4th Grade Engineering

 

4th Graders have begun a rotation working with different kinds of electronics to prepare for their innovation days as fifth graders next year.  The are rotating groups over a 6 week period.  Some Students have been working on programming Lego Mindstorms.  Another group of students have been working on inventing with Little Bits.   The third group is learning about circuits and electricity using snap circuits.  There has been a lot of positive energy in our science classroom and maker space this past week.

Little Bits Inventions are a Blast

4th grade students are currently working on creating inventions using Little Bits.  This is connected to their study of American History and inventors.  There are many exciting projects, and this fabulous dog is and example of some of the creativity and imagination alive in the science lab this month.  This team of girls came in multiple lunch times to work on the project in the last few weeks.

Teaching Innovation

On one of the last days of school, one of my students came up with this fabulous invention using Little Bits.  He used a duct tape cap, a light sensor, two LED lights, and a battery for a power source.  This invention is perfect for camping at night and finding your way in the dark.  This student was inspired to come up with a practical idea that could actually be used in everyday life.  Can’t wait to see what kind of creations we can build using Little Bits next year.

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Invention Convention with Little Bits

Fourth Graders have been sharing their Little Bits inventions with other students this week in the Invention Convention.  First and Second grade classes have come into the classroom to learn about the projects and interact with the students.  We have also Skyped with some classrooms in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.  Students have been working hard with their design and have learned how the scientific process can be messy and ongoing.

some projects included:

the giant eyeball

the moving car

the water well

the windmill

the blender

the moving bicycle

the Ferris wheel

the blue unicorn

the birthday cupcake with blow out candles

the ramp

the marble ramp

check out Little Bits on this LINK

http://littlebits.cc/

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True Grit with Little Bits

Fourth grade students are working hard on their inventions using Little Bits.   Students are finding out what it takes to be innovative and creative when designing with the Little Bits circuits.  Many students wanted to follow a simple recipe or simply find an idea on the internet.   I encouraged them to persevere and keep experimenting with their ideas.  One group was eager to make a confetti machine, but were disappointed when the fan did not blow the paper even after using 3 fans.  I encouraged the group to keep working and not give up on their plan.  They raised their fan with some modeling clay and found this trick made the confetti machine work.   Making mistakes is part of the scientific process.  This project is helping the students develop some grit and resilience as they keep working with these imaginative circuits.

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Inventing with LIttle Bits

Fourth graders have been researching inventors in their social studies class this spring.  In science, students were given the opportunity to become inventors in science class using Little Bits.   Students were able to able to explore a Little Bits kit that contained circuit pieces that included a motor, fan, 2 LED lights, and a buzzer.   Fourth graders could turn the power on using a motion sensor, light sensor, dimmer switch, and toggle switch.   One of our groups was able to create an alarm system that turned a light and buzzer on when the box was opened to expose the box to light.  We are now beginning to design different projects using the engineering skills we used while designing our parachutes a month ago

some important pieces of successful engineering were discussed which included:

Asking Questions

Making Mistakes

Working Together

Perseverance

Resilience

Problem Solving

Try, Try again

Finding Creative Alternatives

Taking a risk

We are looking forward to working on these projects next week.

check out little bits on the link below:

www.littlebits.cc

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