SNAP Circuits and Little Bits

One goal of the third grade electricity curriculum is for students to have the opportunity to explore electricity and how it can power a variety of objects from motors to lights and more.  In the enrichment room we have been using SNAP Circuits and Little Bits to reinforce our understanding of electrical circuits.  These tools are a great way for students to develop their knowledge through exploratory learning-- it is collaborative and FUN!

Zapped! Studying Electricity in Grade 3

I am thrilled to be working with third grade teachers and students to collaborate on their electricity unit.  Most of my students know that before I was a teacher I was an electrical engineer and that it is a passion and interest that I enjoy sharing!  It is great to be able to connect our learning with the real world through my direct experiences in this field and I learn a lot about different ways to approach this material as I watch students investigate, question and explore.  

Last week in enrichment we spent time talking about the movement of electrons during static electricity.  Next students created many examples of static electricity using salt, balloons, combs, tissue paper and fleece.  This discussion and exploratory learning would have been great alone, but we also paired it with problem solving ways that an engineer in a circuit lab would avoid static electricity ( wires are so small these days that this is a relevant problem in the industry).  Their ideas were great and are similar to ones that are utilized in labs.

This week we are creating squishy circuits.  These circuits use playdoh as a resistive conductor.  Students made light shows, spinning helicopters and more.  I witnessed lots of great discussions about how to create complete circuits and the flow of electricity.  Students learned that electricity is lazy...! Ask a third grader what that means!

The Robot Rodeo Comes to RES

Richmond Elementary School students were excited to receive our Cubelet robot today as part of our participation in the Vermont Robot Rodeo!  This is part of a Vermont Vita-Learn IGNITE project in which fifty schools across Vermont will have the chance to host a variety of robots.  Each school will share their learning with each other as well as on social media. I am honored that RES was selected as a host school. We will be using the robot in a variety of ways, including in an after school coding class this month (check out the after school enrichment form to sign up).  

The first enrichment class of the day opened our new learning tool and then several classes throughout the day explored the possibilities for building and creating. We are excited to continue this exploration and several classroom teachers are thinking of ways to connect more learning this month.

Have you heard of Cubelets?  Do you have any questions for us? Do you have ideas of what we should build? We would love to share our learning so leave a comment and connect with us!

As the first host school, we also have the honor of naming the robot...any ideas?

Minions

Minions are super cute.  they eat bananas;strawberys;and apples.theres one thing Minions arnt
they arnt smart!They;re master is bruse the villin
Did you lern about minions to lern much more wach Despicable Me!

Horses

🐎 I love horses. 🐴 horses are cute because they are cute when they grow.🐴 eat grass and hay. 🐴You can be a cowgirl if you have a horse.  Do you like horses?

Izzi's blog of everything!

Hey! I'm Izzi. And my favorite color is blue,red,purple,and every color on the UNIVERSE! My favorite animals are...UNICORNS! RAINDEER! Cats,lizards,ELAPHENTS,dogs,FISH,and peacocks. I am in second grade and I think second grade is AWESOME! Do you like kittens? I do!

NFL

Hey I'm  Caleb. I like football. Football is a sport. A football is made out of leather. OK now lets talk about the  NFL.So the NFL is a huge football league. There are 32 teams in the NFL. Do you like football?

Coming up with an idea

One reason it is hard to come up with an Idea is that other people are distracting. Another reason is that I think tomorrow I wish that I did something different. I would rather be playing but if I don't do a blog post I cannot get comments! Is it hard for you to come up with ideas?

Minecraft

Mincraft is cool becase every

Thing is mad owt uv skwaers🏂.doo you like mincraft👾?

star wars

About brady . I am 7 and almost 8 . I really like legos . At school I like p.e..I love to play video games. My second grade teacher is Miss Darling . Who likes star wars ?

Space

Did you ever heer about the big bang theory ? the Big Bang theory is in space. It is a ittie spot  .And it created the universe mileeyons of years ago.

Minecraft

I like Mine craft and you should play it too. Do you think Mine craft  is cool ?and creative you run  around with tools.

Jacks world of doodle jump

My name is Jack do you like doodle jump doodle jump is a video game

Do you play doodle jump 

 Doodle jump Roger 

Zeb's minecraft blog!

This is my minecraft blog! Do you play minecraft? If you don't you should try it. It's fun. I love it! Why I like it is because you can do whatever you want!                 This is a problem because there are to many creepers!!!!!

When I came from China

 I was born in China.  The name of the city was  Fuzhou City on the southern east coast of China.  Now I am in America and it is fun here. I have an older sister too. I was1 when I moved here .  Have you been to China?

           

RES Science Fair--Save the Date!

The RES Enrichment Program is excited to announce the annual

FAMILY SCIENCE FAIR   

!MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW!

Thursday March 10^th, 2016  

We look forward to the excellent projects presented by students in grades K-4!  Please mark your calendars and start thinking about how you would like to participate.

Do you have a science fair project in mind?  Here are some ways to make a plan:

•  Expand upon an interesting topic you have studied in class
• Think about a topic that interests you, or a science question that you are curious about
•   Talk to family and friends to brainstorm ideas for a project
•  Stop by the enrichment room and borrow a fair idea book and talk with Mrs. Rankin
•  Check out science project resources in the library

The RES Science Fair is a non-judged family event.  Students are encouraged to work together with family and friends to develop a project they are proud of presenting to our community.  Your entry does not have to be a science experiment. It may be as simple as a display of your leaf collection or as complex as an experiment on how the circulatory system works.  Look at the world around you. What are you curious about? What interests you?  Ask why something is the way it is. Do experiments, demonstrate a scientific principle, make observations of the world around you, design and make something or collect and analyze data.  Most importantly- be creative and HAVE FUN!

In a few weeks Science Fair entry forms will be sent home.  At that time you will be asked to share your planned science fair topic as well as any special display requirements you have. 

Questions?

Contact: Darcie Rankin, Enrichment Teacher by email at darcie.rankin@cesuvt.org