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Over the next couple of weeks we will be learning to use a compass both by itself and in conjunction with a topographical map. The following websites will be helpful as you complete homework and seek to understand this topic more fully.
Magnetic Declination and Deviation
Lesson Essential Questions
1. Why do we need to understand the chemical composition of water and its properties as we learn to be stewards of our local rivers?
2. In what ways does the water cycle provide fresh water around the earth?
3. What would happen if the water cycle stopped?
Vaughan's River Kids have spent the first few weeks of school studying the water molecule and its properties, states of matter, watersheds, and the water cycle. We learned that water is a polar molecule comprised of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Because of its polarity, water has some special properties such as: cohesion, adhesion, surface tension, and capillary action. We also learned about the five states of matter, but we discovered that water is found in only three states. Sublimation, evaporation, melting, freezing, condensation, and deposition are all processes by which matter can change states, and we did several experiments to see how these processes worked. Once we had grasped the basics of water and its properties and states of matter, we were ready to jump into the water cycle. Playing the game, "Blues Travelers" we made water cycle bracelets as we followed a drop of water's journey through the water cycle. We also conducted online research on the water cycle and had fun building terrariums that helped us understand the cycle even more thoroughly. We also enjoyed a watershed hike and River's Alive cleanup project that allowed us to get outside and take a look at the river will be assessing this year. Our next topic of study will be the benthic macroinvertebrates that inhabit streams and what they can tell us about the overall health of the stream.
Just a reminder that our Aviation Challenge field trip is this Friday, September 30th. We will meet at the front flagpole at 3:50 a.m. for a 4:00 a.m. departure. Please make sure to arrive on time as we will not be able to wait for late arrivals. We have a very tightly packed schedule and a late departure would result in cadets missing some of their activities.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack are all included in the trip, so students do not need to bring any food. They are allowed to have plain water on the bus as well as a pillow, blanket, book, or notebook. Several students have asked about cameras, and it is fine to bring a camera as long as the student's name is clearly visible on the camera. Students should not bring electronic devices such as cell phones, games, i-pods, or i-pads, nor should they bring gum. The movies we will be watching on the bus are: The Astronaut Farmer, Short Circuit, and Zathura.
We will return to the front flagpole at 11:30 p.m. on Friday night. Please let your child know the best phone number where you can be reached just in case we happen to be running a little early or a little late. If your child will be riding home with another parent, please place a note in your child's backpack so that it can be given to me when we return to Vaughan on Friday night. It would also be a good idea to provide that parent's number in case we need to make contact.
If your child takes medication, please pack it in its original container in your child’s backpack. Please include detailed directions and a note authorizing others to give the medicine. Your child's chaperone is in charge of his or her medication and will make sure that all doses are given throughout the day. Please e-mail or tell your child’s chaperone on Friday morning that there is medicine to be administered on the trip. Please do not bring medications or notes to me on the morning of the trip; with all of the details to be handled as we leave, it is very easy for me to misplace or forget something.
Chaperones:
Red Squad- Scott Randall
Yellow Squad- Ronnie Barrett
Green Squad- Ken Dekle
Blue Squad- Becky Lelly
Except for the water survival portion of the training, cadets will be wearing their GSRA uniform for this mission. Please make sure that your child is wearing khaki shorts or pants and his or her GSRA shirt upon arrival Friday morning. We want to look like the outstanding ASCANS we are!
Finally, don't forget to pack the items that will be needed for the water portion of our survival training; I have listed those items below. I hope everyone is excited and I'm looking forward to seeing you bright and early Friday morning!
Items to pack for survival and flight school:
Lesson Essential Questions
1. How does an airplane fly and what forces act on it in steady state unaccelerated flight?
2. What information is provided by the six primary flight instruments and how does this information help the pilot maneuver the plane?
