Reconstructing and Reimagining- What could it become?

This week third through fifth graders worked to finish their posters on explaining their understanding of the 4 basic computer components and then went to work on taking all of the little (and big) pieces they collected from deconstructing electronic devices to reimagine something else to create.

Students grappled with their understanding of input, storage, processing, and output:

Hmmmm....what can we make with all these really cool parts? Will it be useful? Will it be artistic? Some chose to work on their own and some chose to work with a partner or in a small group. Students had so many choices and were in charge of this learning experience. With a quick lesson on how to use a glue gun they were off!

Deconstruction: How Does it All Work?

Over the past few weeks our 3rd through 5th graders have been learning about how computers work and then, mixing their knowledge with a little curiosity, got to work deconstructing pretty much anything that was electronic!
                                     



                             


Class after class they peeled away the layers revealing more and more electronic components. They were specifically looking for input, storage (memory), processing, and output components.

                                  



                                  


                                   


                                

Finally, each grade needed to explain how a computer works using the knowledge gained from watching short videos and decontructing electronic devices by creating a model drawing and labeling the parts; input, storage, processing, and output.

K-2 Engineers Help Jack Carry His Golden Eggs to Safety!

Jack had a problem. In order to escape the hungry giant "Fee, Fi, Fo, Fumming" after him and deliver the golden eggs safely to his mother he needed to figure out how he could carry them down the beanstalk and still use his hands and arms for climbing! Once again, our Kindergarten, First and Second Grade engineers were put to work solving this problem. After all, wouldn't it be terrible if Jack kept dropping the eggs and shattering them below? Nobody would want to buy a golden egg that was shattered into a million pieces!

First, they set to work drafting their designs on our design tables.

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Next, our engineers put their designs into practice as they built prototypes to test with plastic eggs.

They went shopping for materials:

And began to build...

There were so many creative solutions. Would they work?

Jack sure has some strong muscles!

I'll bet you're wondering why Jack looks a lot like Ken. Jack is actually Ken's cousin~!

It was finally time to test using plastic eggs. One by one our engineers tested their designs by first attaching them to Jack and then racing to the bottom of the beanstalk hoping the egg would not fall out of the carrier!

After waiting an extra week while the Giant recovered from a stomach bug (probably ate too many Englishmen!) We were able to test our re-designed egg carriers. Some needed to be improved and reimagined. 

Our amazing engineers successfully designed several egg carriers that safety transported the golden eggs to the ground. We only had a few casualties!