Pernille Ripp

challenge, Science

The Super Tube Challenge

April 20, 2012 Pernille Ripp

Again, another great idea adapted from Bill Ferriter; The Super Tube Challenge!

Goal: Strengthen a toilet paper tube to hold as many social studies book as possible when it stands vertically.

Materials:

As many different paper tubes as you can collect – we collected for almost 2 months.
Unlimited masking tape
25 small popsicle sticks – purposely set a limit because I did not want popsicle stick structures.
One standard toilet paper tube per group

Rules:

Only the original toilet paper tube may touch the table.
It may not be taped to the table.
You may not stack tubes next to each other on the table, anything that is taped onto the original toilet paper tube may not touch the table.
You may not steal supplies from each other.
They get exactly one hour from start to finish.
They may use books throughout the challenge to test strength of their design.
You may not interact with other groups during the challenge.

Process before the challenge:

Either have students pick or assign teams of 3
Show them a regular toilet paper tube and stack as many heavy books on one until it collapses. In our case it was 3 social studies books.
Tell them the challenge.
Show them materials they will be building with.
Have them plan for at least 10 minutes the first day. I did this challenge over 3 different times, 2 10 minute chunks and then big 60 minute time.
Explain the rules and discuss them. Students will probably have questions.
Give them time to manipulate the tube and start a plan with group – we spent 10 minutes doing this.
Another day give them another 10 minutes to discuss whether they need to have modifications to their design or not. They also need to assign one person to be the “scavenger.” This will be the only person who can gather materials.
Have them decide on a plan of attack for the challenge.

The Challenge:

Have 25 popsicle sticks and original paper tube ready for each team.
Set a timer for 60 minutes (or whatever time you decide).
Start timer – scavenger may get 10 tubes for their team – free for all.
Throughout the challenge , like 15 min in I let the students scavenge one more time but usually just 2 tubes at a time.
Film the challenge!
At some point, inform them that you are taking away their masking tape. This added challenge forces them to rethink their supplies as well as their original design, great on their feet thinking needed.
I did shout out minutes left throughout challenge.
At 60 minutes all building stops, hands off and the designs rest for a minute. Then I place the books to see who has the strongest tube design.

Learning Goals:
Students will work on:

Teamwork
Perseverance
Creative problem solving
Engineering for structural strength
Time management
Controlling variables
Planning
Using standard materials in a non-standard fashion.

New Adventure, Student-centered, technology, video

Well Hello Adobe and Thank You For Coming To Our Room!

April 18, 2012 Pernille Ripp

Being a teacher with pretty tech savvy 5th graders means I am constantly on the look out for ideas of how to integrate technology into our lessons. And while I do love technology, I never want to integrate it just for the sake of the tool, but rather to ensure a deeper level of exploration and inquiry for my students. We use Flip video cameras quite a bit in our room whether to record our learning, create video projects, or even make presentations for other students. Yet whenever we had recorded footage we always ran into a major obstacle; no editing software other than Flipshare or Windows Movie Maker. And sure these programs work alright, they just are not that kid friendly and definitely not up to what our students want to create. So when Adobe contacted me and wanted to know if I would be interested in trying out some of their software for them and then review it, I jumped at the chance. Maybe, just maybe, their Premier Elements software is exactly what we have been looking for.

So I told my students about this opportunity and they got as excited as I did. I am in constant awe of their fearlessness of new technology. Talk about a huge lesson we as teachers should learn! Yesterday the software was finally installed on my computer at school thanks to my awesome tech integrator Linda and I cannot wait to have the students use it. So far the first project we will use the software for will be creating 5th grade survival videos for the incoming 4th graders as a way of working on our script writing and fluency/expression. I cannot wait to share our honest opinion about the Adobe software and how it worked in the hands of my talented 5th graders.

So from time to time, you may see a post about Adobe and as always it will feature my unbiased opinion – or even better, that of my students. I am as curious as many other elementary educators whether Adobe software can be used at our level, so there will be no holds barred when it comes to reviews. For now, if you already have access to Adobe software at your school, do check out the Adobe Education Exchange; super great resource for ways to integrate their technology created by other teachers. I have been exploring it and finding it easy to access and search for grade specific resources.

challenge, Science, Student-centered

The Spaghetti and Marshmallow Tower Challenge

April 18, 2012 Pernille Ripp

Thanks to Bill Ferriter for sharing the idea for this wonderful science challenge here. I also garnished ideas from this PDF created by the BA.

