Rocket Launch-Take 2

This past week, the Makers (Coding & Robotics club) finally launched their rockets that they had designed with the Tarleton State Aeronautics team! It was a beautiful spring day, albeit a little breezy, and we were very excited to get outside and see how our rockets performed!

Before we headed outside, we made some last minute adjustments to our rockets. The students listened carefully as Michael and Andrew explained what we were going to do.

Michael & Andrew, from the TSU Rocket Team, arranged three launch sites, positioned on the hill behind our school. This made for a wonderful viewing area. The students lined up to watch the rockets blast off.

Most times, the rockets would go off without a hitch, but every so often adjustments would have to be made before the rocket would launch.

The students were thrilled when their rocket would go off, and then would race to the landing site to collect it. Here are most of the launches, including the rocket launch from the week before. It is so fun to listen to their squeals of excitement!




Curtis Elementary students loved having this experience and truly appreciate all of the time and effort Michael and Andrew put into this project. We also appreciate Dr. Keith Emmert who connected us with the Tarleton State University Aeronautics program. This has been a great learning experience for all of us!

Rocket Launch- Take 1

Curtis students have been very fortunate to be able to participate in an education outreach project of Tarleton State University Aeronautics team. 5th and 6th grade students, as well as our after school maker club have all Skyped with the team in preparation for their visit. You can read more about our Skype here.

After an unexpected weather delay, the day had finally arrived for Michael & Andrew's visit to Curtis. The weather was a little cool and damp, but it wasn't raining, so it looked like the launch was on!

We started with a presentation with our 5th & 6th graders, where students were able to learn and ask questions about rockets and the competitions, as well as get a look at the 3D printer they had brought.

The 3D printer was great for the students and teachers to see since we will be writing a grant for one for our campus. As teachers watched the printing process, their minds began spinning with all types of curriculum tie-ins! 

We headed outside then to watch Michael and Andrew launch the rocket they brought. The students lined the perimeter of the field and waited patiently for the rocket to launch.

Unfortunately, the video of the launch isn't great, but you get an idea of how exciting it was to see it launch.

After school, the maker club came to the cafeteria for their presentation and to get their rockets ready for launch. They had designed their rockets, and Michael & Andrew had printed the rocket components. The students had to pack the parachute and assemble the rockets before launching. 

 Just as in real life, sometimes technical difficulties delay a launch. The team from Tarleton was just as disappointed as the students, but due to launch issues, they could not guarantee the rockets could launch safely. They shared this with the students and promised to come back the next week! 

We will be ready to launch next week! The students are learning so much through this experience, not only about rockets & aeronautics, but also patience! :)

We Make It Wednesdays-- Maker Clubs Begin!

One of the goals for the library this year is to have maker clubs with specific projects. Last year, our only maker club was a digital maker club. This club met throughout the year and used digital tools to promote reading. This year, with our makerspace stocked with all kinds of awesome things, we needed to provide opportunities for our students to use the space. Thanks to a Donors Choose project that was funded, we received the Hokki stools shown below. 

We also added MakeyMakeys and a Sphero robotics ball thanks to many donors, but the items we are using for the first maker club session were received through our Weatherford ISD Education Foundation. The littleBits, K'Nex, and Legos would all be put to use, as well as many craft items that we have stocked the makerspace with. littleBits are one of our students favorite things to use in the makerspace. If you aren't familiar with LittleBits, they are electronic modules that snap together with magnets. They are very easy to use and the students LOVE them!

A couple of parents had mentioned volunteering their time to help in the makerspace, so I visited with one at the beginning of the school year. Fortunately, he has knowledge and experience that lends itself to making. After talking, it was decided that we would have two clubs-- one a maker club (for creating with different objects) and one a media maker club (to use our new green screen) and then we would combine the two to create a haunted movie.

Students had to complete an application, sharing why they wanted in the club, and get a teacher recommendation. We were able to get all of the students in that turned in an application, which made me very happy. This was possible due to having an extra person, so I was very appreciative of Dr. Keith's help with our maker clubs!

The first meeting was this past Wednesday and the students were very excited! We met together as one big group and talked about what our goals were for the first session of maker clubs. We then separated into the two clubs. 

Maker club students gathered around Dr. Keith as he talked about circuits with them. He had built a ferris wheel and connected some of the littleBits to it. 

There were lots of "ooohs" and "aahhhs" as the students watched Dr. Keith connect the circuits to create buzzers, lights, and more. Then the students were given the opportunity to explore all of the pieces of the makerspace.

Also during this time, the media maker club was discovering how the green screen worked. Previously, I had contacted the creators of a green screen app called DoInk. They had shared some great tutorials for using the green screen, one of which we watched together during our meeting. It was created by dc2Norfolk and is shown below.

The students then worked to find images to use to create spooky scenes that would go into their haunted movie. Our hope is that the maker club will create the buildings and objects that will be in the movie, and the media maker club will take pictures and add those to their green screen creation. 

It seems that our first meeting was a success! We are excited to see what this week brings!