GSRA cadets are continuing their study of survival and aviation; with our Aviation Challenge field trip just around the corner, we focused almost exclusively on flight this past week. Our first topic was aerodynamics, and we spent a good deal of time discussing how both Newton's and Bernoulli's theories are used to explain how a wing generates lift and thus allows a plane to fly. Following that discussion we looked at the four forces that act on an airplane: lift, weight, thrust, and drag. Although the relationship among these forces is relatively simple in steady state unaccelerated flight, it can become more complex as the airplane turns or accelerates. To help make these concepts more hands-on and give students the opportunity to begin experimenting with Newton's Laws and the four forces, we started building GH-1 hovercrafts. Cadets are enjoying the challenge of building the hovercrafts and will be working with them for several class periods once they are constructed.
Following our discussion of aerodynamics and forces of flight, we began exploring the primary six flight instruments: airspeed indicator, attitude indicator, altimeter, turn coordinator and inclinometer, directional gyro, and vertical speed indicator (VSI). Cadets learned how each instrument works and the vital information it provides to the pilot.
They then constructed their own instrument flight panel and used deductive thinking skills to determine how each instrument would change as an aircraft completed various maneuvers. Using Microsoft Flight Simulator, cadets were able to view an airplane from an outside perspective as it climbed, descended, or turned. Then, they made adjustments to their instrument panel to represent what the pilot would see on his or her instruments; finally, the simulator view was changed to a cockpit view so that students could verify their answers and assess whether or not their deductive thinking had been accurate. This was a lot of fun and really helped the cadets understand how to read the instrument gauges. I can't wait to see them fly at Aviation Challenge! Pictures are posted below of some of our classroom activities.
A big thank you goes out to our Vaughan River Kids and all the parent chaperones who participated in the Rivers Alive event this past Friday, September 23rd. Rivers Alive is Georgia's annual volunteer waterway cleanup event that targets all waterways in the state including streams, rivers, lakes, beaches, and wetlands. The mission of Rivers Alive is to create awareness of and involvement in the preservation of Georgia's water resources.
Vaughan’s third grade Target students (River Kids) collected 17 bags of trash (about 150 pounds) as they cleaned Noses Creek, which is part of the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. They found a basketball, paint cans, a shovel, glass, and all types of plastic and metal debris as they combed the banks looking for trash. It was a great day of fun, learning, protecting a precious resource, and helping our community. So thanks River Kids for being such good stewards of our natural resources!
I have posted a few pictures and a couple of video clips from our Rivers Alive cleanup event.
Video Clip 1 Download 100_0777
Video Clip 2 Download 100_0778
As we are studying aviation, I thought the following websites might be interesting and informative. If you have extra time you might enjoy taking a look at some of them.
Lesson Essential Questions:
1. What are the major parts of an airplane and what function do those parts serve?
2. How are the control surfaces of an airplane used to manipulate its movements through the air?
3.How can I use a topographical map to understand the terrain and features of an area?
Garvin's Space and Robotics Academy is officially underway. Cadets have spent the first couple of weeks learning about the major parts of an airplane and how the control surfaces manipulate the movement of the plane through the air. They have also created topographical maps, converted topo maps to profile views, and learned how to expand the scale of an existing map. The pictures below show the cadets hard at work on their topographical maps.
Life Is a River is a year-long unit written for third grade gifted students. It introduces the concepts of water, changing states of matter, the water cycle, the man-made water cycle, rivers, streams, and tributaries, pollution, and conservation. Students learn how to conduct visual, chemical, biological, and bacterial assessments of a river and visit a local stream on a monthly basis to evaluate the health of the waterway.
The goal of this unit is to help students develop a sense of pride, awareness, and appreciation for their environment. It is to understand the interdependence between animals and their environment and to nurture a realization that they can help save our most precious natural resource; water. The ultimate goal is to create life-long guardians of the environment.
1. How can an individual or a community have an impact on water quality, either positively or negatively?
2. How does an effective River Kid "hook" or involve others?
3. What is our role as stewards of the valuable natural resource of water?
Over the next couple of weeks you will be working on some assignments related to topographical maps. The following websites should help you locate definitions and symbols you may need.
Key to Topographical Map Symbols
Reading Topographical Maps (colors)