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Spring SAVY 2017, Day 4- Awesome Algebra
Feb. 20, 2017—Patterns, equations, and careers, oh my! Our mathematicians jumped in today with both feet. Though reluctant to admit it, these friends experienced some challenging learning today. Mistakes lead to growth, and I could see the synapses firing in their brains today! We talked about growth mindsets in mathematics today by opening with a number talk...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 4- Science of the Sea: Diving into Marine Biology
Feb. 20, 2017—Week 4 in Science of the Sea was all about aquatic microorganisms! We learned how to use microscopes so we could look at microscopic organisms up to 400X more than our eyes can see. Some of the students have used microscopes before, so they were able to visualize lots of various samples. We analyzed the...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 4- Environmental Explorations: Dig It!
Feb. 20, 2017—Dear Parents: We began our morning, reading from one of my classroom favorites: 11 Experiments That Failed. Then, we discussed how failure carves a good pathway to success. We then re-visited our erosion experiment from last weekend, but we added a new twist of placing plants into the soil to predict how this might change...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 4- Discovering the Third Dimension
Feb. 20, 2017—Thanks for sharing your amazing thinkers with us! This week was full of A-Ha moments. Straws in hand, pipe cleaners for vertices, we had a blast. We began by creating 2-D figures. We then combined several to create 3-D polyhedron. We then DE-composed these…and discovered the net that replicates the shape! This constructivist learning was...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 3- Designing Shakespeare
Feb. 14, 2017—I’m sorry that I couldn’t be with you for long on Saturday, but I’m so glad that you were able to meet and work with my friend, Nettie Kraft. I circled back with Nettie later in the day, and she told me that she found your ideas impressive, your creativity formidable, and your interpretations of...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 3- Chromatography 101
Feb. 14, 2017—This week in Chromatography 101, I asked the students to consider how they would alter the chromatographic techniques we have learned thus far (specifically thin layer chromatography) if they were interested in collecting the isolated components of a mixture instead of just visualizing them. Answers included performing thin layer chromatography and then removing a desired...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 3- Intro to Journalism
Feb. 14, 2017—This week, SAVY Journalism students moved from writing news stories to writing feature stories. While the main goal of news stories is to inform, feature stories seek to inform and entertain or give further context to an issue. Our class focused on a very common form of feature journalism – the profile. Students started the...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 3- Hydrology 101: The World of Water
Feb. 14, 2017—Who dirtied the Cumberland River? Well, today we learned that due to non-point source pollution, the answer may be you and me. Taking on roles of various stakeholders, the students explored how different land uses are associated with waterway pollution. Sediment, nutrients, toxic chemicals, pathogens, litter, and thermal pollution all made their way into our...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 3- No Quick Fix
Feb. 14, 2017—This past week, we focused our class on the immune system and how this system works to keep us healthy. After an ice breaker diagramming out the basically inputs, outputs, and components of the immune system, we played a recent app Bacteria Combat, which was created by Glasgow University microbiologist Carla Brown. This app was...
Spring SAVY 2017, Day 3- Writing and Reflection
Feb. 14, 2017—In this week’s Writing and Reflection, we first played a game to see if we remembered each other’s names and reviewed the meaning of “cliché.” We discussed how and why we should work to avoid clichés in our poems and stories, examining the writers we have read in class and discussing why and how they...