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and most importantly - what our AIG students are up to! Enjoy!
and most importantly - what our AIG students are up to! Enjoy!
elementary: the zip line challengeLast month, our students began a timeless AIG tradition - the Zip Line Challenge. Requested year after year, our students love the task of creating a mechanism that will quickly carry a ping pong ball safely to the bottom of a “zip line” without damage. Our students built their zip line carriers using limited supplies, ran tests and made adjustments, then competed in a timed race. Keep scrolling to see slideshows from each school of the design process and of the finished product on race day! T.S. CooperBuckland elementaryGatesville elementaryCMS: You Can Do the Cube!As we wrap up our Rubik's Cube sessions for the first nine weeks, it's safe to say our students had a blast challenging themselves with these timeless toys. Check out those proud smiles - showing off their white daisies, white and yellow crosses, solved corners, and solved cubes! CMS: shark tank, but make it aigOur Shark Tank students have been hard at work! Over the last few weeks, they have:
cms: AIG book clubThe AIG Book Club just finished up "Refugee" by Alan Gratz, which follows the journey of three children torn from their homes at three different times in history - Josef, a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany; Isabel, a Cuban girl in 1994; and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy in 2015. The club has been reading on their own and meeting once a week to talk about the novel (and have a few snacks here and there!). We've loved making connections between the characters, learning about the life of a refugee, and discovering more about the real-life events mentioned in the novel. Overall, our club really enjoyed this book. "Refugee's" overall rating of the CMS Book Club - 4 out of 5 stars! We can't wait for the next Book Club starting next week! CMS: aig Lego engineeringThe Lego Mindstorms technology has challenged our Engineering kids to really stretch their brains this nine weeks! They have tackled technology (and a program with a crazy learning curve!) to create and code motorized robots that perform tasks and accomplish challenges.
Gates County High School Updates
PLEASE REMEMBER - if your child is identified as AIG in both Reading AND Math and makes:
Elementary - What makes me AIG?What makes me GIFTED? Our elementary kids spent our first week of pull-outs talking about what it means to be AIG. What exactly does it mean to be gifted? Our awesome kids explored the common characteristics of gifted children, as well as characteristics that make them unique. Check out their posters! CMS AIG Book Club - REfugee by alan gratz The AIG Book Club will has been reading "Refugee" by Alan Gratz. (My Book Club kids know how much I LOVE Alan Gratz!) Check out the teaser: Three different kids. One mission in common: ESCAPE. Josef is a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world. Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety and freedom in America. Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe. All three young people will go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers–from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But for each of them, there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, surprising connections will tie their stories together in the end. The club has been reading on their own and meeting once a week to talk about the book... and do some fun and interesting activities! Stay tuned for more! You Can Do the Cube!We’ve brought back an oldie but goodie - the Rubik’s Cube group! Have you ever wanted to learn how to solve a Rubik's Cube? Our kids have been learning how to master this task step by step. Who knows, maybe they’ll improve their patience while they’re at it! CMS LEGO ENGINEERINGOur Lego Engineering kids have been using Lego Mindstorms technology to create and code motorized creations that perform tasks and accomplish challenges. I can't wait to see what they create! Shark Tank - BUt make it aig!Shark Tank, but make it AIG! These kids are creating a business plan or product model to present to a panel of investors. They’re learning what it takes to build a successful business - customer needs, location, competition, advertising, and more. Who will beat out the competition and sell to the investors? ELEMENTARY Engineering with Lego WEDo 2.0We are fostering creativity and STEM skills at our elementary schools through the use of Lego WeDo 2.0 kits! Students have been building and coding glow snails, satellites, "spy-bots," and more! BUckland ElementaryGatesville ElementaryT.S. Cooper ElementaryGates County High School Updates No photos yet - but lots of updates!
