3rd grade

Patterns & Perceptions

Third grade CSI kicks off learning about Patterns and Perceptions.     During science lab, students examine mathematical patterns found in nature, such as tessellations, the Fibonacci sequence, the golden ratio, and pi.  Throughout this unit students will conduct science investigations relating to patterns. During technology lab, the students learn about perceptions: how they perceive themselves, how others perceive them, and how they want to be perceived in the future.  Students create several technology pieces that spotlight these perceptions.  Each students showcases their work in a “Patterns & Perceptions” book and is presented at the end of the year Parent Day.  This unit is an extension from the Mathematics in Nature unit from the Texas Performance Standards Project.

Ancient Greece

In the spring, students learn about the early Greek civilization and culture through lab activities that explore the daily life, art, architecture, beliefs, literature, and food.  This year we will extend these activities to include the Greek influence on Medieval civilization and culture. Allowing the students to make the merge between the classical antiquities of Greece to the lifestyle and contributions of the Middle Ages.  Students create Greek costumes,  carve and paint Greek names on a plaster tablet, identify and classify rocks and minerals, and construct and test catapults as a team competition.  Technology is incorporated in this unit when the students build and program an NXT robot to perform tasks around the room that replicates the Greek Acropolis.  Students will also create their own Ozobot Constellation and Canister!

The students will participate in a SECRETS mission at the Children's Museum of Houston.  Students will be challenged to crack codes, solve clues, and outsmart villains in this SECRET experience.  Students will also tour all of the special exhibits.