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Fall SAVY 2017, Day 2- Genetic Engineering: The Science of Modified Organisms (5th/6th)
Oct. 2, 2017—We finished up week two with an amazing Saturday filled with nothing but GMOs! We got to see our petri plates from last week’s bacteria experiment, and man were they gross…and spectacular! We saw thousands of colonies with a variety of colors; yellow, orange, white, etc. The students were amazed at what had been living...
Fall SAVY 2017, Day 2- Leads and Angles: Judging Journalism Through Analysis and Perspective (5th/6th)
Oct. 2, 2017—Thanks again for a great day in Leads and Angles! Our work today focused on the difference between “hard” leads and “soft” leads; those leads purposed to deliver immediate, hard-hitting breaking news, and those designed to lure a reader into a story that may be more human-interest based. I loved how it was put by...
Fall SAVY 2017, Day 2- Journey into the Universe: Astronomy 101 (3rd/4th)
Oct. 2, 2017—WEEK 2 ———————- We figured out how to build a planetary system today in Planetary Astronomy! At first, we set the stage with the age of the Universe (~14 billion years) and the age of the Solar System (~5 billion years) and that we know the Solar System’s age through analysis of meteorites. The students...
Fall SAVY 2017, Day 2- Disease Detectives: How Scientists Prevent Big Problems (3rd/4th)
Oct. 2, 2017—This week we introduced the class to the Cholera Epidemic of 1854. This case along with the introduction to John Snow (the father of epidemiology) is probably the most classic epidemiology case – and really is my favorite! Students were given a list of patient cases that they had to go through to determine patterns...
Fall SAVY 2017, Day 2- Intro to Programming: Coding 101 (1st/2nd)
Oct. 2, 2017—Hello SAVY Parents, We had another spectacular day of coding on Saturday. The students began by tackling an “unplugged” lesson or coding lesson about a concept that we explore away from computers. The students examined 9 steps for completing a task (folding a paper airplane) and determined unneeded commands and sequenced the necessary steps to...
Fall SAVY 2017, Day 2- Adventures in Algebra (1st/2nd)
Oct. 2, 2017—Happy Second Day! Today the students continued to work with the concept of balancing equations and expressions. They worked their way through learning that variables can be used in different ways. The students explored number tricks and used variables to represent changing quantities. During one of their number tricks, they were encouraged to use questions...
Fall SAVY 2017, Day 2- Environmental Explorations: Dig It! (Kindergarten)
Oct. 2, 2017—Dear Parents: We began our day with a deeper look at what a scientist is and does. We read a book called, What is a Scientist? And, of course, we read another farcical adventure from the book, 11 Experiments That Failed. Students gleaned further insights regarding the Scientific Method and how scientists do their work....
Summer SAVY 2017, Session 6/Day 5- Survive and Thrive (Rising 1st)
Jul. 30, 2017—Happy Last Day! Today was a very fun day. We would like to thank all the parents who were able to visit our classroom. The students spent a lot of time and effort into designing their habitats. They created some very unique houses. I would like to personally thank you for giving us the opportunity...
Summer SAVY 2017, Session 6/Day 4- Wildlife Ecology (Rising 6th/7th)
Jul. 27, 2017—It was another wild day in Wildlife Ecology! This morning we learned some information about population dynamics and carrying capacity, using Isle Royale’s moose and wolves as an example. We also looked at how quickly e. coli bacteria can develop resistance to antibiotics. Then we went outdoors for an activity simulating the transfer of energy...
Summer SAVY 2017, Session 6/Day 4- Planetary Astronomy (Rising 6th/7th)
Jul. 27, 2017—Day 4 Planetary Astronomy students looked at actual extrasolar planet data today! We first talked about the main techniques for finding planets around other stars (NASA website “5 Ways to Find a Planet” or The Planetary Society “How to Search for Exoplanets”) and then we went to the computer lab to actually look at extrasolar...