Balloons Over PNA
11/20/2020
Our goal this week was to create a balloon that could be featured in the Macy's Day Parade. We began by reading Balloons Over Broadway, a story about how the giant balloons we see on television each Thanksgiving came to be. This project required students to go through a modified version of the engineering design process. BrainstormingStudents were tasked with creating a draft of their balloon vision. Not only did they need to sketch their outline, they also had to tell what color they needed for each part of their balloon. Prototype: Creating the BalloonNext, it was time to transfer the drawing into a 3D creation. Students began working on creating two layers of their drawing to staple and stuff with scrap paper. The challenge here was to create a large enough balloon to be able to stuff. Smaller features could be added on later after the initial outline was created and cut out. Test & Evaluate: How will we get them to "float"?Our next challenge was find a way to make our balloons appear to float. The students were given rulers, wooden dowels, popsicles and masking tape to support and prop up their structure. Communicate: The Parade!Although the wind started to pick-up, the students' balloons stood proudly as we marched around the school and parking lot. Our very own PNA Thanksgiving Day Parade!
Environments and the Traits of Organisms
11/7/2020
When beginning a science unit, I like to introduce the new topics through an interesting video or experience called the "Anchoring Phenomena Event". It gets the students excited about what they are about to learn. They begin generating questions and making observations about what they are seeing. For this unit, we are studying inherited and environmental traits, adaptations, and environmental changes. The Anchoring Phenomena EventDriving QuestionHow can an animal adapt to a new environment? The MissionA Broadway producer is looking for a new play to bring to the stage. The producer wants the play to be based on an animal family’s struggles to adapt in order to survive in a new environment because their old environment was destroyed by humans. The ActionWrite and perform a play about an animal family’s struggle to survive in a new environment. The play should focus on one type of animal and its family, with at least five of its inherited and environmental traits identified. The play should open with the way the animal’s old habitat was destroyed by humans. A description of the old and new habitats should be included. The play should focus around how the animal family will respond to the new environment. |
Jessica GrahamMs. Graham graduated from the University of Alabama with a BS in Early Childhood/Elementary Education, and is currently working on her master's in reading. She enjoys hiking, traveling, arts & crafts, and playing the ukulele. Archives
April 2021
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