SAVY Category
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 1, Day 4) – Ecological Explorers
Jun. 16, 2016—Today we began talking about the question: “How can change in one part of an ecosystem affect other parts of the ecosystem?” The first part of the day was spent setting up our aquatic ecosystems. Each student group added the substrate (sand, gravel, or potting soil), plants, and animals that they had budgeted for. We...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 1, Day 4) – The Unseen World of Microorganisms
Jun. 16, 2016—Today was all about food microbiology in our class! We talked about what microorganisms can be found in our food and the microorganisms that actually MAKE our food. Ask your kindergartner about yogurt, cheese, bread and sausage. Some of the terms they learned to day include: Lactobacillus (lacto means “milk” and bacillus means “rod-shaped”, so...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 1, Day 4) – Playing with Words
Jun. 16, 2016—Today we looked at using words to form analogies. Drawing random items from our Gab Bag, one of your young authors said, “Writing is like keys because it unlocks a door to a whole new world!” Another said, “Writing is like sunglasses, because we can see shades of things in different ways.” And another said, “Writing is...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 1, Day 3) – In the Mind’s Eye: Truth vs. Perception
Jun. 15, 2016— We had a great day today in Truth Vs. Perception! The students had the chance to show off their creativity in a few different ways. We started our day by making display posters for the results of our inkblot tests—everyone was able to design their own method for conveying their findings, which led to a...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 1, Day 3) – Behavioral Science in Action
Jun. 15, 2016—Hello Behavioral Science in Action Parents, Today was an exciting day learning about statistics! After reviewing some important concepts from yesterday’s class, we headed over to the computer lab to analyze some real behavioral science data. Individually, each student worked hard to figure out how to enter the data into SPSS statistical analysis software in...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 1, Day 3) – Social Psychology 101
Jun. 15, 2016—Today was all about persuasion! Here’s what happened: We began by reviewing what we’ve learned so far at SAVY with a game of pictionary – what great memories our students have! We kicked off our discussion of persuasion by examining how understanding someone’s current attitude could help us figure out the best way to persuade...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 1, Day 3) – Puzzles and Problem Solving
Jun. 15, 2016—Most of the morning in Puzzles and Problem Solving was spent converting our classroom into an airplane…or at least a room with 16 seats and boarding passes. Consider the following scenario: The first person to board a fully-booked flight drops his or her boarding pass and doesn’t bother to pick it up. The person doesn’t...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 1, Day 3) – Science Simulations: Computer Models of Change
Jun. 15, 2016—It’s been another great day in Science Sims. We worked extensively on our models of marble acceleration today, using our designed method of frame-by-frame analysis of our videos. Almost all students decided that the video of motion they initially made for measurement and modeling needed improvements, such as holding the camera still, capturing the entire...
Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 1, Day 3) – The Power of Poetry
Jun. 15, 2016—English, like all languages, has a rhythm and emphases. Today we examined how the most common rhythm in English is an unstressed-stressed iambic pattern. We also talked about rhyme. Poets from Dr. Seuss to Alexander Pope use rhyme to tie their poetry together. We then wrote lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter (blank verse) and pairs...