3-D Printers, Software Developers, and Programmers

There's a lot of STE(A)M right now at Saint David's. Seventh graders have been thinking 3-dimensionally, designing, creating and printings bookmarks using the 3D printer and first grader boys have been busy with Lego WeDo Robotic Kits.

For the seventh grade project, boys had to critique the form and function of an effective bookmark, and explore the way a 3D printer prints (by adding layer upon layer) in order to execute a successful bookmark design. They were challenged to incorporate three-dimensional elements into their bookmark design. Two of the designs are shown here.

One design cleverly contained the word "Library," which when viewed from behind looks like a stack of books!

In addition to the bookmark design project, seventh graders learned skills employed by software developers to design and improve a selection of video games using Scratch.

While our seventh graders are challenging themselves to utilize the "z" axis in one part of the curriculum, our first graders were busy programming Bee Bots to navigate a neighborhood.

While their initial challenge some time ago involved simply programming the colorful Bee Bots to travel from point "A" to point "B," they are now being challenged to program their Bots to navigate in ways that involve avoiding a dog and a construction site, and stopping for ice cream along the way to its destination.

First graders have also been building robots using electric motors and sensors.

All of these projects involve cooperative team work, critical analysis of the many variables involved to achieve a successful outcome, and extensive cycles of trial and error. And, especially significant, they involve boys actively engaging--doing and creating with technology--rather than merely consuming it.

Comments

OLIVER!

This morning our fifth graders continued a great year-end tradition at Saint David's, The Fifth Grade Musical. The boys performed Oliver! and they were fantastic, providing impressive performances and demonstrating great vocal ability. They have been mastering the dialogue and musical numbers for weeks, and clearly gave it their all. Congratulations to the cast on a job well done, and to their Producers/Teachers James Hubbard and Jamie MacNeille, Director Phyllis Clark, Musical Conductor Jeff Moore, and the Parent Committee of Cynthia Chapman, Susan Kissane, Tara Neumann, Joyce Restituto, and Ann Roberts. Musical theater is alive and well at Saint David's!

Sixth Graders Meet with Dr. Carter Emmart, Director of Astrovisualization at the American Museum of Natural History

Dr. Carter Emmart with Saint David's Sixth Graders This past Friday, as part of our unique partnership with the American Museum of Natural History, sixth graders had the great honor to attend a private lecture given by Carter Emmart, Director of Astrovisualization at AMNH. Dr. Emmart told the boys about his passion for science along with an overview of the history of the Hayden Planetarium. He also gave the boys advice on how to take scientific information about the universe and compile it into an interesting and captivating show for an audience. The boys were able to see Dr. Emmart's original sketches, which helped create the Uniview program they are using to develop their presentations. The session provided our boys with an opportunity to learn how art and science come together in the planetarium, and to obtain expert advice on developing their own space shows from one of the creators of Uniview . You can learn more about Dr. Emmart's work and Univie...

Tales of a Good Man

"Sometime in the midst of all this, we became friends. And his story, and all its vast world passed into mine." --From the Introduction of Blood & Oil by Roxane Farmanfarmaian. "Stories are so important; they become traditions that tell about the good that often comes out of bad experiences..." So began Roxane Farmanfarmaian's fascinating talk Monday night at Saint David's Seventh Grade Father-Son Dinner. Dr. Farmanfarmaian, Affiliated Lecturer of Modern Middle East Studies at the Political and International Studies Department at Cambridge University, was introduced by her nephew, Saint David's seventh grader Cyrus '17. She spoke to the seventh grade boys and their fathers about what makes a "Good Man" through the prism of her book Blood & Oil : A Prince's Memoir of Iran from the Shah to the Ayatollah (Random House 2005), which she co-authored with her late father, Prince Manucher Farmanfarmaian. The memoir i...

Headmaster's Blog

Search This Blog