Earlier in the week, Mrs. P. requested if anyone would like to prepare and present a lesson on skyscrapers and/or Engineers. Since I'm thriving to be a teacher in the future, I decided to take this initiative and prepare a lesson. I also remembered from working with the group of Vincent and Anthony last week for the card tower project, they informed me that they like WarHead candies. Since it is Valentine's Day, I asked Mrs. P. her permission and brought in enough candies for each student.
When we arrived at Tully, Mrs. Podsiedlik was showing the students videos to make the connection to the 1930's building 'wars' in NYC, which was the race to build the tallest skyscraper. The key ideas she made were that skyscrapers came about because of the development of steel/iron as a building material and the growing populations and demand for real-estate in urban centers such as NYC. If you can build sideways you build up. She also taught them a little about the history of the Great Depression and how the building of skyscrapers in NYC put people back to work in a very tough economic time in our country's history. The video links Mrs. P. showed are:
http://video.answers.com/explore-the-history-behind-the-chrysler-building-517229538
http://www.history.com/videos/empire-state-building-defies-depression#empire-state-building-defies-depression
She also showed a ppt with some images as well.
When we arrived at Tully, Mrs. Podsiedlik was showing the students videos to make the connection to the 1930's building 'wars' in NYC, which was the race to build the tallest skyscraper. The key ideas she made were that skyscrapers came about because of the development of steel/iron as a building material and the growing populations and demand for real-estate in urban centers such as NYC. If you can build sideways you build up. She also taught them a little about the history of the Great Depression and how the building of skyscrapers in NYC put people back to work in a very tough economic time in our country's history. The video links Mrs. P. showed are:
http://video.answers.com/explore-the-history-behind-the-chrysler-building-517229538
http://www.history.com/videos/empire-state-building-defies-depression#empire-state-building-defies-depression
She also showed a ppt with some images as well.
building_wars_nyc.pptx |
I did my presentation on Amazing Skyscrapers using a computer with Internet access and brought in one copy of Take-Home Activity Sheet: Careers in Engineering and Architecture for each student. First, I helped the students brainstorm the names of some famous skyscrapers. They were familiar with the Empire State Building in New York City. We had a brief discussion about why people build such giant buildings. For example, they are efficient in crowded cities because they provide maximum office or living space while taking up a small amount of ground. They have also become cultural or industrial icons and a source of pride for the city in which they are found. I had the class then answer certain questions about the skyscraper that we found on Web sites with good sources of information about the building. After asking them questions, I also went over some useful vocabulary. I think my presentation went great and the kids loved the candy. Rebecca was the only other person to prepare a lesson as well. She made an interesting poster with examples of skyscrapers on it. I really enjoyed getting up in front of the class and teaching them. I am very grateful for that opportunity and hope to be able to do more lesson planning.
After the candy and the presentation the children designed and created their own bottle rockets. Then we all traveled down the hall to the gym to test them out using an air pump to see which one traveled the farthest. Connor's ended up going pretty far, almost to the other side of the gym. After the first trial, we returned to the classroom so the kids could make any modifications to their rockets in order to help it go farther. We spent the remainder of our time in the gym trying out the bottle rockets for a second time. Some improved while others became worse and some didn't change at all. Upon our return to the classroom, Mrs. Podsiedlik said to dress casual for next week as the children will be playing with Oobleck. I have never heard of this before so I'm excited to see what it's all about!
After the candy and the presentation the children designed and created their own bottle rockets. Then we all traveled down the hall to the gym to test them out using an air pump to see which one traveled the farthest. Connor's ended up going pretty far, almost to the other side of the gym. After the first trial, we returned to the classroom so the kids could make any modifications to their rockets in order to help it go farther. We spent the remainder of our time in the gym trying out the bottle rockets for a second time. Some improved while others became worse and some didn't change at all. Upon our return to the classroom, Mrs. Podsiedlik said to dress casual for next week as the children will be playing with Oobleck. I have never heard of this before so I'm excited to see what it's all about!