Camp Eagle Constructs Harmless Holders September 18, 2018
Posted by Sean Musselman in Student Work.Tags: engineering, Grade 5, human impact, Memorial
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Camp Eagle students got a bit of the Bournedale experience last week with help from Mrs. Warford and Mr. Musselman. An engineering challenge awaited them Friday morning as students constructed “harmless holders” in an effort to improve on the widely used (with unpleasant natural side effects) plastic ring can carriers.
Planning our Harmless Holders
Students started by examining the alternative materials available and researched the average decomposition rate of each material in the ocean, generating two-column note charts as they researched before regrouping to share what they learned, documenting their new information on the class white board.
Fifth graders using two column notes to record decomposing rates of materials to engineer “Harmless Holders” with #bpschat pic.twitter.com/sXaaxGIbHJ
— Sean Musselman (@MrMusselman) September 14, 2018
Students then got to work planning their designs, sharing with classmates, and teaming up when design interests intersected. Students got to use some less common tools for classroom construction and Some designs required some revising as students started constructing prototypes, but many creative solutions carried the day!
Lego League Bootcamp Full of Success (and Meaningful Failures!) July 31, 2017
Posted by Sean Musselman in Science Center, Student Work.Tags: engineering, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, robotics, summer program
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Over thirty students from all four Burlington elementary schools participated in the Science Center’s FIRST Lego League Bootcamp session as a part of the Burlington Public Schools summer programming. Students took on the robotics challenges from last year’s FIRST Lego League Challenge, “Animal Allies” using the board, challenges, and LEGO elements used by the MSMS Robotics team in the fall of 2016, Also on board were three volunteers from the team as well as a mentor from the BHS Devilbotz. Mrs. Sheppard and Mrs. Anderson co-operated the camp with Mr. Musselman and hope to use some of the elements and LEGO kits themselves in the coming academic year in their classrooms or after-school clubs.
A look through the Burlington Science Center instagram feed over the past two weeks will reveal all of the great fun students had succeeding (and failing!) at their challenges. Students learned the importance of using sensors to guide robots toward their goals and experienced first-hand the challenges of cooperating with peers to coming to a consensus on how to approach a challenge with many possible solutions!
Mr. Musselman is also pleased to announce that next year the Science Center will be expanding its role in the community by developing a EV3 LEGO Robotics library loan program, available to all Burlington students. Contact Mr. Musselman after September 15th to schedule a loan of one of the center’s EV3 LEGO kits.
The Science Center would also like to thank the BEF for their continued support of Burlington Public Schools robotics programs and the Science Center specifically. Thank you for all that you do!
Protect that Popsicle! Sun Shade Engineering June 14, 2017
Posted by Sean Musselman in Science Center, Student Work.Tags: engineering, Francis Wyman, Grade K, sun
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On the hottest day yet this year our Francis Wyman Kindergarteners were furiously planning, collaborating, and building their sun shelters to protect Mr. Musselman’s popsicles! As the year winds down all of the Kindergarten classes will be partaking in this challenge… just as long as the sun stays out! Thanks to Mrs. Duncan for sharing these photos of her classroom’s constructions!
Engineering Earthquake Resistant Structures June 8, 2017
Posted by Sean Musselman in Science Center, Student Work.Tags: earth science, earthquakes, engineering, Grade 4
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Mrs. Weinberg’s 4th graders got a sneak-peak at next year’s earthquake curriculum as pilots for a future “Quake Shake Engineering” challenge put together by Mr. Musselman. Students learned about the kinds of seismic waves earthquakes form before learning about the substructures commonly put into place by construction companies to reduce the impact of an earthquake on a building or piece of city infrastructure.
Students planned, constructed, tested, and compared results with fellow classmates to determine which structures held up to the seismic tests (performed by student power and the help of a metronome). At the conclusion of the challenge 3 of the 5 structures managed to hold their own to the model earthquake. The “winner” of the bid for construction eeked by their second closest competitor by saving such slightly more on their design’s cost and weight (secondary objectives to the most important goal!)
Mr. Musselman would like to thank Mrs. Weinberg’s class for being such great “guinea pigs” and structural engineers! Hard hats off to you!
