot believe we've reached the last day of school! What an incredible journey it has been this year. Thank you to everyone for your support as I've started to build an experiential science program for grades 4-5-6 at CDS. I have been blown away by the students, teachers, and parents we have here and I am looking forward to continuing this journey next year!
Quick update on the GSQ and footgolf projects. The farmer's market event and the footgolf tournament were both super successful and we raised almost $1000 over the past two weekends. If you haven't seen the tweets they are embedded in the story I have linked below. Thank you to everyone involved in these events and for your continued support of our PBL projects.
For my final blog post of the year, I'd like to share a retrospective of my first year at CDS told through various tweets I sent from the beginning of the year through today. Enjoy!
https://storify.com/chanceofscience/4-5-6-science-at-chesterfield-day-school
PS - Please consider donating to my Pedal the Cause ride! I'd really appreciate your support and my training rides start tomorrow, so the long road to prepare is about to start! Info on how to donate is listed in my previous blog post.
HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE!
Scott
Friday, May 27, 2016
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Pedal the Cause 2016
It takes world-class research to create a world without cancer. Please help me in this journey by donating to my ride, and give with confidence knowing that 100% of your donation will go directly to accelerating cancer research at Siteman Cancer Center and St. Louis Children's Hospital.
I ride for for Issa Alovor, a former student of mine who has battled a cancerous brain tumor most of his life. Issa is one of the hardest working students I have ever had and to see his courage in the face of such adversity was an inspiration to the entire middle school. MRH Middle School Student Nominated for Science Academy Issa is now in high school but we stay in contact and he still loves science. I ride because everyone deserves the chance to live the life they love!
I am trying to raise $500 this year for my 50 mile ride. Any amount you choose to donate to my goal is 100% tax deductible and goes to a great cause to help a great kid.
Please join me in my efforts to support cancer and promote lifetime fitness!
Please visit this LINK TO DONATE.
PTC 2015 - Me and Nick Urvan (cycling buddy and MRH choir director)
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
CDS Footgolf Tournament - Saturday, May 21
I now turn the blog over to our amazing Grade 6 students...
Dear CDS Community,
In September, the 6th grade class started working on a project to enhance the school grounds while in MakerSpace. Since then, we have been digging, drilling, drawing, sewing, and sawing to create our very own CDS Footgolf Course! Footgolf is a lot like regular golf, except you play with a soccer ball and kick into a hole that is actually a 5-gallon bucket.
The first task was planning. We mapped out where the holes would be located. We decided that we would only dig three holes, but have three tee boxes to each hole, creating a total of nine holes. Then, we dug. Digging just one hole took days, because we had to dig them big enough to hold the 5-gallon buckets and with enough space to be surrounded by pea gravel to help drain the water. We finally finished the holes and put in the buckets to retain the hole’s shape. During this long process, we discovered a major problem: during heavy rains, the rainwater was draining through the rocks, around the buckets and creating enough force to push the buckets and gravel completely out of the holes. To solve this problem, we drilled 1-inch holes in the bottoms of the buckets, so that the water level would rise inside the bucket and not push the bucket out of the ground. After the rain stops, the water can then percolate back through the holes and into the soil. Success!
Next, we worked on the lids for the holes. We needed to make sure the lids protected the holes, but also protected anyone walking on our campus from falling into one of the holes. The lids were designed with two circular pieces of wood. One piece fits snugly inside the lip of the bucket to maintain stability, and a second, larger piece on top that covers the entire hole and bucket. We had to make a few adjustments due to the buckets being slightly misshapen from the force of the ground around them, but in the end, the lids and holes were a success. We even added rope handles made from all-weather marine rope.
Next was the rules and etiquette for the course in the form of a bifold. This included a scorecard, a notes/suggestions section, and the specific rules for our course. At the same time, the flags and the flag holders were being made. This part of the project went by relatively quickly, and eventually, we were ready to test. Beta testing introduced a few more problems, like the holes not funneling the ball well enough, and all of these were quickly solved. Our course was now complete!
To celebrate the completion of the CDS Footgolf Course, we would like to invite you to the first CDS Footgolf Tournament on Saturday, May 21.
- This tournament is designed for ages 3rd grade and older
- Plan on arriving at 9:30am for registration
- Ages twelve and under are $15
- Ages thirteen and up are $20
- Payment will only be accepted the morning of the tournament, but all participants need to register by SUNDAY, MAY 15.
- To register, please complete the google form at: https://goo.gl/Xovljx
- Supplies to bring –
- Soccer balls for each player in your party
- Tennis shoes, NO CLEATS
- Comfortable clothing
- Water bottle - Tournament begins at 10:00 AM with an overview of rules before playing. Official tournament play begins promptly after the reading of the rules.
