In a hands-on activity, curious young scientists at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ recently dissected owl pellets and found interesting remnants of the owls’ diet. The students carefully removed different bones from the pellets and identified each one, revealing that owls have multiple sources of food.
Pushing the Robotics Envelope
The high school’s robotics classes recently completed a multi-day tournament with their newly constructed VEX Swept Away game robots, guided by technology teacher James Connell. The student groups had six weeks to design, build and test their robots prior to the competition, which is designed to help introductory robotics students learn about competition robotics.
This year presented some interesting challenges, as many of the students were part of the district’s hybrid model of instruction. This meant that they were only constructing their robots for half the week while studying and learning robotics theory – such as gear ratios, electronics and chassis design – for the second half. Since the school has been utilizing Google Classroom for the entire year, the matches were recorded and posted on class Google streams with daily results so that students could rewatch, study and analyze their teams’ victories and losses. This proved to be an asset for the students in designing and creating the best competition robots possible.
Middle school technology education students were also invited to watch and study some of the matches live via Google Classroom, to help make them more familiar with the high school’s robotics program.
The high school’s robotics students will be studying programming next, so that they can design and create new robots that can drive autonomously for a forthcoming new modified game.
“This year’s robotics classes really pushed the envelope and made excellent competition robots,” Connell said. “We’ve been playing the VEX Swept Away game with my classes for the past few years, and I’ve never seen top performances like this before. I’m looking forward to seeing what they will come up with next.”
“It was a great experience for the middle school students to get some insight in to what they could be doing within technology education classes when they get to the high school,” said technology teacher William Lackner.
“My students were quite impressed with the fact that we were seeing an event happening live at the high school,” said technology teacher Pamela Avella. “It was a great way to connect the middle school and high school technology courses.”
“As a person who has a very serious interest in a career in robotic engineering, I feel like this class has provided me with a good start on that path,” said high schooler Kaityln McCall. “Competing against my peers and having my robot perform at such a high level was an amazing experience.”
CES Students Engineer ¡°Snow Forts¡±
In a schoolwide January STEAM project, students at Connetquot designed “snow forts” using mini marshmallows to determine whether taller or wider forts were more stable. The students were challenged to test out their creations, throwing a large marshmallow at each structure to determine if it would stay upright and if the figure inside it would be protected. They then worked on revising their designs to improve the structures.
Fifth graders at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ recently went on virtual fields trips facilitated through the Cornell Cooperative Extension program, including a “Sensational Sharks” workshop. In this virtual lesson, students learned about the biology and ecology of sharks. The presenter outlined conservation efforts regarding these misunderstood top oceanic predators and reviewed topics such as shark jaws, eggs and teeth. The fifth graders also received a kit to create a shark tooth necklace and an informational book on the various existing shark species.
“It was wonderful to see the students so engaged in the science sessions,” Principal Deborah Smith said. “They had a lot of thoughtful questions regarding the sharks and also shared their knowledge of the bay and ocean which we live so close to.”
Turtle Time for Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ Fourth Graders on Virtual Field Trip
Amy Elliott’s fourth-grade class at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ recently participated in a virtual field trip with the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, Florida. This experience provided a live experience for the students to see the miraculous work that is done at the hospital, whose goal is to rescue, rehabilitate and release sea turtles back to their natural environment.
The Turtle Hospital guide taught the students about the many injuries and illnesses that the majority of the turtle patients come in for while showing them the grounds of the hospital. At the conclusion of the tour, the students were able to participate in a question-and-answer session with the guide to enhance their understanding of the hospital’s work.
“This was an incredible way for us to be reminded that our actions every day can impact the Earth and the beautiful creatures that we share it with,” Elliott said.
High school robotics student Kaitlyn McCall attended the Women in Engineering and Technology event held by the New York Institute of Technology on May 1. During this full-day virtual event, students participated in interactive sessions, met female leaders in the field of engineering and connected with current engineering students at the university. Interactive activities included workshops on robotics, fabricating and laser cutting.
“This was a great opportunity for Kaitlyn, who one day envisions herself becoming a robotics engineer and is very excited about her future career path,” said technology teacher James Connell. “She is a very dedicated robotics student and loves to design and build competition robots.”
“The event was very interesting and extremely fun,” McCall said. “I had the chance to control a real-life robot that was at NYIT from my own home while I attended the event virtually.”
NAHS Creates Coloring Book for the Community
High school art students in the National Art Honor Society recently created a coloring book to give back to the school community and share their passion for art. The young artists generated some creative designs for others to enjoy and color while earning community service hours. Community members are encouraged to participate in downloading the book (see below attachment), coloring the pages and posting the results.
“It was such a fun project that even Mr. Figliozzi and I participated in creating a page for others to enjoy coloring,” said teacher Heather Toomey. “Don’t forget to tag @eihsnahs #eihsnahs on social media so we can see your coloring creations!”
Exploring the Science of Leaves at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½
After studying the science of why leaves change color, students at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ made creative rubbings of locally-gathered leaves.
Engineering ¡°Turkey Towers¡± at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½
In a fun engineering project, students at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ recently planned and built “turkey towers” using toothpicks and marshmallows, attempting to discover which construction was tallest and strongest.
¡°Number Surgery¡± at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½
Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ students recently learned math through “number surgery,” problem solving to “diagnose” equations and find solutions. The young mathematicians used “place value symptoms” to figure out what number to diagnose each case.
Experiments Explore Scientific Method
Exploring the scientific method with a dancing raisins experiment, fourth-grade scientists at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ collected data and made observations, hypotheses and conclusions.
“We are so proud of our students and teachers leading the way through innovating problem solving,” said Principal Deborah Smith.
