Exploring Space - 6th Grade Rocketry

The 6th graders are launching themselves into independent space research projects, and what better way to kick things off than some rocket design and launch tests?!

 Testing the thrust and action-reaction potential of alkaseltzer powered rockets

Kicking it up a notch with more power (stay tuned for the video!)

1st Graders Fly with the Albatross

How can you get from Antarctica to Australia? The first graders soared with the wandering albatross! They learned that the bird, with its 11 foot wingspan, can travel 10,000 miles in a single flight because of the shape and size of its wings as well as its ability to use the ocean wind current to its advantage. They measured, cut, and built a life size model to share their learning with the school.

3rd Grade Rover Robotics

After using interactive Moon and Mars mapping technology, the 3rd graders worked collaboratively as designers, part pickers, builders and programmers to build and program robotic Moon or Mars rovers. The students shared their work in a STEAM celebration of learning ("The Gallery of the Galaxy") that also included Solar System research work, Moon inspired paintings and poetry, and musical haiku compositions on the recorder.

TCS Moments beyond the Classroom

I love recording pictures of my students work, but sometimes I enjoy trying to capture the little stuff that makes TCS so great.

My 6th grade early birds bonding before 1st period starts

7th graders sporting new spirit wear

6th grade Costume Club designing the Mysterious Man costume for the musical

My neighbor, history teacher Mr. Howe, flipping the classroom and being a middle school student for a few minutes

Twins for the day or Roost models?

My other neighbor, science teacher Meg Flynn, enjoying a moment with her advisees during advisor snack period

1st grade Biome Builds

Science connections to 1st grade travels to Asia - so many habitats, climates, plants and animals to learn about on the Asian continent!

Planning an ocean biome build

The Asian rainforest - Lego version

Shake, Rattle and Roll in 6th Grade

The TCS 6th graders have been deeply immersed in an earthquake STEAM unit and have been considering, researching and answering these essential questions:

SCIENCE: Where, when, why and how do earthquakes happen? What happens when they occur?

TECHNOLOGY: What tools and innovations help us understand, measure and cope with earthquakes?

ENGINEERING: How can we make models to measure and explain earthquakes? How can we build structures that can withstand their forces?

ART: How have earthquakes been depicted in art? How are emotions affected by earthquakes? How can design elements factor into building earthquake-proof structures?

MATH: How can earthquake data be collected, organized, analyzed and represented using different types of charts and graphs?

 On February 2nd, we were excited to be able to visit Centerbrook Architects & Planners in Centerbrook, CT. What an amazing opportunity to link our STEAM studies to real world applications and learn from experts in our community!

 Peter Cornell, an architect with Centerbrook and husband of TCS science teacher and robotics coach Amy Cornell, gave us a very informative tour of the firm, which is housed in an old mill where drill bits were once manufactured.

The firm harnesses much of the energy it needs from solar panels on the roof, hydropower from the dam behind the old mill that turns turbines in the building and geothermal heat from the ground and nearby pond. This monitor tracks their energy production and consumption.

 Models of structures made from interesting dimensional materials are displayed everywhere, including these 3D printed ones.

 In the modelling shop, 3D printers, woodworking equipment and skilled craftsmen create small-scale models as well as full scale, original pieces of furniture like this chair that Mrs. Coyne found!

We learned that architects and engineers have to comply with very strict building codes in seismically-active parts of the world. The students noticed comparisons between the frequency data that they collected in their math classes and this map that Mr. Cornell showed us.

Ted Tolis, also an architect at Centerbrook and parent of two TCS alumni Ian '13 and Emmett '15, shared a virtual tour of the master plan for TCS, and the students were very curious. They were especially interested to hear from Aaron Emma, who helped design and navigate the model, that much of the technology used is similar to video game technology and that playing Xbox can help build virtual model making skills!

It's great to be able to dream big! These students have seen such dramatic changes to campus in the past few years that they could easily envision these new additions.

We debriefed the trip with some lively discussions and by writing down some reflections from the morning. The students pulled out some takeaways which were added to this group thank you "blueprint" for our hosts. Thank you for your time and insights Mr. Cornell, Mr. Tolis and everyone at Centerbrook! We left very inspired to design our own earthquake-resistant structures. Stay tuned!

Here's a link to Centerbrook's blog about our visit written by our host, Peter Cornell:

http://centerbrook.com/blog/2017/02/visualizing-the-future/

New Year, New Computer and Overdue Blog Updates 😊

What a whirlwind of great science work at the end of 2016! Here's a glimpse of some highlights:

2nd Grade colonial science wrapped up by extracting natural dyes from plants found in the TCS garden and around campus...

and then experimenting with natural fibers like cotton, wool, and silk to see how well they could absorb and hold the dyes.

They turned a liquid into a solid by "churning" butter. 

Dried herbs and essential oils were used to make herbal soaps.

TCS robotics teams made a chicken coop from inexpensive materials as a project to present at the robotics competition. This year's theme was "Animal Allies," and the students proposed that a portable, easily assembled, and affordable chicken coop could help both chickens and people. They envisioned that it could even help people (and chickens) colonize Mars!

At the First Lego League competition at Bash at the Beach, the TCS team members brainstormed and implemented ways to complete missions with their robots that could simulate the human-animal interdependency, presented their projects and practiced "coopertition." It was a busy and fun day!

As they prepare to study the "50 Nifty United States," the 4th graders have been studying weather. They designed and built weather instruments and installed them in the TCS garden to monitor rainfall, wind direction, air pressure and humidity.

The 3rd grade geologists wrapped up their geology field studies with a Pangea puzzle challenge, volcano eruptions and earthquake simulations.

Check out the beautiful display case in the library entrance that shows off the 5th grade geologic time study! The students researched plants and animals from different eras in Earth's history in science, worked with Mrs. Kelly to learn how to transfer their researched facts into a paragraph of descriptive writing, and then worked with Ms. S. in art to create wire sculptures of their subject.

1st and 2nd graders explored the densities of liquids in a very STEAMy way! They layered liquids like corn syrup, dish soap, water, oil, and rubbing alcohol...

Then they experienced the ancient Turkish art (and science!) of ebru painting - floating paint mixed with ox gall on a denser solution of water and carrageenan then gently swirling the paints with special tools to create beautiful designs and transferring them to floating paper. Come by and appreciate their beautiful works on the bulletin board in the science lab hallway in lower Blatchford!

Sarah Johnson (TCS '10) was a valuable consultant and helper as she had completed an Ebru workshop in Istanbul, Turkey in the summer of 2015.

 A 1st grader uses a fine awl to make heart-like designs.

 A board with nails (a traditional ebru tool) acts like a comb to pull colors across the surface.

The beautiful results are on display in lower Blatchford!

Speaking of oil and water, the 5th graders have been discussing the pros and cons of renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. They learned about the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and simulated an oil spill and clean up using booms, skimmers and absorbers.

The 5th grade was treated to a very interesting and educational presentation by Christopher's mom, Kate Childs, who discussed the current research by oil companies on biofuels.  Her company is involved on the state level in bringing the benefits of biodiesel to Connecticut consumers. Thank you for taking the time to help our students with important real-world connections to their learning, Katie!

The 6th grade science students have been engrossed in a STEAM study of earthquakes. In the science lab, they have engineered working seismographs using a variety of materials and strategies. They defended their models in front of "the sharks" (a.k.a Mr. Beecher and Mr. Johnson) in the TCS version of Shark Tank known as "STEAM Tank." Here are some pictures of the process...

the presentations...

and the celebration when the sharks offered them all a deal that would include beneficial aspects of each team's unique model.

The best part? The deal involved donuts!