179th Day and Going Strong

On the second to last day of school we used our knowledge of proportions to scale down the 4,500,000,000 km solar system we live in to a model of 20 meters. Using the math to scale it down, we then measured out 20 meters on the playground and measured out the accurate distances from the sun. Having this accurate model (unlike most drawings in books) allowed students to visualize how far spaced the outer planets are compared to the inner planets. It also helped them understand how difficult it is for space travel for humans (even in our own solar system), as we haven't even been able to land humans on Mars, which was within 1 meter of the sun in our model (and only 34 cm away from earth). Trying to get humans to the outer planets or beyond seemed very difficult at this time with our current technology once this model is seen.

Sun Dials

After tracking how each student's shadow changes size over several months this spring, we moved onto looking at the math and science behind how humans have utilized the concept of the sun moving throughout the sky. This week we built sun dials. Students learned how the angle of the gnomon is related to the latitude of where the sun dial will be used. Protractors were used to measure angles between each hour, with the angles decreasing from morning until noon and then increasing until sunset. Although Wednesday was cloudy and postponed our testing of them, today looks more promising.

Neuroscience and Brains

We had a special guest today, a recent graduate of UNR who is going into the field of neuroscience. He spoke about how the brain worked and allowed us to observe real human brains. Quite a unique experience!

Dream Catchers

Over the past few weeks, we learned some basics about Native Americans and dream catchers. Then we got our hands busy and built dream catchers of our own.

Kids Court

Our field experience in learning about the judicial branch of government took place today at our local court house. The class did a great job executing all the aspects of a civil court. We also got top praise from the real bailiff, who said our class was the best he's had in the past year. Hands-on education at its best.

Being a "49er"

We learned about the California gold rush taking place in 1849 in social studies today and how that impacted the growth of the United States. We then took it further by panning for gold ourselves. Connecting in the science of how gold panning works, students panned in "dirt" (cereal) for "gold" (Lemon Heads).

Engineering Earthquake Proof Buildings

In collaboration with the College of Engineering, students investigated different structures they built out of Legos and tested the "buildings" on an earthquake table today. The challenge was to develop the tallest building that didn't fall apart.