4th Grade - Trimester #1 Major Project

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*This is a re-writing of an earlier post..."Our First Attempt-Doing Science"

This was a new year in science education. The change was initiated to take the teaching of science from a classroom teacher model to having it taught by one science specialist. This first year, the curriculum is being created for 1st - 4th grade, but would not be fully implemented till the next year. The fourth grade program, however, was being tested while it is being developed. Here is how the year was organized and the three major projects the students did this year.

At the beginning of school we did the "normal" first few days activities...getting to know each other games, making name plaques, organizing folders and materials, etc. We then did a thinking routine that came out of the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Project Zero initiative, Agency by Design. 

Next we taught how to use triple beam balances, graduated cylinders, metric rulers and stop watches, giving them ample time to try each tool and understand some basic terms like mass, volume, length, etc.

This brought us to our first challenge...the idea for it came from Tara Lynn Nakamoto of 'Iolani School:

#1
Design challenge: Imagine, plan and make something that will hold 150g of pennies 6cm above the ground and move at least 12cm side to side.
Materials: 1 paper cup, 15 straws, 24" of tape, 24" of string and a cardboard base.

Process: Students were to go through the design process (which had been shown to them a few times prior to this project) and come up with a plan. The first two parts of the process they did on their own and then were put into groups of three to come to consensus on a plan and build/test it.








After the first ideation of the project, we talked about that worked, and what didn't. This lead us to a discussion of things like structural integrity, gravity, force, balance, etc. The class took notes on these concepts and through drawing or word, showed their understanding of each. We also talked about attachment techniques and gave the class time to practice with each of them.


Then it was time for ideation #2. The students had to figure out what was "wrong" with their first version and make changes to their second one. This second time around, the "swings" were more stable, strong and structurally sound.


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