Today we had a great opportunity to have a Google Hangout with an old friend of mine, who is now a Patent Attorney in the Twin Cities (MN) area. This is our third year uniting for a 1 hour session. In the short screencast (Screencast-O-Matic) below (15 minutes (not that short)) you can see how our attorney shares mostly about what a patent attorney does, what a patent is, and is able to answer a few questions. What a great experience..as always!
During our Hangout we were also had the opportunity to have our own inventions critiqued. Here are some of the pictures from the experience:
Those not familiar with Brian Selznick or one of his novels The Invention of Hugo Cabret may or may not know that Brian takes extreme effort in understanding and expertising his writing by thoroughly researching his topics. One awesome aspect of the story of Hugo is learning about Hugo and Isabelle's fondness for silent films. This could easily be passed over, unless of course you bring the films into the class. Today we brought in a few of the films mentioned (so far):
Safety, Last! - we watched the most famous scene (also mentioned in Hugo) where the character is trying to climb a building and has many mishaps along the way
The Clock Store - mentioned as a trailer prior to the start of a movie in the early 1900's:
Le Million - the movie that Hugo and Isabelle go to watch at the movie theater (this is only the trailer):
We had a great time watching these films. They provided some needed perspective as to how different, but also how much alike, our lives are to those who lived in the early 1900's. We are excited to see what movies pop up as we move along.
We are also in the process of wrapping up our famous inventor cubes. These cubes contain information about all sorts of inventors. They will be displayed at our "Trash to Treasure Invention Fair" on June 5.
This week marks the beginning of our first full week of May and the first full week of our "Trash to Treasure" Invention Unit. Along with creating inventions from recycled materials, our students also are engaged into innovative ideas through various avenues. A new piece we were able to add, thanks in part to a grant that was won by a local gas station (which donated the funds to our school), we were able to purchase 40 copies of "Discovery Kids: Inventions" magazine. Since we are using the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret for our whole group piece, the non-fiction magazine is a supplemental component added to our small group reading. In just the first pages students have already learned information about Thomas Edison and his "Menlo Park" invention team. According to Edison, his team's goal was to produce one small invention every 10 days, and one big invention every 6 months. Additionally, he shared with our students (via the magazine) that "Inventing is 1% Inspiration and 99% Perspiration." As we dive deeper into the magazine will practice text coding, while using informational text.
Another exciting way we kicked off the week was by having a guest inventor. This year our guest was Nils Melberg, from En Novative Technologies, Inc. Nils and his team assist in testing soil samples to determine if particular areas have too much or too little of "something." This ties in also with our Ecosystem unit, since we test the PH levels of our soil to determine its basic and acidity levels. Nils and his team are responsible for creating a mechanism, The En Core Sampler, which takes a soil sample safely from the ground, without allowing it to release the contaminants (that may be in it) through evaporation. Nils also introduced our students to an inventing acronym: SCAMPER.
S - substitute another item
C - combine two other products
A - adapt an existing item
M - magnify or minimize another product P - put another item to a different use
E - eliminate or subtract what is not needed
R - reverse or change parts
Our invention unit is off and flying. Many of our students have already come up with some incredible ideas for inventions in just the few days we have spent brainstorming and investigating.
Today we kicked off our 2014 (4th Annual) "Trash to Treasure" Invention Unit. At our school this unit includes a multitude of pieces related to literacy, innovation, and FUN! We use the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret for our textbook. This book explores innovation from the eyes of a young boy growing up in some difficult situations in olden day Paris, France. Throughout the unit students explore and research famous inventors. They create their own invention, which they display at our annual "Trash to Treasure" Invention Fair. Plus, they learn elements of persuasion through infomercials. With those elements, they create and record their own infomercial, which is played throughout the invention fair. Today is just beginning of a month long journey that will conclude at Milwaukee's Discovery World in early June. LET THE FUN BEGIN!
