Friday, March 27, 2015

Week of March 23

The students are hard at work on their Genius Hour projects.  They get the time and resources to research any topic of their choice.  We will work most Fridays on this until the end of the year, when the students will present their projects to others.  Here are some pictures of the students working and what they hope to learn. Students will be researching, developing, and probably making small changes to their guiding questions over the next few months. 












  • I want to make music easier to read by making notes easier to tell apart.
  • How will we prevent space debris from going into Earth?
  • I want to make a magnetic/kinetic energy powered car.
  • I want to build houses which can survive tornadoes and earthquakes.
  • I want to make a video game app where you collect as many coins as you can without getting hit by tons of stuff like rockets and mines.
  • I will learn about natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis.
  • I will make an app to tell you what to wear by taking a survey on what you feel that day.  
  • I will be learning about cryptids and I will make and explain a hypotheses about if they are real.  I will check Big Foot, Jersey Devil, Chupacabra, and Jackalope.  
  • How can I make an architecture app for kids?
  • What could be a better alternate for the design on spines on books?  I will try to make it better by making the book easier to open when it is new.
  • How do you make a no sugar cookie that little kids will like?
  • Is there enough environmental support for unicorns to be alive?


Friday, March 20, 2015

Week of March 17

The Seabury Science Fair was a great success.  Congratulations to the students on their hard work and great ideas.  They should be incredibly proud.  The students were asked to grade their own projects and reflect on them.  They were very insightful on what went well and were proud of, as well as what they can do to make it even better.  Here are some thoughts from the students about the event and their projects.


    The Science Fair went great for me!  I think I did pretty well on my presentation.  I answered every question except, "Why did bridge 2 fail?" and "Are you going to be an engineer when you grow up?" with a really good answer.  I had a great time.  I think I also did good on my board.  The science fair was awesome!
     There were some things I could do a little better on.  I used nervous hands a lot.  I think I should have practiced my presentation.  I also should have demonstrated my hands-on more. Otherwise, the science fair was great.  


     The science fair went okay.  My presentation I think was great.  My message was clear and forward.  I didn't repeat any stuff and my hands-on was great.  That's why I think the science fair was great.  
    My fruit wasn't working a quarter of the time.  My fruit was juiced out.  The kiwi and tomato were not working in the slightest bit.  I wished the fruit would have worked.  That's why my science fair didn't go so well.  


     This is what went well at the science fair.  A lot of people gave me compliments.  My hands-on worked really well.  I also think I explained it pretty well.  I had a lot of fun!
     This is what I could have done better at the science fair.  I need to put more in my journal.  I need to put the safety concerns.  Also, I need to explain about my research.  I would like to do better next time.  


     I think what went well was that I said it all correct.  Another thing is the typing and writing it.  I did well on the decorations.  
     I could work on grammar and spelling more and telling it to other people.  I wasn't good at all of it.  I got a 3, a 3, and a 2 (when self evaluating).


     I feel that all of my science fair went well.  My parents said that I got a lot of good compliments from parents.  I would have fixed all of the spelling/punctuation errors.  I needed to have a copious amount of water because I had to talk a lot.  This was what did or did not work out.  
     This is my explanation of my project.  My project is about blood sugar and different foods. My mom chose blood sugar because she wants to help people.  My dad said that my project is the coolest he's seen.  I am very satisfied with my project.  


     I did these things well at the science fair.  I was looking happy.  I decorated my board well.  I let people pet my guinea pig.  I did those things well.
     I needed to work on these things at the science fair.  I was too eager to show people my board.  I was too assertive with the Purell. I was way too snappy with my time limit.  I needed to work on those things.


     I think that a lot of people liked my project.  A lot of people liked my analysis.  Some people learned from my facts.  A lot of people liked my vocal presentation.  That is why I think that a lot of people liked my project.  
      I think you shouldn't have told us the time when we got out.  I stressed a lot and asked the time a lot.  I stressed even more when someone said, "30 minutes until freedom!"  Someone started a countdown and so I was rushed talking about my project.  That is why I think you shouldn't have told us that we got out at seven.


     I think I did good on my science fair project.  On mine I think I did really well on my board.  I really like how I highlighted some parts.  I also liked my journal.  I think I did pretty well.
     I could have done better on everything I did.  Next time I will push myself harder.  I will do everything better, especially my journal.  I will also work on my oral presentation.  That is what I will do better next year.       


     I feel that the science fair went well.  I had fun showing off my hard work to everyone.  It was nice to be able to look at everyone else's posters, and learn so much from them.  It was also cool to see everyone's different ideas.  That is how I feel about the science fair.
     On the frowny-face note, I don't think I got a good grade.  I forgot my safety concerns, which was a big thing facing the fact my project included fire.  Also, my science journal was incomplete. That thing always ruins me.  That is what I thought I could do better.  


    A lot of things went well in the science fair.  A lot of people went to my stall.  I got to look around.  I also thought I improved. That's what went well.  
     Some things went bad.  I could have done better on the board.  I also could have done better on the experiment.  Another reason is that I could've done better on the journal.  That's what went bad.


     I think that I worked hard on my presentation and project.  I felt really good about finishing my project.  I think that this was my favorite one I've done.  Especially with the stinky and slimy fruit.  I can't believe I wasn't that nervous.  
     I think I could have really worked harder.  I didn't do a very good journal.  I didn't add safety concerns.  I definitely could have worked harder.  I wish I could go back in time and fix it.  I really could have worked harder.  


     The Science Fair went really well.  First, a lot of people liked my experiment.  Also, I explained really well on what it was about. Last, I let people try the hands on project themselves.  That is why the Science Fair went really well.  
     Some things didn't go so well at the Science Fair.  To begin with, some people accidentally kicked my hands on project.  Then, I didn't fully complete my journal for the fair.  Last, I forgot to put safety concerns on my board.  That is why some things didn't go so well at the Science Fair.  

















Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Week of March 9

Pi Day!  

We had a great time celebrating all things pi.  We read about the history of pi, measured the circumference of cylinders and figured out the ration between it and the diameter of the circle with string, made homemade pies, created t-shirts to celebrate pi day, and had a pi recitation competition. The kids had a great time.  Be sure to stop what you are doing on Saturday, 3/14/15 at 9:26 (am and pm) to celebrate!