 |
| 5th graders respond to Switzerland students trying to guess what state we live in. |
On February 5th, the fifth grade classes started their morning a little differently. They started school by having a conversation with a class in Zumikon, Switzerland! The fifth graders were able to talk with the class using a web camera and Skype. The entire conversation only lasted about 20 minutes, but we were able to watch the class open a teapot that traveled from our classroom to theirs!
The reason for this global conversation was part of a fifth grade engineering project that went worldwide. The Traveling Teapot Project originated in Japan as an inquiry project. The task is to create an original box to send the teapot onto another class around the world. We received our teapot from a class in Dryden, Ontario just a few months ago. The fifth graders here at Johnson Creek were given the task of designing and creating a shipping container that would safely carry the teapot across the Atlantic Ocean to our friends in Switzerland. The teams were given the measurements of the teapot, limited supplies, and the limitation that the box could NOT be rectangular or square. When finished the fifth grade voted for which box they felt was going to transport the teapot safely. The winning box design was built by Jack Dotzler, Kevin Hernandez-Neri, Natalie Ortega, Emma Reichert, and Kzin Kulig. The final design was pentagon in shape and had built in padding to cushion the teapot. Throughout the process the students were learning about 3-D shapes and mathematical problem solving strategies. We had many unique and well designed boxes!
 |
| 5th graders view the Skype session on the SMARTBoard |
The Traveling Teapot
By Natalie Ortega
In December, fifth grade students participated in an engineering project. This project was to create a box the was safe enough to hold a glass teapot. The box couldn’t be square or rectangle. The groups were given about one week to create a box that was safe enough to hold the teapot that was going to be shipped to Switzerland.
My group that I was in, included myself, Natalie Ortega, Emma Reichert, Jack Dotzler, Kevin Hernandez-Neri, and Kzin Kulig. My group’s box was the winner and was shipped to Switzerland. The box was shaped like a pentagon and throughout we were learning about mathematics and 3-D shapes. It was a hard challenge, but in the end there were some amazing boxes. The students were given duct tape, cardboard, a ruler, scissors, and glue to use for their boxes.
The traveling teapot is a project that started in Japan as math project then became a project for schools worldwide! On February 5th, 2014 the fifth grade students used Skype to talk to the class that got the teapot in Switzerland. We got to skype in Mrs. Schiebel's class and we got to watch them open the package. The teapot got there safely although the cup broke. I loved creating the package with my group and I can’t wait to see where it goes next!
No comments:
Post a Comment