- Please park on the lower lot of CDS or on Wainridge Drive. NO PARKING on the UPPER LOT
- When you arrive, head to the upper lot for registration, light breakfast snacks (provided by CDS), and socializing.
- Please note: the food supplied may contain dairy, nuts, and/or gluten. If you have dietary restrictions, please feel free to bring your own snacks.
- Half of all funds go to FOCUS North America, this year’s philanthropy organization; the remaining proceeds go to CDS to cover the costs of the project.
- If there are torrential downpours or severe thunderstorms in the forecast, the tournament will be cancelled and all money will be refunded.
- The tournament end time is projected to be around 1pm, but since this is our first tournament we're not exactly sure yet! When we see how many people register we should have a better idea of our end time.
- Parents with questions should contact Mr. McClintock at smcclintock@chesterfielddayschool.org
Thank you for supporting CDS and the 6th grade class!
Farmer's Market Event - Saturday, May 14
As many of you know, our Grade 5 students have been working all year on their big Green Schools Quest project. Their end goal was to increase the number of pollinators in our community to combat the decreasing numbers of pollinators around the globe. To accomplish this they build a greenhouse out of repurposed 2-liter bottles and have been growing close to 2000 seeds. This Saturday, May 14 at the Creve Coeur Farmer's Market we will be selling our plants and seed packets to the community. The event is from 8am-12pm and we would love for you to stop by and see our students putting the finishing touches on this year-long project!
The Creve Coeur Farmer's Market is at 12320 Olive Blvd. (63141) located in the Westgate Center shopping plaza of Olive (near the TGI Fridays). This is just west of highway 270 and south of Olive. Or for the directionally impaired, if you're heading up from Highway 40, make a left on Olive, and the market will be down a bit on your left.
Closing the System
In rappelling and rock climbing you are often using one rope
to perform the entire climb or rappel.
You are attached at one end of the rope and the other end may be
dangling down to the bottom of the mountain/cliff/bluff. The notion is that you descend down the rope
until you reach the bottom, except sometimes the length of the climb and the
length of your rope might be pretty similar in size, so you have to make sure
the rope actually reaches the ground.
You don’t want to slide off the end of the rope, even if it’s just a few
feet it can be dangerous. I read about a
man that broke his pelvis from a 6ft fall.
To prevent accidents like this from happening is actually really
simple. In a single-pitch setting it's
very easy to put a stopper knot in both ends of the rope. The best knot
to use is the barrel knot, or stopper knot. This is essentially half of a
double-fisherman's knot. Though any knot will do. Even when you are absolutely sure you have
plenty of rope this is safe practice and the practice is called “closing the
system”. With that knot in place you can
not slide off the end of your rope and it is an important safety element for
climbers.
A Stopper Knot (Barrel Knot)
A little backstory here, I’ve been wanting to learn how
facilitate rappelling courses with students for years. I think it stems back to when I was 10 or 12
yeas old and I had the opportunity to go rappelling with some family friends. It was a peak experience of my childhood and
I can still recall many vivid details from that day over 30 years later. I didn’t know it at the time, but I’m sure
that had a major impact on my future career choices and a reason why I was
drawn to outdoor and adventure education as an adult.
Last weekend I had a chance to close another type of system
when I took a rappelling course with Jon Richard at Vertical Voyages. Before Jon started Vertical Voyages in 2009, he
was the 4-5-6 science teacher at CDS! I
knew of Jon for years through tree climbing connections, through his work at
Climb So iLL, and as our worlds overlapped in the field of experiential education,
but we had never actually met. I didn’t even know he was the former CDS science
teacher until this past fall when we did our first tree climb and one of our
veteran teachers said, “This reminds me of the work Jon used to do.” I was excited to learn that Jon and I shared
yet another commonality and knew that now we just had to meet.
We met near Pere Marquette in Grafton, IL and setup shop on top of a 75ft bluff face. It was a great day of learning for me and definitely one of those situations where as the area of my knowledge grew, so did the perimeter of my ignorance. I think in the five hours we trained, we only actually rappelled two or three times. 85% of our time was talking about safety, learning new knots, and learning how to set anchor points that are conducive for top-belaying groups safely. By noon I felt like that old Far Side cartoon where the kid is in class raising his hand asking the teacher if he could be excused because “his brain was full”. It was awesome though and Jon was an amazing instructor. I’m going to spend the summer practicing my skills before taking another course with Jon next year where he can test my skills and make sure that I am designing the safest possible systems and have the skills to run group rappels.
If you’re interested in this sort of training, Jon does all
sorts of trainings for a wide range of ability levels. He is a certified rock guide and single-pitch
instructor through the American Mountain Guides Association. He leads trips throughout the midwest, southwest,
and northeastern parts of the country.
If you’re interested in learning how to rock climb he also does indoor
instructing at Climb So iLL or if you’re a veteran and you want a challenge he
can be your guide for longer, more intense expeditions in the field. He’s an all around awesome guy that I’m glad
I was finally able to meet and learn from and I’m looking forward to more
partnerships with Vertical Voyages in the future.
