GT Times
June, 2022
Special Edition
The Principles of Flight!
The 5th grade GT students recently completed a learning unit on Aviation. To begin their studies, they learned about the "Principles of Flight". For those who don't know, the four principles of flight are:
- Thrust
- Weight
- Lift
- Drag
The students needed to understand how these principles interacted with each other to affect flight. After that, it was a smooth flight to the next topic in our unit!
If you want to learn more about the "Principles of Flight", check out this NASA site!
Newton's Third!
We all know that Sir Isaac Newton developed three laws of motion, and while all effect everything around us, number three is key for flight! To make sure they have a firm understanding of Newton's third law, the students had to create and video a demonstration to explain Newton's Third Law of Motion! Check out some of their awesome work below!
The Engineering Design Process
Rocket 101 tells you that your need to know engineering in order to build a good rocket that works! Therefore, our "rocket scientists" got a refresher on the engineering design process. The engineering design process is a method for determining how to meet a human want or need, or how to solve a real-life problem. There is no set list of steps in the engineering design process, but there are some common components. Designers must identify what problem or need the design is to solve or meet. Constraints such as time, money or resources are often considered. Ideas are researched, designs are created and tested, evaluated and redesigned, then finally presented to a client or audience.
The design process can easily be used by a teacher as a guide to follow to keep the project on course. It also provides students with an outline of how to solve a problem or design a solution to a want or need. The design process will help students see the overall structure of how to solve the problem and give them specific steps that will help them focus and optimize their work on the project.
For our students, they employed this process to create a stop motion animation! Their task was: Create a Stop Motion Animation Using Canva!
To put the engineering design process into action, you will be creating a stop motion animation! This time, though, you will be using Canva! Your stop motion animation topic will be your choice. However, it MUST BE something we have done in GT either last year or this year.
Topics include:
- Aviation
- Birds of Prey
- The Great Mousetrap Racer Challenge
- Owl Pellet Dissection
- Newton’s Revenge
- Origami
- Microscopic Organisms
Needless to say, they were out of this world!
All About Rockets!
🚀Before building and launching their own rocket, students needed to be able to talk the talk...just like a real rocket scientist! In order to do this, they had to master rocket vocabulary! Why don't you give it a try!
________ a wing-like projection from the body of a rocket
________ the height above a reference point, usually the ground or sea level
________ the curve described by a projectile in flight
________ the horizontal distance traveled during projectile motion
________ a fired, thrown, or otherwise propelled object
________ speed and direction of an object’s motion
- projectile, velocity, fin, range, altitude, trajectory
(Check at the end for the answers!)
Straw Rockets!
Finally, the day arrived where the students got to design and build their own rockets! Their materials included:
- a drinking straw
- one index card
- one small piece of clay
- ruler
- pencil
- colored pencils
- computer
After researching rockets, they used the materials and created their own rocket! First, they had to decide how long their rocket body would be, with the length being between 10mm and 20mm. Then, they had to design fins, make them, and attached their finished product to their rocket body. Lastly, they had to create and attach a nose cone. Once done, they logged the measurements of each component of their rocket in their data log and then the testing began!
We Have Lift-Off!
After several class periods of designing and constructing their rockets, the day finally arrived...launch day! Using specially designed rocket launchers (see photo to right), Miss Hunt and Mrs. Pettit helped our rocket scientists run tests to see if their design was Nasa-worthy! While testing, students were responsible for logging results on the computer so they could analyze the data later and determine where their rocket best performed! Some of our rockets were extremely successful; traveling over 85ft, while others had a bit more trouble leaving the atmosphere! all in all though, the students agreed that this project was definitely out of this world!
All About Rockets - Vocabulary Answers
2. altitude
3. trajectory
4. projectile
5. velocity
Two Years of GT Video
Each year, we make a video of our students' two-year GT experience here at Miller! The button below contains the link for this year's video that we shared with the students in class last week! Enjoy!
GT Students Represent for Flag Day!
As you know, Flag Day is June 14th. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, "Flag Day, also called National Flag Day in the United States, a day honoring the national flag, is observed on June 14th. The holiday commemorates the date in 1777 when the United States approved the design for its first national flag. This year, Flag Day is celebrated on Tuesday, June 14, 2022 in the United States."
In honor of Flag Day, students were challenged to: "wear your red, white, and blue or something flag-inspired to show your love or Old Glory...our American flag! Be sure to stop by Miss Hunt's room and show her!" Check out our patriotic kids!
These last two years have been so much fun! With Mrs. Pettit joining us this year, it got even better! We hope that you enjoyed your GT experience and that the things we taught you help you in your future educational career as well as your life! Have a great summer, and good luck in all you do!
💗Miss Hunt and Mrs. Pettit