Weekly Update 6/1/12

Weekly Update 6/1/12 by Morgan and Shane, with help from many others :)

In science we made our own lava lamps using alka-seltzer tablets, a small water bottle, water, and  vegetable oil.  We made the lava lamp to show how water and oil mix--or actually don't mix.  We learned that water is lighter than oil and oil is denser than water, so the oil sank.   The reason the oil droplets move is because of the carbon dioxide gas from the alka-seltzer.

In IT we got to choose the top five different modules that we wanted to work on out of all twelve, and then we got assigned one of our choices.   We really liked having a choice of stations and learning about new things.  We also like that we got to do hands-on activities.

Andrew and David working on a chaos tower

Cici at the enlargement drawing module making a picture of Ariel from The Little Mermaid

Josh and Mr. Grant got to use lasers, and with a special hazer they could see the beam :D

Sammi with Mrs. House at the forensics module.  She is testing pens to investigate the"crime" 

to find out who stole a dog and left a ransom note.

More enlargement drawings:  Morgan, Lauren, Mili, Anna, and Max

Shane and James at the K'nex station with the cars with attached trailers that they built

Stephen and Kevin at the modeling station making a car

Katherine (with Cici) is using a kit to make a model hot rod

Here is a close up of the enlargement drawings. 

Lauren is coloring Snoopy and Morgan is drawing Piglet. 

Lucas at the flight technology station.  He learned the three laws of motion and also about how planes fly and how rockets are built.

Nicholas and Elton at the solar energy module

In IT, we are also building rockets. We learned that you can use water to power rockets.  We also learned that building a rocket looks harder than it actually is.  We are excited to launch them next week.  Below are pictures of us designing and making our rockets.

On Wednesday, Mr. Tom Spicer, the young adult librarian from the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, came to Thomas to talk about what is going on at the library over the summer. He told us about a book called Legend, a science fiction book.  The author, Marie Lu, is coming to visit AHML on August 16.  Mr. Spicer ordered 60 copies of Legend and he is having a "pass the book" activity where people can check out the book, log on with where they read it, and pass it to the next person.  Lots of us are going to try to get copies right away.  We think it's going to be as popular as The Hunger Games!

Mr. Spicer told us about the filming equipment and practice room you can use at the library over the summer. Also, he told us about other things going on in the summer, like a phonepics photo contest and a film festival in August.  
Here is a link to the AHML website:
http://ahml.info/teens
We are all excited about the new things we can go to at the library over the summer!

Mr. Spicer talking to the class

Checking out some good books

Kate went out and bought Legend the very next day because she couldn't wait to read it!

In social studies we learned about Arabian Achievements.  We got to choose the achievement that interested us most, and then we read about it in History Alive and presented what we learned to the class.  We also shared how the achievement still impacts the world today.  Then we used our creativity to make connections among the different achievements.

Astronomy:  Shane and Elton learned that the Arabians invented a variation of the globe.

Kevin and Mick taught us about Arabian architecture.  One thing we learned is that they built a lot of dome-like structures.

Jake and Matthew are making a "formal" presentation about Arabian art.  The learned that Arabian people put rugs on walls.

James and Morgan learned that our letters came from Arabian letters.

Mili and Lucas taught us about medicine.  One thing we learned is that they had water flowing through all of the rooms in their hospitals.  We were surprised about that!

Mrs. Lussem drawing connecting ideas among Arabian achievements.

Last week we said thank-you and goodbye to our social studies student teacher, Mr. Daley.  

We wish him good luck with his teaching career!