Using our Senses as Scientist

This week we became Scientists and Inventors after a local company reached out and asked for our help in designing a new sound proof box!

Dear Ron Southern Grade One,

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!! 

Sound control is a big issue for science and a big business in society. Making movies takes extraordinary sound control. Unwanted noise can ruin an important scene. Traffic noise on highways makes people living in the area angry. Engineers and airport staff are always trying to reduce noise from airplane engines. People in some apartment buildings can hear casual conversations in other apartments that make peace and quiet seem impossible. Sometimes people have secrets that they want to keep from others. They are faced with how to talk so only specific individuals hear the conversation. And, while many are engaged in trying to eliminate unwanted sounds, some spies are busy trying to hear those seemingly hidden sounds.

Getting rid of unwanted sounds is the primary business of the "Silence Is Golden" sound proof company. We are looking for engineers to invent new ways to eliminate unwanted sounds. We want you to invent a box that can "hide" the sounds of a cell phone or an alarm clock. The box that wins this competition will be the one that weighs the least and contains sound so that it cannot be heard from 6 meters feet away.

We can’t wait to see what you come up with.

From,

The Sound Proof Guys

Students made predictions about how the boxes would work by using existing knowledge about their hearing and sound. In their groups of 4 they quickly got to work designing their plans. Once they sketched out their box and decided on materials it was time to get work inventing new sound proof technology! 

    

Students spent two days designing, testing and refining their boxes. The next step will be for students finish writing about the Scientific process by explaining how they made their boxes, why the work and what were some things they observed through the inventing process. 

By using real world scenarios and allowing students to solve real world problems the ideas that students are learning often becomes more meaningful and can spark excitement in the learning process. Research shows an increased value of authenticity when students are engaged in teaching strategies that use real-world problems. This teaching strategy also encourages students to become more aware of the choices they make in society.  By working on this scenario our Grade 1's learned why we need to have sound proofing in our lives, what would happen if we were always around loud noises and why we should take care of all our senses. 

Exploring Winter

We have been exploring Winter over the last two weeks. Using our 5 senses we talked about what we see, smell, touch and hear in the winter months. Even though we don't have a lot of snow right now we know that in the winter we see snow and if we touch it the snow is really cold on our hands! Ask me how I use my other senses to find signs of winter.
On our Community Walk last week we noticed so many signs of Winter. We looked at Pine Trees and even noticed that some of the needles on the trees were turning blue! Ask me why? We learned a new skill called "Zoom Out, Zoom In" to help us sketch some signs of winter that we saw.

We also began talking about what happens to animals in the winter. Why don't we see insects, bears or geese in the winter? Where do they go? Students will continue to explore what happens to some of their favourite animals each year. We loved reading this book and it helped us to start our exploration of animals in the winter.

There are so many great things about winter and we can't wait to keep investigating seasonal changes