Saving the Sea Turtles

Any of the students will tell you that sea turtles are close to my heart! These gentle creatures have been around for millions of years only to find that they are now very much in danger of disappearing from the earth. The students learned all about sea turtles and then divided into groups to research one specific species in depth. The students then created posters to inform people about their sea turtle and how we can help!

Which sea turtle is your favorite?

Jayden, Kaitlyn, and Jackson with the Kemp's and Olive Ridley

Macy and Addison with the Olive Ridley

Landon and Cassidy with the hawksbill

Brayden and Blake with the leatherback

Tykyra and Lily with the loggerhead 

Jolee and Lane with the green

Edward and Mikkiel had the loggerhead

Kennedy, Taylor, and Esther had the green

Emma, Lauren, and Ze'Niyah had the leatherback

Rube Goldberg Contraptions!

The 3rd grade CCATS studied inventions, innovations, simple machines, and complex machines throughout the year. Then we took a closer look at Rube Goldberg and his famous contraptions! What is a Rube Goldberg? It is a complex way of doing something very simple! The students had to come up with a Rube Goldberg contraption, figure out the materials they would need, assemble the Rube Goldberg machine, test it, and tweak it until it worked! They were required to use at least 3 simple machines and their Rube Goldberg had to have at least 7 steps. They did a great job!

                                          

                                          

It Looks a Little Fishy To Me!!!

The 4th grade CCATS learned all about the Animal Classification system and the anatomy of fish! Exciting, I know!! After learning everything they ever wanted to know about fish (and some things they didn't!), the students had to use clues to build a mystery fish. They put all the knowledge they gained about fish into using clay, fins, and eyes to create a fish from clues on a card. Afterward, they compared their fish to pictures of real fish and tried to guess which fish they built. Some of them could be twins, don't you think!?!

Edward, Jackson, Jayden, and Micah are working hard! 

Ze'Niyah, Breanna, and Kaitlyn are not sure about this!

They are really into their fish!

Lauren is concentrating hard!

Esther, Emma, Taylor, and Kennedy are making progress!

Is this right?

Esteban and Kiki are molding their fish!

These boys look like they are really thinking!

Look at everyone engaged!

Some of them got it!

Don't give up, Breanna!

Cassidy and Lily, are you making the same fish?

Twins!

Looks right to me!

Lane, Landon, Brayden, and Blake are getting close!

This is very tedious work!

Tykyra and Addison are on a roll!

You've got this, Jolee!

Pretty close!

Almost!

Twins!

More twins!

Looking good! 

Maybe a little bigger body?

Pretty good!

Eureka!! It's Buoyancy!!

The 4th grade CCATS learned all about Archimedes' Principle, buoyancy, density, salinity, mass, matter, and volume! Wow! That's a lot of science!! After absorbing all this new information, they were put to the test. The students were put into to groups and challenged to make a boat that could hold more marbles than anyone else's! We had some great boats this year!! A new SUPER RECORD was set!!! The winning boat held an AMAZING 526 marbles!!! Can you beat that??

Blake, Lily, and Addison are coming up with a plan!

Landon, Cassidy, and Tykyra think they have it figured out!

Will Lane, Jolee, Macy, and Brayden have the winning boat?

Not a bad boat! Almost heart shaped for Valentine's Day!

This boat tested well, also!

Here is a comparison of the first two boats.

This is a picture of 526 marbles in a tinfoil boat!!

Great job everyone!!!

Looking good!

Chess Masters in the Making!

We have started practicing chess and it is INTENSE!!

Imagine Dragons!!

We learned how to S.C.A.M.P.E.R. ideas that we have to come up with new things! Each letter stands for how to change an idea: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Minify/Magnify, Put to other use, Eliminate/Exchange, and Reverse/Rearrange! We tried it out with dragons! See our new, cool Imagined Dragons that have been SCAMPERed!

Little Einsteins!!!

Come and take a trip on a wild and crazy ship, full of great ideas from little Einsteins!! The 3rd graders learned about the characteristics of an inventor! They found out that inventors have to be problem solvers, creative, persistent, curious, and open to criticism! That's the only way that great ideas are made and become reality!! The students made a person where they labeled the characteristics of an inventor. Next they added their own heads combined with Einsteins hair! After all, they are inventors of the future and Einstein was the greatest thinker!

Little Einsteins!!