Black Boxes

Spontaneous Problem: Name things that go back and forth
Boundary Breaker:  Students watched a short video about predictions for technology in the future. They responded with any potential problems they saw for the devices or society as a whole adapting to the new developments.

We practiced the Habit of Mind Listening to Other with Understanding and Empathy by using the video to discuss the coolest/most important technology shown.  Groups took up roles as speaker, listener, and evaluator as they practice whole body listening and received feedback.

Next we reviewed our observations and inferences lesson from last week as students collected qualitative and quantitative data for our dancing raisin experiment.  Students then made inferences about the objects them selves and their interactions.  They used prior knowledge to conclude that the wrinkled brown objects were raisins being lifted by the bubbles in the carbonation until they popped and sunk again.

We also went back to our discussion of models as students looked at their actual black boxes and drew they conceptional models for what they thought was inside.  Groups with the same boxes then paired to share ideas and update their designs as they found new information.  They will continue on this investigation as they turn their conceptual models into physical ones and continue to update their theories and designs.  We also read the article "Scientists and Models" and were able to discuss how the same process was and is being used to continually revise our understanding of the black box that is the solar system.

We also had a little time for students to dive into some brain stretchers of their choice.

Second grade math time was spent visiting the Land of Treble where they use a base 3 number system. Students practiced making trades among their place values and played a dice game to be the first player to reach 1 Trickle!

For third grade math, we jumped in to exploring the Egyptian numeration system.  Students discussed the use of symbols and got to work decoding amounts with their knowledge of hieroglyphics.  They compared our place value system with that of the Egyptians where the order of symbols does not effect the value of the number.

Models and Design

Spontaneous Problem: Write scientific observations about this object.
Boundary Breaker: Make an inference about what the object is and how it came to be in our classroom.

We used our Morphic Thinking this morning to lead us into some discussion and activities highlighting the difference between observations and inferences in science.  Students learned the observations are made with the five senses and simply describe.  We classified our observations as qualitative or quantitative and defined each term.  Then we looked at inferences as connections your brain makes when you mix your observations with prior knowledge.  Inferences are theories explaining the world around you.  We used several prompts and images to practice distinguishing between the two.

 Next we started our investigation of the use of models in discovery.  We read the article, "Everyday Mysteries" highlighting black boxes as the terms for systems that are hard to see and explain.  Models are tools used to show explanations of these mysterious inner workings. Students also read The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins and learned how models develop over time and change with new information.  Students were then introduced to their own black boxes.  In future weeks, they will be working to observe these hidden systems and create their own models explaining what is happening inside the box. Just like scientists don't have a cheat sheet that can be checked at the end of the day, students will prove or disprove their hypothesis just from comparing models and never actually open the box!

We finished with some final student presentations and had fun practicing the Habit of Mind, Thinking Flexibly with the Hidden Squares Challenge puzzle and Persisting with the Penny Balance Challenge.

Inventor Projects and Breakout Boxes!

Spontaneous Problem: Name things you have to break in order to use.
Boundary Breaker: What would you like to be famous for inventing?

Today we got to see all the amazing hard work of our peers as we presented our inventions projects! I know I learned a lot!  Thanks for all the effort that was put into those at home!

We also reviewed our understanding of simple machines with a break out activity.  Students loved solving puzzles and cracking codes to discover what simple machine had been taken from our classroom!

For our brain stretching we looked at reasoning strategies to help us solve Sudoku puzzles.  We also learned a little about the life and work of Albert Einstein to help us prepare for his birthday party later this month!

Simple Machines

Spontaneous Problem: Write as many idioms as you can think of.
Boundary Breaker: Students were given some quick thinking math problems and then asked to think of a number between 5-12.  For the Boundary Breaker, students had to give their reasoning for why they thought most people chose 7.

Today we read one of my favorite books, Ada Twist: Scientist by Andrea Beaty and competed in a Kahoot on the Scientific Method for a review of last week.  Our exploration focus was on simple machines.  We were able to use a student paced Simple Machines Nearpod to brush up on our understanding, take some good notes, and play several online quizzes and activities reinforcing the concepts.  Your student can continue to explore at home with this game and this vocabulary review.

Students then used their creativity and knowledge of simple machines to draw the internal workings and come up with the purpose of our imaginary contraption.