Monday, May 13, 2013

Human Powered Unit and Shadow Puppet Play

We recently wrapped up our human powered unit and held a showcase to present our projects.

 In this unit, we studied Rube Goldberg and Leonardo da Vinci, took a field trip to visit Lee at Eastside Pedal Pushers, and had a lesson from Kami from the Tinkering School to explore simple machines. We had a final project based on compound machines. The choices were to construct a small a model, conduct an interview about your machine, or build the real thing. We all had a blast creating new tools and brainstorming creative ideas like Rube and Leonardo. We also learned that simple machines are all around us! Camryn (not pictured) build a model of a bike that pumps water. 


Rio build a cart for his bike. 

Sy build a contraption that lets him fly his kite while riding his bike.

Renee build a model of her wheelbarrow bike.

Amelia and Jonas were hosts and interviewees for their projects. 





 Our shadow puppet play is still in the works. We recently came up with a title, The Sword, the Stone, and the Monster. We have been rehearsing and practicing our lines to prepare for our opening night which is Friday May 24th at 6:30 pm. Emily, Renee's sister, has been amazing and has been helping us with this unit. 

Doing a reading of our script we wrote together.




Puppet building in progress.

Rehearsal 


Sneak peek!!

We are now working on a newspaper unit with a focus on the writing process. We have guest speakers coming in for this and we are getting excited! More to come...


Monday, May 6, 2013

Glass blowing


This field trip was one of our favorites of the year. We took the train to Glass blowing Austin and learned how to shape an ornament out of hot glass. And by hot, we mean extremely hot! 

Pictures of glass blowing









Thank you Morgan for being our super awesome glass blowing instructor! 
glass blowing Austin website

Spring Campout 2013

Amelia came a few hours after this photo. 
Our view


Hike to Devil's Waterhole

Campout pictures finally posted! 

We had a blast out at Inks Lake! Three days of beautiful weather, yummy food, families, friends, and spring blooms. Can't wait until next year! 

Pictures from Inks Lake