A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive devices. Using the materials provided, design and build your own catapult.  Here is a “How to” video.

Now experiment! Who can launch the cotton ball to a specific target?

Challenges:

• Extra Time? Play Civiballs.  Cut the chains to launch a series of events. The journey of the civiballs is filled with catapults, ramps, moving platforms and more!
• Use your catapult to lob various objects. Measure the distance for each object. Let’s apply Newton’s 2nd Law to our own results. Watch here.
• Use S.C.A.M.P.E.R. to design a new catapult.  Use materials from home to create a catapult.  We will have a catapult contest on Friday, February 15th!

There’s been some record temperatures this past week and into 2018.  We can warm up with these challenges.

1.  Get your creative juices flowing Mrs. McBride’s challenge of the month – Snowflake Challenge.
2. Snowflakes also have their own unique characteristics. Thanks to the “Snowflake Man” we know that every snowflake is unique. Wilson Bentley was the first person ever to photograph microscopic images of snowflakes.Watch the documentary and the news report about his life. Watch this video of the images he photographed under his microscope.
   
3. Today we will play a physics game called Snowball Siege.  Let’s see what level you make it to!

It’s January, and we haven’t had much snow.  Let’s have a snow day in school!  Have you ever heard of insta-snow? It might not work for a snowball fight, but this instant snowball is very cool… almost freezing.  Wouldn’t it been fun to Make Instant Snow today?  Let’s find out how How Instant Snow Polymer Works.

Take this quiz to see how well you listened – Quia’s Snowflake Bentley
Here are the images he photographed under his microscope – Snowflakes.

SOCSD afforded an amazing opportunity for students in grades 5-8. Malala Yousafzai spoke to our students about the importance of education and especially for girls. She has a new book called, We are Displaced. Please read or listen (scroll to the bottom of page) to her biography – Malala Yousafzai. Watch an interview with her below.

“Malala is a symbol of hope and an inspirational role model, particularly for girls. On her 16th birthday, she gave a passionate speech to the United Nations. She was inundated with awards, culminating in the ultimate honor in 2014, the Nobel Peace Prize.”

Read more here:

• Kids Rights – Malala
• Biography – Malala
• Time – Malala
• Time for Kids: Heroic Returns
• CBS interview “We are Displaced”

What amazed you most about Malala? Post your comment to this blog.

Let’s enjoy some creative writing.  A diamante poems is an unrhymed seven-line poem. The beginning and ending lines are the shortest, while the lines in the middle are longer, giving diamante poems a diamond shape. “Diamante” is the Italian word for diamond, so this poetic form is named for this diamond shape.

A diamante poem is made up of 7 lines using a set structure:

Line 1: Beginning subject
Line 2: Two describing words about line 1
Line 3: Three doing words about line 1
Line 4: Two nouns about line 1, two nouns about line 7
Line 5: Three doing words about line 7
Line 6: Two describing words about line 7
Line 7: End subject

An example of a diamante poem

Read Write Think is a great resource to help you develop your diamante poem.

Challenge – Go to Mrs. McBride’s website to find out more about the Snowflake Challenge.

Welcome to an exciting New Year, and may you achieve all your goals in 2019.

This month’s assembly, Colors of Character for January, reminds us that perseverance is essential to success.

What can you learn from:

• Understanding Talent
• Your Brain on Books
• Ezra Frech Sports Illustrated’s SportsKid of the Year Award.
• The Royal Bee

“YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT. YOU CAN DREAM IT. YOU CAN HOPE IT. OR YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!”

Post your goal for 2019 and the steps you will take to achieve this goal.

A magic square is a group of numbers arranged in a certain way so that the numbers have an interesting property. In a magic square the sum of any row, column, or diagonal is the same.

Historians believe the first magic square called lo-shu dates from Ancient China before 2000 B.C. There is a legend about its discovery that says an emperor saw the special number sequence on the shell of a tortoise near the bank of the Yellow River.

Magic Square Puzzles

Empathy is the feeling that you understand and share another person’s experiences and emotions.

• Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
• Empathy is about standing in someone else’s shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes.
• Empathy makes the world a better place.

Practice empathy by being observant of others, using active listening and donating a pair of new or gently used shoes for Soles to Souls.

Our book of the month is The Yellow Star by Carmen Deedy. After reading and listening to the Legend of King Christian X of Denmark, explain why the author titled the book The Yellow Star. What does the yellow star symbolize?

Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Everyone is out looking for great deals on holiday presents. Don’t fall into this shopping craze. Use some imagination and creativity with Mrs. McBride’s monthly challenge, The Paper Bag Challenge. Save money and the environment! All entries are due Monday, December 17th.

Please visit The Paper Bag Challenge blog post for additional information, ideas and resources.

Today you will use logic, task cards and plastic chips with numbers.  Follow the instructions on each task card.  Move the plastic chips to solve the problem. There is no need for erasing because if you make a mistake…just move the chips.  When you find success, record your answer on your sheet.  Good luck and have fun!

Challenge: Try this game online.  Click  Sum Shapes.  Here you solve puzzles by arranging numbers on a diagram so that they add up to a given value. Use perseverance to solve these logic puzzles!