On their first day back, the 2nd and 3rd graders learned about the James Webb Space Telescope. They first learned about the Hubble telescope, and we were all blown away after viewing some of the most incredible photos taken by the Hubble over the last 30 years. However, our minds were REALLY blown when we learned that the new James Webb Telescope will be 100 times stronger than the Hubble! Students created a double bubble map comparing the two telescopes and uploaded their work to the Book Creator portfolios.

On the 19th, we continued the Webb telescope study with a series of challenges. The first set of challenges was all about hexagons. The students used their spatial reasoning to make intricate hexagon patterns (such as the Webb's hexagon mirror array) out of hexagons, trapezoids, rhombuses, and triangles. The second challenge was a communication challenge that we connected to the intricate work required of the NASA engineers that developed the Webb. One student created a pattern out of tangrams and had to carefully communicate to a classmate how to recreate their design with only their words! Some of our older students even took on the challenge to try to recreate the design by only using visual cues.

The final challenge was an engineering challenge. The students learned about how the Webb telescope, while as wide as a tennis court and three-stories high, had to fit into a 5-meter-diameter rocket. They learned how the Webb was folded like origami before deployed and used it as inspiration to create abstract art sculptures that could be folded to fit inside a toilet paper tube. Their designs were inspiring!