Week of May 25th, 2020

This week, I am sharing a great book about coding, or computer programming, called How To Code A Sandcastle by Josh Funk. It does a great job explaining important ideas in coding and what it means to program a computer to do something. The computer in the book is a robot who helps the girl build a sandcastle. 

How to Build a Sandcastle by Josh Funk

Here's a fun coding activity to try from coderkids.com that helps teach the idea that computers will only do what you tell them to do:

Code a Robot

1. In a fairly large space, put various objects around the area that act as obstacles that people have to move around. Have a start and end point. 
2. One person is the robot and the other is the programmer. (If you have more than two people playing, the programmers can get in a line and rotate giving directions.)
3. Programmer(s) give(s) directions to get the robot through the obstacle course without touching any of the obstacles. If an obstacle is touched, then the robot must start from the beginning. 
4. The programmer should only give one direction at a time. Example: "turn to the right and take a step" should be broken down into 2 separate steps: "turn to the right" and "take 1 step".
https://www.coderkids.com/blog/3-fun-offline-games-that-help-kids-learn-to-code

Week of May 18th, 2020

The read-aloud this week helps students understand: What IS Science? Science includes so many things and this books shows that it is all around us. 

What Is Science? by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Science is everywhere and causes many amazing things-- including the very cool results in this activity where crystals form on an object hanging in a solution of borax and water. In this activity, they used pipe cleaners to form letters of the child's name and then hung them in the solution overnight. It does require some materials you may not ordinarily have around the house. I would like to try this with my own kids, but I will have to pick up some borax the next time I am out. Some people do, however, have this material in their households, so if you are one of those people, you may want to check this out! 

Crystal Names Activity

Week Of May 11th

Check out another great read-aloud from Brad Meltzer, creator of the cartoon Xavier Riddle & The Secret Museum on PBS Kids. This week's book is about a very inspiring scientist, Marie Curie! 

I Am Marie Curie  by Brad Meltzer

Here's a fun engineering activity to try: Build structures with toothpicks and jellybeans or you can use mini marshmallows. It's fun to see what you can create with these simple items!

Engineering with Jelly Beans Activity

Week of May 4th, 2020

Here is a read-aloud about rollercoasters! If you've ever ridden one, you might think they are pretty fun, or you might think they are scary. Let's think about this --engineers had to design them and then builders had to construct them! It's kind of amazing that people are able to build rollercoasters that make riders go super fast on a track, make them go down very steep hills, and even make them go in loops upside-down--all while keeping everyone safe! It takes a lot of science to make that happen!

Read-Aloud: Roller Coaster by Marla Frazze

If you would like to try to build a paper rollercoaster like the one shown above, below is a link to a quick video that shows you how to make one. (You can make paper tracks without using the printable template they show in the video.)

Build A Paper Roller Coaster Tutorial Video

Here is the link to the lesson plan with more details: 

Build a Paper Roller Coaster Lesson Plan