Wednesday, September 6, 2017

S.T.E.A.M. Storytime Surprise–Back to School—Defying Gravity

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Join us as we share a story about a kid who really gets up on “the wrong side of the bed,” share some silly poems and songs about school days gone wrong, learn a bit about gravity and create a contraption that will slow the descent of our little Lego guy!  (Part of a new weekly after school series featuring Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, or Mathematics! (Pre-K-4th grade)

Back to School, gravity, and engineering books on display as kids entered (and for check out afterwards)


Book:  The Wrong Side of the Bed – Wallace E. Keller (talked about what that expression means, delightful story in which a child literally gets up on the wrong side of the bed and goes through the day upside down!) also available as a Top 10 Storybook App (Kirkus Reviews): http://www.seeherestudios.com/tickle-books/the-wrong-side-of-the-bed


Poems: “Eight-o-Three” & "School Days Rap" from Lunch Money & Other Poems for School – Carol Diggory Shields

Book: Just Another Ordinary Day – Rod Clement (deadpan language about an ordinary day is very funny when paired with anything but ordinary illustrations)

Song: "By the Way" from Joe Scruggs album Deep in the Jungle lyrics here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/09/school-age-storytime-school-dazefun.html
also available on Youtube; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5jWE6Cs_tA . Props: paper bag with “lemonade can”, “sardine can” (I used image from internet wrapped around a box), 6 cotton balls & 4 rubber bands.

Songs: “I am in the Lunchroom” and “Heavy Backpack” from the book Smelly Locker Silly Dilly School Songs by Alan Katz

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Book: Gravity by Jason Chin (Stunning pictures and simple text whimsically introduce the concept of gravity.)

Poem: "Clock Watching"  from Lunch Money & Other Poems for School – Carol Diggory Shields (Asked who was the narrator!)

Talked about gravity – dropped a Lego guy to the ground – presented today’s engineering Challenge:  “Create a contraption that will slow the descent of our Lego guy” (based on the SciGirls project described here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2016/07/on-your-mark-get-setengineer.html

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Materials
  • Several items from this list: plastic wrap, tissues, paper towels, plastic bags, tissue paper, coffee filters, handkerchiefs, straws 
  • 1 toy minifigure (Lego, for example)
  • string or thread or yarn
  • scissors
  • tape
  • paper and pencil
  • optional: stopwatch
Directions
  1. Your challenge is to make something that will slow the descent of a toy minifigure  (You can work in groups of up to 4 people). 
  2. Take a few minutes to brainstorm designs before beginning.
  3. Then we’ll test them and see how they work.  We’ll see which design helps our Lego guy/gal to fall the slowest (has the most drag).
  4. We can make a prediction before testing. (Stand on a chair and use a stopwatch to time each descent and/or hold two at the same height and drop them at the same time – which has the most drag?)
  5. Look at your results. Was your prediction correct? Why did one minifigure descend slower than another?

See More Tips in the PDF

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No time for:

Interactive Book: One – Kathryn Otoshi  -- All the other colors are intimidated by “Red’” until the “One” arrives and shows how everyone can count. This is a deceptively simple concept book that is also a brilliantly empowering story on how students can help one another stand up to bullies. 

Book: Sarah's Story – Bill Harley (Sarah doesn’t think she knows any stories for school until she gets caught up in an adventure involving a Queen Ant in search of a honey sandwich!)

BWL 9/2017

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