MKG Messenger December 20, 2019
The Principal's Office
Happy Holidays to all of our MKG families and friends!!!! STEAM week was a huge success at MKG!!! We would like to thank the PTA, presenters, volunteers, and staff for making this such a valuable experience!!!
Upcoming Events:
January 2, 2019 - Students return to school
Grade 1
First graders had an exciting week. They enjoyed the appearance of Gingy the M.K.G. gingerbread man.He showed up in many different places throughout our school. On Wednesday they rotated through three different S.T.E.A.M. activities and listened to holiday stories. They designed a Santa sleigh using legos. The children created a Gingerbread Man trap. They were challenged to make a christmas tree that would stand on its own using pipe cleaners. Teachers loved seeing what creative thinkers they are. We hope everyone enjoys their holidays and we wish you a Happy New Year!
Grade 2
What do Goldilocks and the Three Bears have to do with STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Art and Math)? On Tuesday, December 17 our Second Graders found out! After reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears (which happens to be a text that neatly fits into our Unit of Study on Folktales and Fairytales!), students in each classroom were broken into design groups and had to solve the problem Little Bear faced when he saw his broken chair! Each group was challenged to design and build a new chair for Baby Bear that could withstand his weight. Students were given their materials and a time limit to design their chair, including testing and recording of their data. Each student also reflected on their chair. The moment of truth came when they tested their design!
Grade 3
S.T.E.A.M. week in third grade was a huge success! We worked with a scientist from HighTouch High Tech to learn about engineering bridges. Students experimented with different materials and shapes to strengthen their bridges. They learned about compression and tension and the importance of balancing these forces when building structures.
Mrs. Smith’s class continues to work on engineering through Project Lead the Way. Students developed designs for compound machines. They used the knowledge they have acquired about effort, force, and resistance force to sketch designs and then build them in teams using VEX kits and tablets.
Mrs. Magnett’s class had an engineer visit the classroom. Thank you to Mr.Costa for bringing his 3D printer into the class to teach students about force, distance, and velocity. Students used 3D printed catapults to make predictions, measure distance traveled, and record data. This was an informative presentation about the real world application of 3D printing.
Grade 4
The fourth grade was treated to a presentation on sound by the Museum of Science on Tuesday. The presentation was interactive at times and kept everyone’s attention! We are finishing our unit on division using partial quotients in math and will be reviewing these skills after winter break to be sure they stay with us! Seasonal poetry has been a focus in writing. Students continue to enjoy independent reading time and are building stamina with both reading and writing.
Grade 5
Did you know that in some places in the world, girls spend their entire day walking to and from a water hole so their family has water for cooking, bathing, and drinking? As part of our STEAM week, we read several books on the topic and noticed that if they are spending the day walking, they have no time to go to school! We enjoyed speakers and hands-on experiences throughout the week that highlighted the importance of clean water and water science. On Thursday we sat INSIDE the globe and noticed how much water our Earth has and how little is available for us to drink. Our culminating project was planning and building a water filter and then testing it with “polluted” water. We ended the week having an appreciation for the clear, clean water that comes from our faucet!