Dear Parents and Guardians,
We have had a busy couple of weeks so far with our third grade structuralists! We hope that you’ve been able to have great conversations with your child about different activities and experiments they’ve done so far.
We have learned a lot about what goes on deep inside the layers of our Earth that cause earthquakes to happen. We learned about the convection currents in the mantle that move the tectonic plates. In order to see this action for ourselves, we used rice cakes and heated maple syrup to demonstrate. We used slinkies to observe the different types of earthquake waves. We heard from guest speakers who shared with us their stories of living with frequent earthquakes in Lima, Peru, and what it was like to experience the San Francisco earthquake of 1989. Students have also been doing research into a topic of their choice connected to structures and earthquakes. Ask them about their project!
The students have been working hard to use the Engineering Design Process to learn the fundamentals of building engineering. We have built building skeletons, index card towers and geodesic domes and tested their strength on our shake table. The students have worked well together to follow the steps of the engineering design process: ask, imagine, plan, create and improve.
For the remainder of our time together we will hear from other guest speakers that will share with us the world of structural engineering. We will also begin our work helping the fictional town of Sumlaurville, California rebuild after an earthquake. The students will work together in task forces to accomplish this challenging work.
We hope to see you at our Innovation Hour on Thursday July 28th from 10:00-11:00 AM. The students are so excited to show you all of their engineering creations during our program!
We have had a busy couple of weeks so far with our third grade structuralists! We hope that you’ve been able to have great conversations with your child about different activities and experiments they’ve done so far.
We have learned a lot about what goes on deep inside the layers of our Earth that cause earthquakes to happen. We learned about the convection currents in the mantle that move the tectonic plates. In order to see this action for ourselves, we used rice cakes and heated maple syrup to demonstrate. We used slinkies to observe the different types of earthquake waves. We heard from guest speakers who shared with us their stories of living with frequent earthquakes in Lima, Peru, and what it was like to experience the San Francisco earthquake of 1989. Students have also been doing research into a topic of their choice connected to structures and earthquakes. Ask them about their project!
The students have been working hard to use the Engineering Design Process to learn the fundamentals of building engineering. We have built building skeletons, index card towers and geodesic domes and tested their strength on our shake table. The students have worked well together to follow the steps of the engineering design process: ask, imagine, plan, create and improve.
For the remainder of our time together we will hear from other guest speakers that will share with us the world of structural engineering. We will also begin our work helping the fictional town of Sumlaurville, California rebuild after an earthquake. The students will work together in task forces to accomplish this challenging work.
We hope to see you at our Innovation Hour on Thursday July 28th from 10:00-11:00 AM. The students are so excited to show you all of their engineering creations during our program!