Solar Energy with Mr. Lobovits

By the end of our three hour science marathon the class had looked into the resources required to make paper, cola, and yes, even gummy bears!  The thinking shifted into high gear when we began to ask if any technology can truly be green.  One student had a green engineer moment when she said (roughly), "If something makes more money that it costs to build and saves more resources than it takes to make it, I think that is a green technology."  We will continue to think like green engineers by analyzing the resources it takes to make technology and the impacts it has on environment in the coming weeks.

Slater Mill

On Wednesday we bravely embarked on our first field trip since the accident.  While waiting for the bus to come, we began reading the Jewish prayer for travellers.  The bus came so quickly, we did not get to finish it, so I paraphrased.  And we were indeed kept safe on this trip!
The trip itself was truly worthwhile from an educational viewpoint.  The students' background knowledge on Samuel Slater, Lyddie, and energy enabled them to make so many important connections from the mill to our classroom studies.  Mr. Lobovits and I continually interjected to help them make those connections.  He asked them why the bed pan was made of metal, and one student said, "Because it is a good thermal conductor."   While I think this is one of the best field trips of the year, it was also reaffirming to hear one student say to another, "This is totally the coolest field trip we've ever done!"  Please ask your child about the water wheel and the machines.

Lyddie and the Industrial Revolution

On Monday, in Reading, we read about Lyddie who is just beginning to question her own freedom.  Readers have been talking about how she's "enslaved" because she's indentured.  Students are amazed to learn that during the Industrial Revolution child labor was the norm, and the paychecks went directly to the parents.  They are becoming very grateful for the freedoms they have as children in 2012.