This year, our Black History Month project was to decorate our door based on an era in time. 5th grade was given the 1950's. A large aspect of this project was for the students to have a large amount of independence. First, students investigated accomplished persons of that era they were interested in. Next, using Google Classroom, students researched the persons and supplied information on each. Some chose to contribute to all of them, others just collected information one or two. Using the information, the class worked in groups and wrote a summary of each.
Once completed, students presented their summary with any technology tool they wished: a Greenscreen video using Doink, Chatterpix, Ifunface, and Split Lens 2. Next, they augmented the images of their selected person using Aurasma to launch their project.
Follow the link or QR code to follow the channel to view their project.
I always loved mini golf courses as a kid and I thought it would be a great idea for the students to create their own.
During our 5th grade force and motion unit, students learn the concepts and they design a simple course to demonstrate each concept in isolation. The purpose is for the students to create a working model that best explains what they learned about Newton's Laws.
At the end of each week, students get into small groups and in one a class period, they are to design and create something they learned from the lessons. Through trial and error with various materials including different types of paper and tape, I concluded that cardboard and hot glue worked the best.
Some of the concepts to create include: Potential/Kinetic Energy, Inertia, Force, Friction, Velocity, Slopes, Mass/Acceleration and Action/Reaction.
Once completed, they demonstrated their design using the appropriate terms and justifying their product with learned content.
At the completion of the unit, we have a running course for each lesson, students get into groups of their choosing and they can create a course of their own design.
There are some stipulations for the project:
They must be able to explain the physics of their project using the correct terms
Commit to their project and problem solve while working collaboratively
It has to be a game to be played (mini golf format, one group did skee ball). Players will use a golf club to hit the ball in attempts to obtain a hole in one. So include a level of difficulty or amazement for entertainment. some have alternate routes the ball can travel including traps, while others earn points when reaching a certain destination within the course.
What makes this project such a huge success is students whom are not usually academically strong perform very well on their End of Grade State Assessments in Science by learning through hands-on projects.