Tree Climbing - Botany Edition
Last week, our Grade 4 scientists took their learning off
the ground and into the boughs of the CDS Giving Tree! Our day started on the ground revisiting a
tool we first used in the fall to identify stream macronivertbrates… the
dichotomous key. There are all sorts of
dichotomous keys, but today we introduced the key used for identifying
trees. We started by listening to “The Dichotomous
Key” song from the album Trees by Molly Ledford and Bill Kelly (https://mollyledfordbillykelly.bandcamp.com/releases). Super fun song about how to use keys to
identify unknown organisms. Side note,
the album was nominated for a 2016 GRAMMY in the 'Best Children's Music'
category.
We also used some materials provided by the Missouri
Department of Conservation to see the many leaf shapes found on Missouri
trees. Students used their skills of
observation to decide if leaves were lobed, or if the edges were serrated, or
if their branches were opposite or alternate, etc. Next we used these skills to find evidence for
each step of the dichotomous key until we had successfully keyed our tree...
a sugar maple!
We talked about how sugar maples can be tapped in the winter
to produce syrup and how cool that was that we had one of these trees on our
campus. This lead into a conversation
about how humans use trees, and then we began to think about what other things
could possibly use this sugar maple either temporarily or permanently. Sure there are the obvious ones like birds
and squirrels, but could we find other evidence that the tree was the home to
other living creatures? The students geared up and began to ascend into the
tree. Their first task was to take
photographic evidence for each step on the dichotomous key and the second was to
find evidence of life. The third task
was the hidden curriculum. It had been months
since most of these kids climbed and our initial morning climb was mainly to
have the students regain confidence and trust in themselves and the climbing
system. It’s much easier to do
high-level data collection when you have experienced climbers, so that was a
huge part of this morning climb. So
there’s all kinds of things going on here.
The students are working with a ground crew to record data; they are
working on skills of communication, collaboration, observations, and
inferrences; they are building trust with their classmates; they are growing
their skills and confidence; and all in a setting that naturally heightens your
senses and demands every faculty of your body to be engaged. Being off the ground, even a few feet, is
enough to invigorate your body and senses.
It’s all of that stuff happening at the same time. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s school on steroids.
After our initial study we got the boys together and debriefed
the climb before heading to lunch. Once
we refueled, we again started the next session with some time on the
ground. We had been looking for evidence
of life on the tree and now we transitioned into thinking about what is going
on inside the tree. Once again we had
some great visual resources from the MDC to help us show the students the
layers and functions within the trees.
We spent time talking about the functions of the xylem, phloem, and
cambium layers. We studied how nutrient
transport changes throughout the year creating spring and summer growth spurts
that create tree rings. We looked at “tree
cookies”, slices of tree branches and trunks, and learned how analyzing the
growth patterns can give us a glimpse back in time to understand what was
happening in this area during this tree’s life.
You can see evidence of tremendous growth, years of drought, or even fire.
Next we looked around the ground below the tree and noticed
that the entire area was littered with “helicopters”. We talked about how these are the seeds
produced by our sugar maple and began to unpack why does this tree choose to
spread its seeds in this manner. For our afternoon study, we decided to do some
investigations around seed dispersal. We
had the students climb to various heights, measure that distance, drop a
helicopter, measure the time of descent, mark where it landed with a flag, and measure
from the flag to the rope of the climber.
This activity required the boys working in teams of three, with two
people on the ground for every one climber.
It required communication and collaboration as the students had to be in
sync with each other to accurately collect this data. We climbed and collected data all the way up
until the end of the day. We ended with
an afternoon debrief and then headed in for Spirit Day.
By the end of the day we had all of our data and the following
week, back in the classroom, the students were able to take that data and then
use some math to sort out the distance the helicopters traveled, the speed with
which they fell, and analyze how the length of the helicopters influences these
two variables. The study will continue
while we attempt to use the dichotomous keys to identify all of the trees on the CDS campus during a campus-wide survey.
Special thanks to our favorite tree climbing guru, Guy Mott,
from Adventure Tree. Without Guy our
tree climbing program would be non-existent.
He brings the ropes, harness, helmets, gloves, and assorted gear. He helps me setup the the tree with all of
the ropes and his knowledge and experience is invaluable during our
climbs. If you are interested in having
a tree climbing event at your own home, school, or organization, please visit
Adventure Tree’s website at: http://adventuretree.org/
I also want to give a shout out to Kristen Propeck for
stopping by during the morning session and helping out. I love when parents come and help at our
events. Having an extra pair of eyes,
ears, and hands is always welcomed and I would encourage everyone to come to at
least one event just to see your child in a different environment and learning
in a non-traditional setting.
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