Epcor visits our classroom

We had the nicest man come to visit our classroom yesterday.  He works for EPCOR and presented a power point for the students that he had made.

I think he was able to impress upon the students that "energy cannot be created nor destroyed" which is an important scientific concept.

Because our nearby city is not near a powerful river nor a large lake, our electrical energy is not generated through hydroelectric dams.  Instead, coal is burned, to heat water in a boiler, creating steam that then turns a turbine, allowing a gigantic magnet to spin inside of copper wire, which then generates electricity.  We learned the names of many different types of energy and that there are many different types of engineers who work through this process.  Perhaps someday, some of these students will become engineers!

Great session!  Great guy!  Lots of learning!  Made for a wonderful day!

Lego dams and new learning

One of the best parts of this investigation is the fact that I am learning as much as the students.  Even though I have been using iPads in the classroom for a few years, they were used in specific ways which did not challenge me in learning more.  One of the things I needed to be able to do with this investigation was to find a way for the students to send me their work.  The students do not have access to e-mail accounts on the iPads, so the obvious solution did not work BUT, the iPads have the Google Drive app installed and each student has a google drive account, as do I.  After they finished with their PicCollage (to be created with the co-constructed criteria that we had agreed upon) the pairs sent me their work.  You'll see 6 out of the 10, because 4 groups added their names.  My personal policy is not to reveal the names of my students on the internet.  

The ten dam designs seem much more similar because there were specific criteria that the students were following as they created the dams.  As well, they had more experience, had viewed more actual photographs of dams and understood the purpose of the dam more with this challenge.

The hole that they were to open after the water was held back by the dam, represented the channel that the water would be forced through to turn the turbines and create electricity,

 (in the very simplest of understandings).

I have been more than happy with their growth as learners and their willingness to be problem solvers!

Lego Dam Challenge

Before we left for Spring Break, the students knew that they were going to have the chance to create a second dam.  Now they understand that a dam holds back the water, and a small opening allows the water through to turn the turbines (electromagnetic) and this process creates electricity.  They also learned that the placement of the hole in the dam is important to allow the water to move through with enough force (pressure) to make those turbines work.

The first step, of course, to get the dam to hold the water!

We have completely new materials....new buckets and

lots and lots of lego of various shapes and sizes!

To start with, the students met with their partner and drew and labelled their plan.

It was pretty exciting to get to choose what type of lego would be used.

There was a great deal of debate about this step!

I think my favourite part is hearing the students talk about what their plan of attack will be.  They are focused and interested and very willing to work to real their goal.

As well, they share their thinking on paper including what they learned from the first challenge that will help them with this one, what part of the challenge they expect to give them difficulties and what the science involved with this challenge is.

What do you think of this plan?

Who knew science was so much fun?

It's not an easy thing to see....electricity.

Even though it is not something to play with, using the Plasma Ball allowed the students a chance to imagine that they had the power to control, or at least manipulate electricity.

There was a smile on every face...

as they watched the changes right before their eyes!

The challenge with this whole project has been making the information relevant to the children's lives and experiences, and then to find materials that they would manipulate on their own. Boreal Science was the source for these great little motors, that gave the students a better understanding of turbines.

Step by step directions were clear, but the perfecting of the motor so that it would run was more than a little tricky!

Not everyone got theirs to work...

but the huge smiles...

..and squeals, certainly let us all know when there was SUCCESS!

Dam Building Challenge pictures.....

Working in pairs, the students created a plan on how they were going to use the sticks and modelling clay to keep the water on one side of their shoebox, essentially creating a dam.

One of the aspects of our science curriculum is to have the students understand about creating a 'fair test', and with this challenge, those words came up time and time again.

There were no further instructions from me.  It can be hard to relinquish control but I kept thinking that this challenge was about the students' learning, and that made it easier!

Ten groups of two and no one created a dam like any other!

The second part of this activity was to record their work in progress.  They used an app called PicCollage, took photos using the criteria that we all agreed on and then put the collage together including words.  

They were so enjoying the aspect of creating a collage of their learning as it was happening.

Today, the partners put the finishing touches on their dams.  They were deciding which side they would be adding the water to.

I was so impressed with their inventiveness!

We set up criteria for a fair way to add the water, ensuring that each dam would receive the same amount and in the same manner.  We were all excited as we added water to the first dam!

It held the water.....but wait, was that water seeping through?

 I loved the comment of one of the girls "That water is so sneaky!  It will find any little hole to get through!"  Such a powerful learning moment!

This one reminded us of a beaver dam, as we had looked at some online.

As the dams held the water and then did not, the students offered theories and talked about design principles....though they didn't even know that was what they were saying!

The conversation was so interesting, as the students made predictions about why a certain design would or would not work.  They were complementary to their fellow engineers saying things like "Well we can see that you really tried hard." or "Next time you need to make sure that your dam is taller!"

Finally one dam was absolutely successful.  This design did not allow even a smidgeon of water to creep to the other side!

Some of the students reminded me that when we had looked at photos of real dams, there was water on both sides...high water and low water (spillways).  That will be part of our next conversation....how important is it to control the water?  How does that control assist in making electricity?