As we wrap up our 2021-2022 school year, our students seem to be all smiles! Check out photos from our last few activities of the school year. Paddle Power TestsThe Challenge: Design and build a boat that will paddle itself across the water. Use potential and kinetic energy to power your boat... with a rubber band! Our elementary students stretched their brains (and a few rubber bands!) in order to build a boat that would paddle itself. Lots of our students had paddle power! This was a fun challenge! Zip LIne ChallengeThe Challenge: Use a limited amount of supplies to design/build a vehicle to carry a ping pong ball down a zip line as fast as possible. In case you notice a few new faces... WELCOME Talent Development kids! We're happy to have you! Our elementary students have been busy building all sorts of crazy contraptions! We have been talking about friction and the distribution of weight as they race to see who can score the fastest zip-line run.
Congratulations to "The Cupcake" for having the best time at Gatesville Elementary and "The Turkey" for having the best time at Buckland AND best overall time! CMS AIG SessionsCMS kids have had great AIG experiences this school year! We started something new - AIG sessions. Each nine-week grading period, our AIG kids signed up for a new "session" to attend. This year we have:
Governor's School acceptance... Check!Congratulations to AIG Barons Xavier Silvers and Ashton Spruiell for being accepted into The Governor’s School of North Carolina! Xavier was accepted for Natural Science and Ashton was accepted for Instrumental Music! Elementary Paddle Power PrepOur elementary students have been hard at work creating boats. Here are sneak peeks of the prep process. Stay tuned to see who has paddle power! The Challenge: Design and build a boat that will paddle itself across the water. Use potential and kinetic energy to power your boat... with a rubber band! Engineering snapstacks at T.S. CooperT.S. Cooper students have been working with Engineering Snapstack Kits (think big kid Legos) to create simple machines and other creations. What would you build? CMS Design an Escape Room (4th 9 Weeks)A true hit, the Escape Room session is BACK! Our students will be designing their own Escape Rooms. They must contain five math problems that increase in complexity and use a variety of skills. Last rotation’s groups came up with a jewelry store heist, an iPhone escape, a video game escape, and a creepy basement escape. What will our kids come up with this time? CMS Design an Escape Room Presentations (3rd 9 Weeks)CMS You Can Do the Cube!Can you do the cube? The Rubik’s Cube, that is! A group of CMS kids are currently learning what it takes to solve a Rubik’s Cube. They are learning correct terminology for all of the parts of the cube, the algorithms involved, and testing their skills through tutorial videos and brochures. In the coming weeks, they will learn some of the history surrounding the Rubik’s Cube through a breakout box activity. There’s nothing like a good challenge! CMS Viking Voyage - Coding with SpherosThis group will embark on an interesting adventure soon… CODING! Sphero kids have been experimenting with some of the basic features offered by Sphero Sprk+ robots including colors, speed, aim, and more. Next, we will be using tablets and compatible software to learn how to incorporate drag and drop coding blocks to make our Spheros move, draw, make sounds, and more! CMS Engineering and Design ChallengesThe Challenge: Using $100 budget construct a device that will safely catch and cushion an egg when dropped. The egg can be cracked, but must NOT have any yolk coming out. Students had "$100" to spend on a table full of materials, including cotton, cardboard, pipe cleaners, balloons, straws, and more! The catch - the egg could not be removed from the plastic bag - it had to be easily accessible. They had time to brainstorm, budget, sketch a drawing of their device, and then they got to work! Elementary: *reverse* Egg Drop ChallengeThe Challenge: Using $100 budget construct a device that will safely catch and cushion an egg when dropped from TWO different heights. The egg can be cracked, but must NOT have any yolk coming out. Our elementary kids had "$100" to spend on a table full of materials, including cotton, cardboard, pipe cleaners, balloons, straws, and more! The catch - the egg could not be removed from the plastic bag - it had to be easily