I'm very excited about the coming 2012-2013 school year! This is Braden River Elementary's second year of having Engineering as a Fine Arts class. We had an awesome first year learning about engineering, simple machines, and transportation. This next year is going to be even more exciting - this year we have R-O-B-O-T-S!!! (I can't wait to share them with you!)
You may have noticed I changed the skin on the blog to include more colors. I think this is a more kid friendly theme and goes well with the Inspiring Elementary Engineering logo that our school district had done for us last year.
Well, I've already told you about one of the cool units we are going to be doing in my class this year, Robots, or Robotics - more correctly, where we will be taking a look at some of NASA's robots and Mars Rovers, along with trying our hand at making some robotic hands, making robots out of recycled materials, building robots from LEGO bricks, and, oh yeah, having some fun on the floor with some robots called "Roamers".
We will also be spending some time in water transportation, building some boats and having some water fun with them as well. (What would an "Under the Sea" theme be like without some water fun in class?!) And then spending the second half of the year on Construction and Structures. There is so much in this unit, I could spend a whole year on it, but then, that might be a bit much. However, we will be taking a look at 3D shapes, bridges, dams, towers, skyscrapers, walls, tunnels, and more stationary creations. Last year, our 5th grade TSA students had the opportunity to work with an engineer and build some balsa wood truss bridges. I hope to be able to do that again this year, and actually go to the Balsa Wood Bridge contest at USF in Tampa during Engineers Week in February!
This is going to be an exciting! I can't wait to get started! Looking forward to seeing all of you on Monday, August 20th, where we will be "Learning Under The Sea!"
