Presentation of Learning

We culminated the year with a Presentation of Learning. It is an opportunity for families to get a glimpse into what our days, weeks, year was like. The class presents an overview of the year and then the students present their Personal Learning Projects to the public. The class chose to do a version of the "Bluff the Listener" segment from the radio show, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me." They were groups of panelist who told three stories about a class during the day. The audience had to figure out which story was not true. Each group had an "expert" share what really happened during these classes this year.

It was a humorous, informative, and lively evening!

If you would like to see the slideshow from the beginning of the evening, you can view it here.

I hope you all have a restful, fun summer!

Independent Science Projects

In the final weeks of the school year, the class experienced and learned a lot about a variety of topics. Each student had three weeks to research a topic of their own choosing. They had to identify essential questions they would answer, document their learning, and share with the class. There were many great presentations and discussions that I wish we could have spent the whole year doing work like this!

I had hoped to collect links to all the presentation tools that the students shared, but the end of the year happened and they were gone!  Here are a few links and I will continue to populate this post as I receive them.  They are not the whole presentation, but it should give you a taste of what we experienced.
 
LC: Tracking of Marine Animals
KK: Solar Panel for Charging Laptop
KS: How to Make Ice Cream
CL : DNA Mapping Prezi
NW: Coral Reefs
SW: Oil Spills
SO: Color Preferences with Food
MG: Parallel Universes
IR: Dreams
MHS: Fetal Development
MDS: Science of Baseball Pitches
TD: Earthquakes
KG: Anger
MR: Chemical Reactions

Science Independent Projects: Teaser

Coming off our Human Body and Development unit, the sixth grade is gearing up to dive into independent science projects. For weeks, the class has been requesting time to do independent research on topics of their choice. We brainstormed the guidelines for the project and created a common set of expectations and possible outcomes. The only restrictions we set were that the project had to be reasonable for the two and half week timeline that we are working within. We challenged each other to stretch ourselves and select an outcome that was not one of the old standbys (Keynote/PowerPoint, iMovie). Each student wrote up a proposal that had to be shared and approved by Wednesday.

I am most excited by the diverse and interesting set of topics and questions that are being researched. They are thoughtful and all touch upon a personal interest.  Here is a list of topics that are being tackled:

• Tagging of Marine Animals
• Anger
• Oil Spills
• Dreams
• Solar Panels
• Ocean Currents
• Physics of Baseball
• Other Dimensions & Stephen Hawking
• DNA and DNA Mapping
• Influence of Color on Taste
• Fetal Development
• Earthquakes
• Relationship between Fish & Coral
• Pedal-Powered Ice Cream Maker

Be on the look out for more details on these intriguing topics in the coming weeks.  Feel free to stop a sixth grader and ask them about their research!

TCS Green Day 2013

 Earth Day was celebrated at TCS with a Green Day designed and executed by the Oceans Group of the Green Team. This group spent weeks brainstorming ideas, culling the possibilities down to what was manageable, accounting for the wide range of age groups, having limited supplies and resources, and running the whole event from start to finish. These students demonstrated great initiative and leadership qualities. They designed activities to engage the Kindergarten through seventh grade students in environmental awareness and activism. There was a schedule for each class to rotate through three stations. The stations were: a bike-powered smoothie maker, a planting station, and a collaborative collage made from the environmental initiatives students are making to make the earth greener. The feedback and response was positive and enthusiastic. Overall, an educational and successful event. Many sixth graders were instrumental in making this day happen, and the rest of us enjoyed the fruits of their labor!

Thank you to the Green Team for your time, effort, and commitment to helping educate others on the environment.  Bravo!