accessible. They had time to brainstorm, budget, sketch a drawing of their device, and then they got to work! ELEMENTARY: Straw Tower CHALLENGEOh, this one is an oldie but a goodie! :) The Challenge: Our students were provided with 50 straws, one roll of masking tape, a pair of scissors, and a few guidelines in order to build the tallest tower that would support a variety of loads. We tested them out and in true AIG fashion were able to award multiple towers with unique awards (the tallest tower, the tower that held the most tennis balls, the tower that held the most pennies, most creative tower, etc.) Before starting, we discussed slip, lap, and butt joints as well as the reinforcements they provide to structures. Kids had time to brainstorm, budget, sketch a drawing of their device, and then they got to work! ELEMENTARY: Spheros and STEM StationsElementary students have been doing ALL the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) things this winter! Our kids have been experimenting with some of the basic features offered by Sphero Sprk+ robots (https://sphero.com/products/sphero-sprk-plus), including colors, speed, aim, and more. We have been using tablets and compatible software to learn how to incorporate drag and drop coding blocks to make our Spheros move, draw, make sounds... even create games! As we came to a close with our Sphero unit, we incorporated some STEM stations into our time. Students experimented with different kinds of hands-on puzzles and manipulatives, played SET (a critical thinking card game), dove into engineering kits, and more! CMS: Design an Escape RoomOur "Design An Escape Room" group dove head first into PBL, or Problem Based Learning. This strategy requires students to use thinking skills to solve a real life problem, typically divided into mini-tasks. Our students have been designing their own Escape Room. These creative contraptions must contain five math problems that increase in complexity and use a variety of skills. We have a jewelry store heist, a group who is trapped in their iPhone (say it ain’t so, right?), “Welcome to the Jungle” - a group of avatars working to blast their way out of a game, and a creepy basement escape. This is our last week creating the rooms - kids will present next week! CMS: STEM Challenges and Coding with SpherosWe kicked off this group with the Egg Drop Challenge - students had a $100 budget construct a device that will safely catch and cushion an egg when dropped from TWO different heights. The egg could be cracked, but NOT have any yolk coming out. Next, kids were tasked with creating a contraption to carry a ping pong ball down a zip line as fast as possible. We talked about friction and the distribution of weight. Currently, we are coding Spheros. Our kids have seen the Sphero groups in action and didn’t want to miss out on the fun! They will experiment with some of the basic features offered by Sphero Sprk+ robots (https://sphero.com/products/sphero-sprk-plus), including colors, speed, aim, etc. Kids will use tablets and compatible software to learn how to incorporate drag and drop coding blocks to make our Spheros move, draw, make sounds, and more! CMS: The Black DeathThis session was so much fun last nine weeks that I knew I wanted to offer it again. Our CMS AIG students are (safely!) traveling back to medieval times to learn about the Black Death and its effect on European society. Our “Elders” have designed their own village, been assigned an occupation, and have calculated the amount of time they have before the plague reaches their home. Most recently a few unfortunate souls were “infected” and everyone learned the guidelines of the local doctor vs. priest. This was VERY interesting - ask the kids about it! elementary AIG: Egg Drop ChallengeThe Challenge: Using $100 budget construct a device that will safely hold an egg to be dropped from TWO different heights. The egg can be cracked, but must NOT have any yolk coming out. Our elementary kids had "$100" to spend on a table full of materials, including cardboard, pipe cleaners, balloons, straws, and more! The catch - the egg could not be removed from the plastic bag - it had to be easily accessible. They had time to brainstorm, budget, sketch a drawing of their device, and then they got to work! Congratulations to Madison, Ann, Bailey, Raylen, Ella and (T.S. Cooper winner coming soon!) for having the most successful egg drops at their schools!