Pine Glen’s Bridge Engineers February 3, 2017
Posted by Sean Musselman in Student Work.Tags: engineering, Grade 2, matter, Pine Glen
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“Twenty One Elephants and Still Standing” by April Jones Prince
Second graders at Pine Glen have been ‘building’ an understanding of how engineers select materials for specific purposes through their new “bridge engineering challenge.” Before being introduced to the challenge teachers read the core book, “Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing” a picture book documenting how P.T. Barnum seized the attention and awe of New York City by marching his circus star elephants across the newly constructed Brooklyn Bridge, proving to the masses the bridge was safe and his circus was in fact, “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
Using the pictures in the book and images from other bridges around the world, students discuss what materials bridges are made of and why learning that this “research” will be handy before they get to work building their own model bridges!
The criteria for a successful bridge is simple: The bridge must be 45cm long and hold the load of 5 circus elephants. All groups use the same type and quantity of materials before engaging in the challenge.
Along the way, teachers assess student understanding of the thinking engineers need to do before partaking in construction projects like bridges by asking them to share their thinking about which materials they chose to use and why. Students later evaluate whether or not the bridge meets the expected “engineering solution criteria” (Was it long enough? Did it hold the animals?) before documenting their bridges and learning in their Explain Everything digital notebooks.
The Science Center is excited to see students engaging in this kind of learning being built into each and every new science unit across our K-5 schools and classrooms. Keep an eye on this blog for future updates on what new investigations and challenges our students are embarking on!
Summer Robotics Students Launch into a World of Programming and Engineering July 29, 2016
Posted by Sean Musselman in Science Center, Student Work.Tags: engineering, Mr. Musselman, programming, robotics, summer program, video
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The Burlington Science Center’s summer robotics program has found its rhythm in its third year of operation. A mix of incoming third, fourth, and fifth graders joined the second session of summer programs at the Memorial Elementary School from July 18th – 28th.
During the first week, students engaged in a series of challenges as NASA Jet Propulsion Lab engineers charged with constructing the next Mars rover. Robots were built to exact “NASA specifications” before being programmed to travel precise distances, take tight corners, use touch and ultrasonic sensors to navigate unexplored terrain and light sensors to detect signs of valuable minerals or follow pre-constructed paths on the colony grounds. Each challenge was scaffolded to challenge the engineers to design robots and programs of increased levels of sophistication.
Along the way our students engaged in questions about what roles could and should robots play in our world both now and in the future. Students created and shared Explain Everything presentations illustrating their imagined worlds in which robots completed chores and cleaned up the environment, expressing both the benefits of a robotized society and the challenges (such as jobs and “money loss” that would be faced as a result.)
Our students’ progress and accomplished feats were documented along the way on the Burlington Science Center instagram page. Check it out directly to see all of the fabulous work captured by our students!
Kindergarteners “Protect the Popsicle” in Engineering Challenge June 14, 2016
Posted by Sean Musselman in Science Center, Student Work.Tags: engineering, Francis Wyman, Grade K, Mr. Musselman, Pine Glen, video, weather
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Mrs. Duncan and Mrs. Parnell are wrapped up their year long investigation of weather and temperature with a challenge putting students engineering skills to the test! Our newly developed “Protect the Popsicle” challenge pits students love for these summer treats against the ultimate source of light and heat energy, the sun!
Students in both classes investigated how heat causes many kinds of matter to melt before investigating the many kinds of shade shelters humans already use to stay cool, particularly in the summer sun!
Students then designed and constructed solutions to the challenge of keeping a popsicle frozen in the sun with the help of a shade shelter. Students then considered how to test the shelters, ultimately deciding it would be best to put them out in a sunny spot outside because “we want to be challenged.”
The results were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Teachers poured what had melted after roughly 10 minutes into a graduated cylinder and kept the frozen contents in the plastic sleeve before asking students to consider how they could tell which shade shelters worked the best. Students were able to determine that their shelters worked well because “more freezepop was left in the plastic” than Mr. Musselman’s control popsicle left out in the sun. Then students counted up from their amount of melted popsicle to Mr. Musselman’s with the help of unifix cubes and other counters to determine the difference between the sunny and shaded popsicle!