As part of our team building and creative problem solving efforts, we have done several challenges throughout the year. This one therefore fit perfectly in with science as we were able to discuss variables, perseverance, and working as a team.

Goal:
To build the tallest marshmallow and spaghetti tower within 30 minutes. The tallest tip will be the marshmallow that is furthest off the ground

Process:

You will create or be assigned a team; 3 people to each team.
You will be given 100g of spaghetti and 50 grams of mini marshmallows.
You will have 5 minutes to plan your approach.
You will have 30 minutes of build time.
Spaghetti and marshmallows may be broken but marshmallows may not be made wet.
You may not actively seek out other groups to poach ideas but you may spot ideas from your work station.
Once time is called a full minute will be waited before teacher measures height. This is to ensure tower stability.

Learning Goals:
Students will work on

Determining variables and controlling them
Team work
Time management
Creative problem solving
Engineering for structural strength
Perseverance and idea adaptation

Here is a video showing parts of the challenge and the winning design

education, student blogging, students

The Purpose of Education According to My Students

April 17, 2012 Pernille Ripp

I know we as educators frequently discuss what we think the purpose of education is. Fancy words and creative sentences abound when this noble philosophy is discussed. We debate, digest and dissect until we feel we have reached some form of conclusion, that is, until someone new sparks a different discussion and we ponder it all over again. Yet how often do we ask our students that question? How often do we ask them what the purpose is of education and then listen to their answer?

Well, last week I unleashed the question on my fabulous 5th graders who took the time to ponder and then blog about it. And they would love to hear your thoughts! However, a couple of things struck me as a trend in their answer, so much so that Wordle even agrees with me.

– There is a purpose to education, it is not just a waste of time.
– Education somehow prepares us for life after school and without we may not be succesful (something I don’t totally agree with)
– Education is related to their life

I loved what Karina wrote;
Why is Education so important to kids and adults? This question made me really think. I have heard kids say ” Why do I have to go to school.” and their parents say ” Because you have too.” It is not the easiest question to answer but if you think about, it is actually easy. My first answer was… This man screwed up his life and does not want it to happen to anybody else. After I thought that for a little bit it came to me. It was that people way way back used writing and reading to escape from people who controlled them and didn’t treat them well. If people were educated to write and read then they had more choices in life. They could work a lot of different jobs. Education gives us choices in life.

Emphasis added by me.

No matter what we decide the noble purpose of education is, I love how my student, David, adds another dimension to the question. He finishes his post with,

“A final and really important reason for going to school is making friends. I mean, it feels good to talk to someone when you are sad, really excited, bored and just to talk! You need to know how to interact with people if your job requires it.”

So perhaps education from the eyes of a 5th grader is just to prepare them for life outside of school, to teach them to read or write, but in the end it is also about developing them as human beings, to maintain them as someone who others want to be friends with. And that is indeed a noble purpose.

questions, student driven

Why "I Don’t Know" is Powerful

April 15, 2012July 24, 2013 Pernille Ripp

Image form icanread

That first year of teaching when a child asked a questions I did not have the answer for I stalled. I hemmed, I hummed, I did a little dance and then either hoped they would forget their question, that another child would know the answer or that class would be over so that I could quickly figure out what the answer was.

I didn’t think I could say, “I don’t know…”

Go to my second year of teaching and another question from another child, again; stalling, nervous glances, some vague reply hoping to satiate curious minds, but otherwise, same approach. Glance at bell, dismiss the question, hope for a lifeline, wish that my principal or a parent wouldn’t see me in this position. Anything but to admit my own inadequacy of not being the master teacher and simply not knowing something.

I never thought to say, “I don’t know…”

Third year of teaching and I realized I wasn’t the only expert in the room. One child knew more about wars at 10 years old than I would ever be able to cram into my head. Another was an expert on poetry. The questions kept coming but my approach to them changed; I stopped being afraid of them and realized that not knowing something was powerful. Not knowing something and admitting it was a sign of strength, a learning opportunity to model how I would find out. Now instead of nervous glances at the door, hoping no one would ever discover that I didn’t have all of the answers, I asked the students for help. How would we find out, why was this a great question, did anyone else know?

This year, I am fully aware that I am not the only expert, I embrace it daily. That I am not supposed to know everything. That I am not supposed to pretend I do. Instead, I am there to show what happens when we don’t know. To show that even though I did my preparations for class I couldn’t put everything into my head but I have ways to help me through any question. Now my students know to try to find the answer first using a multitude of sources instead of just asking me. Now I ask my students questions that make them say, “I don’t know…”

I now know the power of “I don’t know…”

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