Grade 5 - Experimental Design and Conquering Towers

While I was away on the Ozark Mountains expedition with Grade 6 the learning did not stop in science class. We are lucky to have Derik Howell as my sub consistently throughout the year and he and I plan the same lessons that I would do if I was in the building. While I was away, the students put our preparatory work around experimental design into practice and completed a class experiment around the effect of size on the distance flown by a paper airplane. They prototyped different design models and selected ten different sized papers. Their conclusions showed that the smallest and largest planes flew the least distance, but there was little variance between their middle sized planes.

Grade 5 also had their first expedition of the year this week.  We headed to Camp Wyman to test our climbing abilities on the high challenge course.  These boys have had a number of tree climbing experiences with me last year and they are quite skilled, but scaling a 45ft tower on a cave ladder definitely tested their mettle.

Prepping for the climb

Teambuilding at it's finest.  Students belaying students.

After the climb we talked about how we can transfer the feeling of overcoming the challenges on the ropes course to putting in the hard work and overcoming challenges in other areas of our lives.  It was a great day and I couldn't be more proud of 5th grade boys!

Big thanks to Ashley Carr and Tom Cordes for chaperoning the event.  I loved when the staff members said to me, "It's pretty cool that all the adults with your group are climbing with the kids.  That's really rare around here."  WE ARE CDS! 

Back at School

Our focus is now squarely on completing experiments surrounding our favorite terrestrial crustaceans... pill bugs!  Technically we are studying pill bugs AND sow bugs, but either way you probably know them as roly-polies.  We started by observing our specimens closely and then completing labeled, technical drawings of them in our STEAM journals.

Now the students are using choice chambers to investigate pill bug preferences like moist vs dry, light vs dark, color preferences, and even calculating the speed of the different species and comparing this to the size of the organism.

The students will be working on their independent investigations over the course of the next two weeks and then creating powerpoint presentations that shares their findings.  They will do a formal presentation of their findings to the class and I will video these and post them on YouTube to share with families.  They have really loved this project so far and I know they will be excited to share all of their experiments with you soon.  Until then!

Grade 6 - Ozark Mountains Expedition

Grade 6's inaugural Ozark Mountains expedition was a huge success and we are so excited to share what we learned, comparisons to our Smoky Mountains expedition last spring, reflections on our adventures, photographs, and artistic expressions over the coming weeks!

But first, I would like to send a big THANK YOU to our chaperones on the trip...  Alexis Mićić, Deanna Kuhlmann-Leavitt, Corrie Marks, Mike Taetz, David Fitzler, Matt Rollo, Josh Mandell, and Darren Haskell! Without them this expedition would not have been possible and I am so grateful for the time and energy they spent making sure all of our students were safe, fed, and engaged in the learning throughout the trip.  

THANK YOU also to all of our Ozark partners:

• Wyatt Layman (Missouri Department of Conservation)
• Dave Tobey (National Park Service)
• Josh Chilton (National Park Service)
• May Ann Mutrux (retired, MO State)
• Jim Newberry and Renee Greenshields (Echo Bluff Lodge)
• Rick Mansfield (storyteller)
• Ryan Chilton and The Faretheewells
• Twin Pines Nature Center (Winona, MO)

To recap, our 6th grade students spent the first five weeks of the school year preparing for this expedition.  They learned how to conduct various aquatic experiments, researched background information on the history of logging in Missouri, and how to physically and mentally prepare for an expedition of this magnitude.  

Now that we have returned from the trip, the next phase of the project is for the students to analyze their experimental data, write post-trip reflections, and compose narratives on what they learned.  Then they will use these artifacts to produce a mural display that will also showcase their art reflection pieces and a plethora of photos that will tell the story of our adventure.  

They will also share ecological comparisons they learned on the Smoky Mountains expedition and how these trips influenced their perspective on the world around them.  We are very excited to announce that this display will be unveiled on Monday, Nov 7.  We will also have the Green Schools Are Better display at our school that week.  This is a paneled, chalkboard display that the CDS community will be invited to write on throughout the week, so please be sure to stop by and see the students' work and add to the board why YOU believe in Green Schools.

As far as the trip recap... I won't get into a lot of details here in the blog, as not to take the steam away from the students' mural presentation, but I'd like to share a small chronological glimpse into our expedition.  A story told in only pictures... for more info visit CDS the week of Nov 7!