What are we working on?
The last month has been crazy here in 5th grade! In addition to working through their regular classes, 5th graders have been busy creating and selling products at the TREP$ marketplace, celebrating their accomplishments this year in the LEAD program with a graduation ceremony and picnic, and connecting their classroom activities to some awesome exhibits at the Liberty Science Center. Scroll down for pictures!
In science class, students have been participating in the Polluted Shark Tank. Based (loosely) on the TV show 'Shark Tank,' students created products and pitched them to each other as potential investors. Students learned about some environmental problems that are affecting our world, then chose one in particular to research. They then created a website using Weebly for Education and built a model of a product to help in their chosen environmental issue. Finally, students set up and delivered their presentations as their peers toured the polluted shark tank and decided which products were worth investing our classroom "cash" in! What's coming up?
All work left in marking period four is due on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8th. Most notably, this includes all 3 current events due for the fourth marking period. Current events cannot be accepted after this date, so please make sure they are all completed and turned in.
Reminders
1. CURRENT EVENTS ARE DUE WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8th. The original due date was Friday, June 10th. Since they are due 2 days earlier, Current Event 4 is no longer required.
THREE current events are due by Wednesday, June 8th.
2. Almost unbelievably, this school year is almost over. ALMOST. Students are expected to work hard and stay motivated for all classes through June 14th!
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The Polluted Shark Tank
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| Grace and Tia show off their product: the Trinitramide-X |
As described above, the Polluted Shark Tank encouraged students to get creative to research and invent a product to help solve any type of pollution that is affecting our environment. They had to develop both a product and a website to help promote that product in order to persuade fellow classmates to invest in them.
Students created feedback forms during the project presentations to help recognize and celebrate each other's strengths as well as to help each other identify areas of the projects that could be developed even more.
Students were then encouraged to reflect on the entire process. Here's what some had to say:
AJ:
I thought The Polluted Shark Tank was one of the best science projects we have done in the whole year. I also really liked that we were able to choose the kind of pollution we wanted to create a product for instead of Mr. Morris choosing it. I think the best part of this project was creating the model. The model was really fun to build for me except when I got told I had too much tape. I think the model was the part of the project that really showed your product. The worst part would have probably been people putting their hand down into my project and playing with stuff that could break easily and saying something was a diving board and throwing an eraser in. If we did this again I would probably still work alone. First because you don’t have to worry about the other person not getting their part of the work done. Secondly, you do have to get blamed for a bad presentation when the other person is not saying anything and horsing around. So if we did this a second time I would still do this alone. In all I think The Polluted Shark tank was a very good project and one of the funnest ones!
Emma:
I enjoyed working on the polluted shark tank. I liked working on it because it was awesome to think that we were going to sell something that would help so many animals. The best part of the project was building the model with my partner, Catie. It was fun to work together to try to figure out what kind of model it could be. The worst part about it was making the website because it was very difficult and challenging. It was a good experience working with a partner. We both did an equal amount of work.
I thought The Polluted Shark Tank was one of the best science projects we have done in the whole year. I also really liked that we were able to choose the kind of pollution we wanted to create a product for instead of Mr. Morris choosing it. I think the best part of this project was creating the model. The model was really fun to build for me except when I got told I had too much tape. I think the model was the part of the project that really showed your product. The worst part would have probably been people putting their hand down into my project and playing with stuff that could break easily and saying something was a diving board and throwing an eraser in. If we did this again I would probably still work alone. First because you don’t have to worry about the other person not getting their part of the work done. Secondly, you do have to get blamed for a bad presentation when the other person is not saying anything and horsing around. So if we did this a second time I would still do this alone. In all I think The Polluted Shark tank was a very good project and one of the funnest ones!Emma:
I enjoyed working on the polluted shark tank. I liked working on it because it was awesome to think that we were going to sell something that would help so many animals. The best part of the project was building the model with my partner, Catie. It was fun to work together to try to figure out what kind of model it could be. The worst part about it was making the website because it was very difficult and challenging. It was a good experience working with a partner. We both did an equal amount of work.
