Project Discovery

Happy Retirment, Mrs. Streeter!

Posted by Laurie Sullivan at 5/31/2012

This week Barrett staff gathered in the library to bid a fond farewell to our beloved Art teacher, Ruthie Streeter, as she retires in June from Arlington Public Schools. Mrs. Streeter has given 22 years of service to the children of Arlington Public Schools and it is with mixed emotions that we say good-bye.
We celebrated Ruthie with anecdotes, poems and delicious food. The PTA presented Ruthie with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and an original piece of artwork to be commissioned this summer. A student performed an original poem which had everyone smiling through tears. It was a beautiful tribute to an amazing educator and artist and friend.
In lieu of a gift, Mrs. Streeter asked that we make a donation to Arlington Food Assistance Center, specifically the Backpack Buddies program. The Backpack Buddies program provides meals to children on the weekends who would otherwise go hungry. Barrett staff raised $655.00 which will be matched by another donor. A total of $1,310 will be made in her honor, which is a beautiful thing!
To paraphrase one teacher’s poem on behalf of Barrett staff:
You are our humble gifted teacher
You live the Golden Rule
You’ve touched the lives of every child
At Kate Waller Barrett School
And you took each child like balls of clay
And you realized their potential
And you gave them lessons
That will reap them
Blessings exponential
For more information about the Backpack Buddies, click on this link. http://www.afac.org/donate/BackpackBuddies.php.
http://www.afac.org/services/who.php - Who AFAC serves
http://www.afac.org/about/mission.php - AFAC Vision & Mission Statement
To view more photos, please visit FLICKR.

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Kindergarten Mars Space Sand

Posted by Laurie Sullivan at 5/30/2012

Dr. Sullivan thinks Mars rocks! License plate: Mars Laboratory current en route to Mars (Also work for Mrs. Lab)

In this lesson students learned about the planet Mars and discussed some of the ways that people have learned about the Red Planet. We looked at photos and videos of Orbiters, Landers, and Rovers. Then students compared regular sand to pretend Mars space sand. Students had fun experiment with the Mars sand!

Dr. Sullivan and Mrs. Donovan spent a week at JPL at a NASA workshop and saw the Mars Yard with the rovers.

Lander

Orbiter

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Animals Leave Discovery Lab on Wednesday, May 16

Posted by Laurie Sullivan at 5/12/2012

We have really enjoyed having the black bear, red fox, duck, owl, fox squirrel, and bobcat in the Discovery Lab this year. On Wednesday afternoon the animals will be packed into Dr. Sullivan's van for the six hour drive to the Virginia Natural History Museum. The museum is wonderful, so if you are looking for a road trip this summer, you may want to visit. Farewell, animals! We will miss you.

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Research about Renewable Resources Continues for 3rd Graders in Discovery

Posted by Allyson Greene at 5/9/2012 1:50:00 PM

A group of 3rd grade engineers present their ideas to their class about how they would use renewable energy resources on Patuxent Wildlife Refuge

Third graders continued to refine their research skills while visiting the Discovery lab. Students are learning as much as they can about renewable energy resources so that they can develop a plan for a wildlife refuge that enables them to use more renewable energy resources. Many students are already thinking about how Patuxent Wildlife Refuge might be able to use more solar, wind, and hydroelectricity to run their research and visitor centers,along with some other features of the refuge. Here are some pictures of the students in action. This activity supports the 3rd grade Science Standards of Learning, under the strand: Forces, Motion, and Energy.


Some sketching of ideas...great teamwork!

Teacher guidance and excellent thinking by our 3rd graders!

Getting ready to present ideas...notice the deep concentration!

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Rock Cycle 2012

Posted by Allyson Greene at 5/9/2012 12:05:00 PM

To help review and prepare for the upcoming 5th grade science SOL test, students played a rock cycle game that was designed back in 2008 by Dr. Sullivan and students. The game still 'rocks' as you can see from some of the pictures! Excellent understanding of the rock cycle!






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This week in Project Discovery for 1st Graders....

Posted by Allyson Greene at 5/9/2012 11:40:00 AM

Student work...a rough draft of the page for our class book!

Puddles, Puddles, What Do You See, Smell, Hear, Taste, Feel at a Wildlife Refuge???

First graders began to create their page in a special book that each class will produce. Each class will create a title for their special book that will be given in June to Puddles. The format of the book is based on Eric Carle's book, Polar Bear, Polar Bear..What Do You Hear? Based on what students have learned about the National Wildlife Refuge System, each student will create a mosaic page which will showcase something Puddles might encounter at a refuge. Below are some pictures of our students at work on their rough drafts and beginning of final copies of pages for the book! We are using paper mosaic technique in designing the pictures. For this, the concepts of mosaic were introduced in Discovery lessons, along with review of geometric shapes that were taught in math class. This is a great example of interdisciplinary teaching! Math+Science+Writing+Reading+Art=SUCCESS!!!!! Note: More pics will be posted and uploaded to our FLKR account as we progress on this endeavor! Students are very excited and working hard to do a great job!









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Kindergarten Living, Working, and Sleeping in Space

Posted by Laurie Sullivan at 5/4/2012

Kindergarten students learned about the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle, and Robonaut as they rotated through three centers. We also watched the following videos, followed by "Turn and Talk":

BrainPop with Tim and Moby ISS - http://www.brainpop.com/technology/transportation/internationalspacestation/

Sleeping and living in Space - NASA'S Our World Sleeping Aboard the International Space Station

Here is an interesting video about Robonaut (Click on Video Gallery)
http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/myexploration/index2.html
Photos of the students in action are posted on FLICRK

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Science & Engineering Festival

Posted by Laurie Sullivan at 4/28/2012

Check your child's Friday Folder for more information about the Science & Engineering Festival

Sat, April 28, 2012, 10am-6pm
Sun, April 29, 2012, 10am-4pm

Washington, D.C.
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
801 Mount Vernon Place, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Metro Stop - Mt. Vernon Sq/7th St-Convention Center

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2nd Grade Sea Turtles

Posted by Laurie Sullivan at 4/26/2012

Currently all species of sea turtles are listed as threatened or endangered. In the Discovery Lab we are learning about sea turtles through songs, a game, video clips, and books. In the game each student pretended to be a baby sea turtle. Using a Fortune Teller (see photos, blue or green papers students are holding), the student turtles encountered either positive or negative experiences. If the experience was negative, the student sat down to show that this turtle was no longer part of the population. In each round of the game, the student turtle population declined. We represented this information using a line graph.

Check out this music video to help you visualize this multiple session lesson view it here.

Click here to listen to the song.

Click here for the National Geographic Kids Sea Turtle Video.

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Mrs. Greene & Dr. Sullivan Attend Discovery Day

Posted by Laurie Sullivan at 4/21/2012
On Saturday, April 21 Mrs. Greene and Dr. Sullivan attended a special program for educators at the National Air & Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center. The day started with presentations by:
Astronaut Dr. Joe Allen
STS-5 Columbia, 1982 - First deployment of two commercial communications satellites from the Orbiter's payload bay. STS-51A Discovery, 1984. Dr. Allen is currently Chief Executive Officer of Space Industries International, Inc.
Dr. Mark Uhran, Director International Space Station, NASA Headquarters

Dan Dumbacher, Human Exploration & Operations

Dennis Stone, Commercial Crew & Cargo Program
Next up was a workshop for teachers on making and launching paper rockets with students, followed by a visit to the orbiter Discovery and the test model of Orion. The day ended with visiting more than 40 space-related stations set up for the public around the museum.
Photos posted on Flickr
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