Final Egg Drop!

After we dropped our egg drops in the classroom, the next round was in the library.  Our boxes were dropped from the top of the library shelves by Mrs. Howard!  We took them back to the classroom to see if our eggs survived.  Again, almost all survived.  Then the students reconstructed or redesigned to make it safer for the final drop. 

The students couldn't wait for this final drop, the cat walk in the gym.  The class was convinced that no egg would survive this fall.  That wasn't case though!  Almost all eggs survived!  We wrapped up this unit revisiting why we built these egg drops and went to these 3 different locations.  The biggest takeaway from this unit for the students was that teamwork is so important, and if something doesn't work the first time, try it again in a new way!

Egg Drop Round 1

We completed the first round of our egg drop yesterday.  This drop was from a desk.  It was so fun to see how excited the class was to watch each drop and to see if the egg survived.  After all the drops were completed, the students needed to reconstruct for the next drop.  If the egg didn't survive, the team needed to problem solve a new design for our next drop in the library.

Engineering an Egg Drop

The second project we've taken on in our engineering unit is creating an egg drop.  The students learned from our noodle and marshmallow towers that engineers use creative and new ideas to build things and take them apart.  We've also learned that we have to be problem solvers who keep trying a new idea if the first idea didn't work.  The value of teamwork is not only an engineering lesson we've realized, but a life lesson! 

With a partner, each group was given a shoe box filled with supplies: a toilet paper tube, a cup, 2 paper towels, 2 popsicle sticks, 2 pipe cleaners, 2 cotton balls, 2 straws, and a role of masking tape.  The goal is to create a way for an egg to be dropped safely from 3 different heights without breaking.  The teams could use as many or as little of the supplies they needed to accomplish this.

Day 1 of construction was done without the egg.  The teams needed to think through their design and problem solve a way to keep the egg safe.  On day 2, each team got an egg to add to what they had constructed up to that point.  They were given time to make changes if needed now that they had the egg to work around.

We've discussed what happens if the egg breaks after the first drop.  We'll do what engineers do!  Think through what went wrong and make a new design.  The students are having a lot of fun with this project!  We will begin dropping on Monday.



Day 1:

Day 2:

Valentine's Day Fun!

The students came in on Valentine's Day so excited for the day!  They couldn't wait to exchange cards with their classmates!  We had a fun party.

The Spaghetti Noodle Tower Challenge

We've started our engineering unit in the last few weeks.  We learned that engineers design and build things to solve problems.  They use creative and innovative ideas.  We've also learned that there are different types of engineers. Some may create new things, some take things apart to see how they work, and some study why things don't work.

Our first task we took on as engineers was to make a tower out of 30 spaghetti noodles, 30 marshmallows, and a foot of tape.  The goal was to build the tallest standing tower.  The class knew they would get 2 class periods to work on it.   The groups enthusiastically got right to work.

Groups soon found that this was more challenging than anticipated.  Spaghetti noodles snapped easily and marshmallows were gooey.  Each group had to build and rebuild and really put their problem solving brains to use.  How each group handles this can really impact the outcome.  Many groups ended that first day feeling as though this was an impossible task!

When we gathered again we talked first about the value of working together as a team.  The groups all said that when they were frustrated and didn't listen to each other, they didn't make progress on their towers.  We next addressed the structure of the tower.  Most groups started with a big, wobbly base.  We brainstormed ways to make the base stronger in order to be off to a better start.

Day 2 was a complete 180 from the previous work session.  The students embraced the concept of teamwork!  They were listening to each other and helping each other!  Structures were building up taller and taller! I was so proud to see how they had come together to accomplish this goal!

Today we measured our towers.  I emphasized that it doesn't matter in the end which tower is the tallest.  What matters is the value of the teamwork we learned from this project.

A Visit From the Mayor!

We finished up our government unit at the end of 2nd quarter.  The students learned about how our country originally started with 13 colonies ruled by Great Britain.  It's so interesting for the students to learn how our country fought for its independence and began electing our own officials to run our government.  We held a classroom election where the students chose a classroom job to run for.  We then voted and elected students to those jobs for a week.  Pictures below are of the students filling out their ballots.

This conversation lead to who runs our town?  We contacted our mayor, Jason Resseman, and invited him to come to 2nd grade for a visit.  We brainstormed a list of questions we wanted to ask him.  We wondered what his duties are, if he campaigned, what his favorite part of being mayor is, what he most likes about Lanesboro, how projects are decided upon, and so much more!

Our questions lead to a great conversation.  We learned that he ran for mayor because he wanted to be really involved in the town he's raising his daughter in.  He also said that he works closely with the city council and the city clerk and administrator to get things done in town.  He feels Lanesboro is a fantastic place to live and doesn't necessarily need to be changed.  Mayor Reeseman said his favorite part about being mayor is getting out into the community and doing things like visiting our classroom.  We asked how we can impact Lanesboro as kids.  He said that just doing kind things like helping your neighbor or picking up trash when you see it is a way to help Lanesboro.

We loved our visit.  Thank you so much for taking the time to help us learn more about you and the duties of being mayor!