CMS Mystery PBLS: Design an Escape ROomMystery PBLs (Project Based Learning) are in full effect at CMS this grading period. First up - design your own escape room. We know that many students learn by doing, so what better way to spark inspiration than by participating IN an escape room? Because, you know... research! The Challenge: Design your own escape room. There must be a clear theme and contain at least five math problems using a variety of skills. The math problems must increase in complexity. Ready, set, GO! Stay tuned for more on our student-created escape rooms!The Black Death comes to cmsWe’re (safely) launching back to medieval times at CMS! Some of our AIG kids are exploring the Black Death this grading period - last week they checked out some medieval art and began planning their own towns. It’s important to understand the living conditions in order to understand the spread of the plague. We’re excited about this immersive experience! Stay tuned! Robberies and Rubik's cubes - casual aig daysWe have two additional AIG sessions in full swing at CMS - "The Private Eye School" (back by popular demand!) and "You Can Do the CUBE!" These sessions both have our kids using unique thinking skills and strategies (logic puzzles, algorithms, and more!) to exercise their brains each week. There will be more on these sessions later... so be sure to check back! AIG Book CLubThe CMS Book Club just finished up “Ground Zero” by Alan Gratz - an amazing read about the children of 9/11. Check out of some their thoughts on the text - ideas that they gathered, questions they had, connections they made and more! We had a small group for our last session - so Kahoot it was! Engineering + DesignOur CMS Engineering + Design group have been constructing simple machines all grading period. They were presented with one final challenge - to construct a creation of their own choice. The only stipulation was that it has to serve a purpose. Check out a couple of the creations below! CMS Private Eye SchoolBefore our AIG students rotate to their new session for the upcoming grading period, our Private Eyes had to solve one final mystery. It involved quite a bit of forensics - including how height and angle can affect blood spatter. Well done, gumshoes! Hey Elementary AIG - You can do the cube!Lock boxes have been a hit at the elementary schools this school year. When some of the kids asked for more lock box challenges, I knew just what to bring them - the Rubik's Cube Lock Box Challenge! In order to complete the challenge, students had to use a Rubik's Cube and manual along with a special set of clues to solve fractions, read up on the history of the cube, and more. Who knows... this may not be the last they see of the cube! Buckland ElementaryGatesville ElementaryT.S. Cooper ElementaryCMS and the Pizza Delivery Joke MysteryPicture this - you have just called in a pizza. You're starving. When it arrives to your house, you open the box to find... WORMS? Our CMS Private Eyes were on the case to catch the culprit. They read up on alibis, examined locker evidence, cracked a code or two, and analyzed soil samples. Case closed! Welcome back! AIG is in full gear - check out what we have been up to! Also, check us out on Instagram at @gates_aig! Elementary: Pirate's Plunder LockBoxesOur elementary students having been flexing their mental muscles for sweet treats over the past two weeks! Each "Pirate's Plunder" lockbox is secured with three locks. In order to open those locks, our kids have had to solve math problems, crack a code or two, complete a reading passage... and more! Guess what though? There was another locked box within the box - meaning one last challenge to get the treasure! Gatesville ElementaryBuckland ElementaryCMS Engineering and DesignOur CMS student engineers have been hard at work using Rokenbok engineering sets construct simple machines. We began with the inclined plane, and some of our students have opted to challenge themselves by constructing a wheelchair and accompanying ramp. Other chose to move on to the next simple machine - the lever - and challenges it presents. It’s been interesting to watch them calculate and construct! CMS PRivate Eye SchoolOur CMS Private Eyes had a crash course on the critical thinking skills that it takes to be a great detective (deductive reasoning, making inferences, keen observing, and more). After that, they jumped right in to figure out who robbed the Groaning Board restaurant through a series of logic puzzles. Most recently, we have been analyzing evidence (soil sample analysis coming soon!) and cracking codes to determine who put worms on a mysterious pizza delivery. OUr elementary students got a taste of the detective life, too!CMS BOOK CLUB: "Ground Zero" by alan GratzOur Book Club kids are reading “Ground Zero” by Alan Gratz, the story of 9 year-old Brandon, who is trapped in the World Trade Center on 9/11. Through the chaos, he must find his way back to his father, who is working on the 104th floor in one of the towers. This book also tells the story of 11 year-old Reshmina, who is navigating life in Afghanistan while the Taliban’s presence makes it all that more dangerous. This book is amazing and we’ve had some great conversations!
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