PLTW at Pattengill, September 2022

    Fourth Grade: Students have been studying potential energy,  kinetic energy, and collisions in their physical science and engineering PLTW unit. They have worked as groups of 3-4 students to build a pendulum out of VEX kits and measure how long it takes the pendulum to stop from various heights. We take a look at this data and make a conclusion about what this means about potential and kinetic energy when objects are at different heights. Students also built very simple cars and let the roll from different heights on a ramp and then measured how far they rolled from each height. We also looked at this data to help us better understand potential and kinetic energy. Students have also been investigating the effects of collisions and will use all of this knowledge in upcoming classes about how to build a safe vehicle to protect their raw egg from cracking when they roll the car down a ramp and it collides with a wall. 

Fifth Grade: Students have been studying robotics and how robots are used to do the dull, dirty or dangerous work so that humans don't have to. They are also learning about inputs and outputs of machines. They have worked with a group to build a testbed that allows them to explore the electronic parts of our Robotics VEX kits before they build the robot. After they finish that task, they build their robot in an effort to complete our classroom robotics mock nuclear waste challenge. Based on the 2011 tsunami that occurred near Japan, students are tasked with building and modifying their robots to "clean up nuclear waste" (plastic cubes). In the coming weeks we will hold a class competition where robots work together to move the most "nuclear waste".

4th graders entering data into a Google form

Measuring distances cars rolled

Measuring distances cars rolled

Investigating collisions with varying amounts of potential energy

Working together as a group to build their pendulum

Working together as a group to build their pendulum

Working together to build their vehicle/simple car

After warm up question at the beginning of class, partners talk about what they wrote

Partner Sharing what they wrote in their warm ups

5th graders building their robot

Everyone has a different job--are you builder, building video controller, or parts person?

more teamwork

"Driver's Training"!! Practicing how to make the robot move how you want it to

working on the testbed to understand the electronic controls