Paige M:
I thought the polluted shark tank was really fun. The best part I have to say is making the product demo. The worst part was probably making the website was hard at most times. I did not work with someone because I thought it would be easier to work alone. I would do It again it was very fun.
I thought the polluted shark tank was really fun. The best part I have to say is making the product demo. The worst part was probably making the website was hard at most times. I did not work with someone because I thought it would be easier to work alone. I would do It again it was very fun.Nicole:
I really liked the polluted Shark Tank Project. I liked it because I got to work on my own and I got my work done a lot quicker. I think the best part of project was making my product.The worst part was probably making the website because I liked the hands on project more. Yes, I would work alone again because, I liked working alone better than with a partner.Brayden:
I did enjoy the polluted shark tank. The best part of the project was making the model. My least favorite part was the polluted brainstorm. I worked alone and I would do it again. I don’t want to work with a partner because they might not do as much work or we might not finish. This was a fun project and I hope we get to do something like this next year.Erica:
The Polluted Shark Tank was a really fun project! I think the best part of the project was creating a website. I was very fun because I actually felt like an entrepreneur and that I was going to become a big business. Working with a partner was very helpful because if I didn’t know what to do/ couldn’t make a decision Lilly would help me and we would talk about it together. We both did an equal share of the work. We each did 2 slides on the website and worked on the last one together. I would love to do Polluted Shark Tank again.
James:
I enjoyed most of the Polluted shark tank even though it was for about 5-6 weeks. The best part of the project had to be make the model of the invention. The worst and hardest part had to be managing and working the website that was very cranky. If I had the choice to work with someone for the next Polluted shark tank I woulds turn it down because I'm best working alone because it would be hard to contact my partner and work on it. So that's my thoughts on the Polluted shark tank.
Take a look at some of the students' websites. The password to view is: byram123
pollutionsuckernm.weebly.com
I enjoyed most of the Polluted shark tank even though it was for about 5-6 weeks. The best part of the project had to be make the model of the invention. The worst and hardest part had to be managing and working the website that was very cranky. If I had the choice to work with someone for the next Polluted shark tank I woulds turn it down because I'm best working alone because it would be hard to contact my partner and work on it. So that's my thoughts on the Polluted shark tank.Take a look at some of the students' websites. The password to view is: byram123
pollutionsuckernm.weebly.com
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TREP$
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| It was a packed house at the TREP$ marketplace. |
TREP$ was a huge success! In this program, done in Interdisciplinary class, students went through a series of intensive workshops to learn and develop business skills. They then used this knowledge to create a business and actually sell their created products for real money at the TREP$ marketplace, held on May 12th.
After all the money was counted, the total amount of revenue that was collected at the TREP$ marketplace exceeded $5,000.
The students worked so hard and did such an amazing job with this program. We are SO proud of them. Of course, it would not be possible without our incredibly supportive families and community, so THANK YOU to all who attended the event and helped our students take the first step on what may be a lifelong path of entrepreneurship.
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This year, the 5th graders have been working with Officer Marcus Lisa of the Byram Township Police Department to work through the L.E.A.D. (Law Enforcement Against Drugs) program. Officer Lisa worked with the students, not only in teaching them to stay away from drugs and alcohol, but also on showing them how to handle tough situations, communicate effectively, work through making difficult decisions, and much more.
The students graduated from the L.E.A.D. program on Friday, May 20th, and celebrated with a picnic complete with a barbecue lunch and ice cream!
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Liberty Science Center
On Thursday, May 26th, the 5th grade class took a trip to Liberty Science Center. Students had a blast as they made their way through a number of exhibits. Some student favorites included the touch tunnel, the simulated sport area, the skyscraper exhibit, and the suspended play area. The trip also included a hands-on workshop in which students explored polymers and made slime!
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Thanks for reading our newsletter. Good luck to all 5th graders moving on to 6th grade, and have an amazing summer!!
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