Build a Tower, Build a Team

Marshmallow Tower

Welcome to Physical Science!  I hope this year will be a challenging and rewarding year for your student.  I am excited to get started and to give you a preview of what challenges are store for your child, please take a moment to watch Tom Wujec's TED Talk about our first challenge.  We will be completing the "Marshmallow Challenge" (sshhh, it's a surprise!) along with other design challenges aimed at nurturing creativity, innovation, teamwork, or an entrepreneurial mindset.  These design challenges provide great opportunities for experiential learning and can provide the motivation and encouragement for students to break through hidden assumptions and traditional thought patterns.  I firmly believe that each student possesses a wealth of creativity and imagination and it is my goal to capitalize on their strengths in relation to these design challenges.  They will be asked to "think outside the box" and to collaborate in a mulitdisciplinary approach to tackle these challenges.  Of course, learning will be greatly improved by helping students to reflect on their experiences. . .so get ready to ask your sons and daughters lots of questions after the challenges have been completed.  By subscribing to this blog you will receive updates about our challenges and, perhaps, get involved in one yourself!

Calling All Scientists!

In the upcoming weeks we will investigate what scientists really do.  If you are a scientist, in a science-related field or STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics), we want to hear from you!  Perhaps you would like to share with us a research article that you authored, perhaps you would share with the class what you do, perhaps you'd be available for a student interview, or perhaps you would arrange for a tour of your facilities. . .please contact me if you can assist.  If you're not employed in a STEM-related field but are a science-minded person, or share an passion in science phenomena or topics, please tell us about any interesting articles, videos, or blogs that you encounter.  We might just explore them in  upcoming class discussions.  We also discuss the relationship between science and various other disciplines such as art, philosophy, religion, history, technology, and society. . .so if there's something really cool to discuss please share!!!