Journal Club
December 2015
LOWER SCHOOL
Building Bridges
with 3rd Grade
How
do
bridges
work?
What
are
they
made
of?
How
are
they
built?
These
are
all
questions
the
third
graders
had
to
ask
themselves
when
tasked,
in
pairs,
to
design
and
build
their
very
own
bridge!
“Some
began
from
the
materials
they
had
available
and
thought
about
which
bridge
design
would
be
possible
with
those
materials,”
explains
Ms.
Kate,
their
homeroom
teacher,
“Others
started
from
a
design,
in
several
cases
modelled
on
an
existing
bridge,
and
then
they
chose
materials
they
thought
would
work.”
After
all
of
this
hard
work,
the
builders
were
able
to
showcase
their
creations
to
their
parents,
who
were
also
able
to
ask
them
questions
about
their
projects.
This
was
the
culmination
of
their
unit
on
Inquiry,
which
aims
to
teach
children
about
different
construction
materials
and
the
importance
of
design.
“The
children
enjoyed
it
a
lot,
especially
the
building
part,”
states
Ms.
Kate.
Let’s
hope
we
get
to
see
more
arts
and
crafts
from
this
talented
class!
Light and sound exploration
The
past
two
weeks,
the
fourth
graders
have
been
learning
a
lot
about
light
and
sound
with
some
fun
hands-‐on
projects.
They
began
by
discussing
the
properties
of
light
and
how
mirrors
can
be
used
to
reWlect
it.
Next
they
got
to
create
a
periscope
at
home.
For
this
they
chose
the
materials
themselves,
ranging
from
plastic
cylinders
to
cardboard
boxes
found
around
the
house.
Not
only
did
they
have
fun
designing
and
constructing
their
periscopes,
but
they
were
able
to
apply
their
knowledge
about
light
to
understand
how
they
work.
In
addition,
they
later
built
a
pinhole
camera,
from
which
they
observed
how
light
travels
in
a
straight
line.
They
then
went
on
to
learn
about
sound
properties.
Soon
they
will
be
putting
together
their
knowledge
about
sound
and
light
to
try
to
create
a
signalling
device.
This
has
been
a
fun
and
enriching
unit
that
has
helped
the
fourth
graders
understand
light
and
sound.
-‐Alexandra
Kypta
(Grade
10)
-‐Ainhoa
Santos
(Grade
10)
Journal Club
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