innovation and ingenuity is in us all

We had a great week this week.  It was all about innovation and ingenuity. We started by having the kids show their Dioramas.  

Ammon had an edible version, Gabe had the shire and Lamoni showed off his barn. 

 Matthew said it was put together last minute but it looked amazing, good job! Hunger Games for Meridian.

 Kaden took us out of this world while Preston used the Tardis to travel through time.

 Good job Ladies I loved hearing all about them even though you didn't like the photo ops.

  

They were awesome!  It was great to see the kids creativity at work.

We had the kids look up Innovation & Ingenuity

Ingenuity is “the quality of being cleverly inventive or resourceful; inventiveness: a designer of great ingenuity; cleverness or skillfulness of conception or design: a device of great ingenuity.” (www.dictionary.com)

Innovation is “something new or different introduced; the act of innovating; introduction of new things or methods.” ( www.dictionary.com).  They had to put that in their own words in a group and present it to the class.  There were 3 judges to make sure they got it right.  :)

We wanted to see how the students would demonstrate their own ingenuity and innovation so the students were asked to create something new out of a bag of random Legos.  They all did a great job and we had some very interesting innovations! 

 We later talked about how creative they were able to be without restraints and regulations to their creativity.

We discussed some major inventors and inventions in our time one of them being Eli Whitney’s cotton gin.  It was one of the key inventions of the industrial revolution and shaped the economy of the southern states and was one of the reasons that slavery grew so rapidly.   Eli also created the use of interchangeable parts in muskets and other firearms and changed how the U.S. prepared for and fought wars.

We watched a video on the industrial revolution and how it changed the lives of many in the U.S. (and in Europe). Those changes still effect us today.

We discussed the good and bad that came from the industrial revolution and the regulations that were put in place to protect the people.  We then tied it into the lego building and how sometimes regulation is good and sometimes it stifles creativity.

We then had an on the spot debate about whether the government should form a committee to monitor new inventions/discoveries and to limit (regulate) them in order to protect the safety and welfare of all citizens?   There was an interesting back and forth and hopefully they are learning the proper way to debate.  In the end the key word of freedom was brought up.  Regulations can take away some freedoms however we do need regulations to keep us safe.

We ran out of time to watch a DVD on Marie Curie.  If you want to have your student watch it you can borrow my copy - here is a  preview link.  It is the Nest Animated Hero Classic Marie Curie video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FSiGWCX09s

We finished with the timeline cards.  There was  a little confusion about the order of the timeline cards.  The order is below.  Please show them to your scholar so they can begin to practice.  They should NOT put the dates on their timeline cards.  Whoever can put them in order fastest next week will have a reward!

US Constitution Ratified (1787)

George Washington President (1789-1797)

Eli Whitney invents cotton gin (1793)

Eli Whitney invents interchangeable parts for muskets (1797)

John Adams President (1797-1801)

Thomas Jefferson President (1801-1809)

Louisiana Purchase (1803)

Lewis & Clark begin expedition (1804)

Lewis & Clark return from the west (1806)

Robert Fulton invents regular steamboat service on the Hudson River (1807)

James Madison President (1809-1817)

US Declares war on Britain (1812)

James Monroe President (1817-1825)

Industrial Revolution begins in U.S. (1820)

Samuel Morse invents telegraph (1836)

Elias How invents sewing machine (1844)

HOMEWORK: 

The Morality of New Inventions & Discoveries:

Research an invention or discovery from any time period that involved some controversy (mentors will provide ideas if needed). Choose a side of the controversy and write a persuasive paper supporting your side. For example: Animal Lab Testing – argue for or against such testing or argue under whatcircumstances is it acceptable/ not acceptable

Keep reading The Oregon Trail - book discussion 10/4

PRESIDENT REPORTS: PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE IN DATES:

Biographical reports. Report interesting facts that show how he helped or hindered US growth, ingenuity & innovation.

9/27   James K. Polk - SISTER TOLLESTRUP
10/4   SISTER DEGUZMAN
10/11  William Harry Harrison - MERIDIAN
10/18 James Monroe - GABE
10/25 George Washington - MATTHEW 

11/1 James Madison - KADEN
11/8   John Adams - KENSINGTON
11/15 Andrew Jackson - AMMON
11/29 James Buchanan - NADYA
12/6   Millard Fillmore - NICOLAS
12/13 Martin Van Buren - LAMONI

We love teaching your students!

Rachel & Angel