A Great End to 2016

A lot of great things are going on at DATA...

In December we took all the 6th grade DATA students to Pepperdine for a campus tour and show
https://www.pepperdine.edu/

Later that same day Alex Wulff, an outstanding teacher at DATA, was named "Ventura Educator of the Month"...

http://www.vcoe.org/Competitions/Teacher-of-the-Year/Past-Recipients

Our last class PBL of 2016 was "Gum Drop Towers". Students were given 20 toothpicks and 20 gumdrops with the challenge of seeing how high they could build it. We had some impressive designs with heights up to 16 inches. Well done Champions!

After building, students wrote reflection write ups and researched tower base designs.

Next up... school of choice night on January 11th.

Sailing Down the Nile River...

Using renewable wind power...

Champion students participated in a PBL focused on the benefits of renewable energy. The Ancient Egyptians were the first to harness wind energy to their advantage in trade with their neighbors along the Nile river. After reading, annotating, and writing about the history of sail energy in Ancient Egypt, students constructed their own sail boats using the following set of materials:
one foot of tape, seven straws, and one large note card

From those materials students created, tested, modified, and raced their boats along our "Nile River".
Many students were successful in sailing 'The Nile" quickly.








Our next step was to write a post card to the Mayor and City Council of Ventura persuading them to invest more in renewable energy for the benefit of future Venturans in years to come.




Our last step was writing a reflection of what they learned during the PBL in their on-line electronic portfolio. The reflection included screen clipping pictures of their sail boat and post card.



Awesome Job Future Champion World Leaders!

Catapults!

Today students designed, tested, and modified mini catapults.

First we did a visual thinking activity while looking and various Catapults. Next we went over some key vocabulary. Then students were given two wooden sticks, two rubber bands, two foam beads and a ruler to build/ test and modify their catapult.
The goal was to see how far they could launch a cotton ball and if they could hit a target from three feet away.

Students did an amazing job! Our final steps were to write a reflection and research more about the history of catapults! Well done Champions!

VTS Activity

 Testing

 Reflection

Awesome Job!

Buoyant Barges!

Today we built Straw Barges with Inquiry based learning in mind:
Given a set of materials, how much mass can you get to stay on your straw boat?

Students built and modified straw boats testing out buoyancy.
The Champion students worked in pairs and were given the following materials to use:
ten straws, 1 meter of tape, and two note card.

It took team work, modification and problem solving skills for students to be successful.
The goal was to see how many crayons it could hold before sinking!
Students did an amazing job. The average boat mass was three crayons, with one group holding 11!

Our next step was writing a short reflection of what we learned to be posted on the class learning wall. Our final step was students researching barges and writing a short informative essay on them to share with the class.

 Well done Champions!

Flag Towers!

Today students had a mini lesson on the history of flags. Students then designed an individual flag on a post it note. Next, students working in pairs were given 15 large note cards, a yard of tape, a paper clip, and a pair of scissors. Their challenge was to get their "flag" as high on a tower as they could. All students were able to complete the task, and a few groups were even able to get their flag over the 34 inch mark. Our last step was writing a reflection letter on the students new netbooks. Well done Champions!

Students Building...

Students typing their reflections on their news netbooks

Lego Go Carts!

This Friday students created their own Lego Go Cart. First, students were given their own bag of Lego's with several sets of wheels to build and test their vehicle. Next, we raced our cars on our very own DATA A8 track! After the races, students wrote reflection post cards to a parent about what they did, what they learned and how their car performed. Well done Champions!

Period 1-2

 Period 3-4

 Period 5-6