The Gingerbread Man Escapes the Hungry Fox!

Our K-2 engineers were at it again as they tackled the task of building bridges to help the gingerbread man escape the hungry fox during our fairy tale engineering unit.  First they listened to a retelling of the well known tale.
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They had to imagine what it would be like to be trapped on one side of the river with no way to escape a hungry fox that wanted to eat them!

                                           

Then they set to work carefully choosing their materials thinking about strength and stability. They need to make a bridge that met certain specifications and dimentions. This was a tough task! But, true to form, they didn't give up. They tried, failed, and tried again! They helped each other, gave each other ideas and improved their designs.







Then it was time to put them to the test using our gingerbread man! Would he be able to cross safely?

Engineers are Successful in Helping Rapunzel Escape!

This week our K-2 engineers went to work constructing the escape designs they drew before Thanksgiving. They were eager to help Rapunzel escape from her tower! They only had 20 minutes to construct a way for her to escape! First they went shopping for materials.

                                     


Next they set to work cutting, twisting, clipping, tying and testing. You could literally see the "steam" coming out of their heads as they grappled with the challenge of not being able to use tape or glue.

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Some needed to test their design and make modifications.

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At the end of 20 minutes we gathered in a circle on the rug to present our designs and see how successful we were. Silent cheers went up all around as each student got a chance to explain their design and help Rapuzel escape!

      

Flipgrid!

Here are the 178 student reflections of our first STEAM unit, as well as a tour of every student's house that they engineered!  Listening to the students' thought process behind their house designs is fascinating, and the intricacy of their building is very impressive!  Click on the grid below and then again on the next site to enjoy all of OQS's incredible learning and success!

    

STEAM Streets!

Our STEAM unit on houses is finished, but before the students took their houses home with them, we had them find a spot on the STEAM Street and got a group photo.  They were very neighborly!

Kindergarten Court

1st Street

2nd Street

3rd Street

4th Street

5th Street

Our hope was to form each street into a town, but with holidays and the sheer size of some of their creations, logistically it was not meant to be.  The students were excited to bring home their creations and share their hard work with their families.  We are all very proud of the amount of energy, planning, creativity, and reflection that went into these first two months of STEAM!  We will share their Flipgrid reflections with the school community soon!