Thanks to Mrs. Duncan and Mrs. Parnell for working on developing and piloting this new kindergarten engineering challenge! We are excited to share it with all of the Kindergarten teachers next year! Check out Mrs. Duncan’s blog post for even more information and pictures on how the challenge went.
The Scientists Behind Science Education: Our Teachers! May 28, 2015
Posted by Sean Musselman in Student Work.Tags: electricity, engineering, Fox Hill, Grade 5
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Teachers are well known to be life-long learners, so it should be no surprise that a number of teachers in the Burlington schools are working with organizations like the Museum of Science to improve their practice and the state of science education as a whole! At Fox Hill, Mrs. Jaffe and Mrs. Snyder have been participating in an experiment being conducted by the Museum of Science’s Engineering is Elementary division. Over the past two years their classrooms have acted as “guinea pigs” using materials and curriculum provided by the MOS for one of their science units. In Mrs. Snyder’s class students have been studying structural engineering as a part of their Rock & Minerals unit while Mrs. Jaffe’s classes have been acting as electrical engineers as a part of their Electricity unit.
In both cases the teachers have been collecting pre and post curriculum data on student understanding and sending their results to the MOS to be more carefully analyzed for the effectiveness of their units. The real-life science experiment has been a win-win, as Mrs. Jaffe and Mrs. Snyder have both enjoyed modifying their curriculums to include the application of the engineering design process.
The Science Center is proud to support these teachers with the extra preparation needed for some of the engineering activities. We have also been watching with earnest at the wonderful work students have been doing and hope to include units and lessons like these in our coming curriculum changes over the next few years. More details to come on that!
Science Center Animal Anarchy? Fox Hill Fifth Graders to the Rescue! November 26, 2014
Posted by Sean Musselman in Student Work.Tags: animals, engineering, Fox Hill
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Last month Mr. Musselman visited the Fox Hill fifth graders to beg for their help. Total anarchy had swept the Science Center after our mischievous had escaped and ruined many of their homes. With students recently wrapping up a unit on animal characteristics and classification, there was no better group of students to put their knowledge and talents together to engineer new shelters for the Science Center animals.
After a review of the engineering design process, students were given the opportunity to select a science center animal to design and build a new critter cage for. Students had to first review what they knew about the creature and do additional resource to have a better understanding of the types of conditions the animal preferred. Students then got to designing elements of a model enclosure that would provide the basic necessities for their selected critter. Ultimately, every group made sure the food, water, shelter, and enclosure conditions for exercise and comfort would be met.
On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving the model enclosures were on display for fellow classmates, third graders (studying habitats over the year), and Mr. Musselman were on hand to witness the fabulous work students had done while taking in presentations performed by the enclosure engineers.
Special thanks to Mr. Norman and Mrs. Jaffe for their excellent work with the students through the entire design process and the great evidence of work documented throughout. Mrs. Pavlicek and Mr. Musselman will surely be using some of these designs in future animal enclosures at the Science Center!
Burlington Knights of Columbus Donates 3D Printer to Burlington Science Center September 16, 2014
Posted by Sean Musselman in Burlington Community, Science Center.Tags: community, engineering, MSMS
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On Monday evening of September 15th, the Burlington Knights of Columbus voted and agreed to donate over $4000 to the Burlington Science Center for the purchase of a new 3D Printer and accompanying hardware and software. The generous donation is a boost to the school system that has already had some success using 3D printers at both BHS and the Marshall Simonds Middle School.
The funds will go to the purchase of a Makerbot Replicator and a Microsoft Surface PRO computer equipped with the necessary 3D printing software required to use the printer. The printer will be installed at the Marshall Simonds Middle School under the helm of science teacher, Jourdan Marino, whose work with students last year to create a 3D printed arm for a Medford child born without one brought local attention to Burlington and caught the eye of Knights of Columbus members within the local organization.
Makerbot Replicator
The Science Center would like to personally thank Knights of Columbus members Charles McLean and Arthur MacDonald for their personal involvement in procuring the funds and interest in the work being done at the Burlington schools using 3D printers. The Science Center will share more information on 3D printing developments at MSMS and BHS along with many other engineering and technology initiatives across the district.
The Burlington Science Center 