Week 2: Getting Down to Business

This week we continued to build community with Name Games.  Our theme is invention so we talked about what makes something an invention.

Internet Searches

We're going to be doing research on different inventors, so it was time to investigate what constitutes a good search.  I used the following resources from Google Search Education -- the lesson was adapted slightly based on the age of the students. 
Beginner 1: Picking the right search terms (lesson plan)
How Search Works (YouTube video)

But what the kids probably enjoyed the most was...

The Straw Bridge Challenge!

15 straws, 25 cm of masking tape, 1 pair of scissors.  Go!!!
Students worked in groups of 2 - 4 people and with very little resources and very little time (5 minutes) they had to build a bridge that could span a 30 cm gap.  Oh, and the bridge had to be able to support a coffee can and up to 9 golf balls!  Students from all classes amazed me with:

• How well they worked together in their groups.  A time limited task like this can challenge even the most cooperative group!
• The diversity of bridges they built.

Only two groups out of all of the classes were able to build a bridge that could hold the maximum of 9 golf balls.  Interestingly enough it was a group from the grade 5 Tuesday morning class and a group from the grade 1/2 Wednesday afternoon class.  Below are photos of some of the different bridge designs.