"Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye." ~ Helen Keller

SDL Program

Open Hours 3-3:30 Tuesday through Friday

Overview

Self-Directed Learners Program (SDL) is a gifted education program for students in grades four through eight. Students who are identified utilizing the identification matrix are eligible to receive programming services. These students are pulled two periods a week for small group instruction. They are responsible for independently obtaining, completing, and handing in all assignments addressed in the regular classroom. Students must remain in good academic standing in all academic areas while attending SDL.

Objectives

Each student will...

be exposed to new topics.
be provided with opportunities to use and develop higher level thinking skills.
be exposed to different ways of communicating ideas.
be provided with opportunities to develop skills that will aid in planning and evaluating projects.
participate in group activities as a contributing member and/or leader.
employ task commitment in understanding chosen or assigned activities.
develop independent and higher level work habits.
participate in activities that involve SDL students from similar programs in other districts.

Outreach Programs

In conjunction with the SDL curriculum, students will participate in outreach programs that have been established in and out of the Northern Valley Schools. The purpose is to provide students with opportunities to meet and interact with students from other districts' gifted education programs. The focus is to continue to apply higher-level thinking and problem solving skills in a variety of situations that will expand and enhance the learning process.

Examples of Units of Study:

Rube Goldberg Machine Convocation
VIA (Valley Investigative Approach) Convocation
Bergen Brain Buster Competition
CSI (Crime Scene Investigation)
Dare to Fly/iFly
Amazing Race
World Games
Newark Museum/Heart of the Sun and Constellations Tonight
Invengineering Competition
BLOKUS Tournament
Environmental Planning
Junior Solar Sprints Hosted by TransOptions
STEAM Tank Challenge Hosted by NJSBA and the US Army

SDL students have investigated ways to make music without a musical instrument. They created an original composition without the use of traditional instruments. Here are a few websites they found to help them out:

Blowing Bottle Tops: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Music_p007/music/blowing-bottle-tops-music#background

Wintergatan - Starmachine2000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEeiRXOlWUE

Glass Armonica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQemvyyJ--g

Playing with Spoons: https://www.wikihow.com/Play-the-Spoons

Check out Andrew Huang!

Music with Fidget Toys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7CiatolXE
A Song Made from Weird Canadian Things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPix9OLR4PA

Random Music Making Things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er9M22Hil9g

Household Percussion Jam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8Cqyi5WxSU

Best Drummer Ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqJdzYY_Fas

STEAMTANK 2020 North Jersey Letter Northvale Public School.docx

STEAM Tank Challenge

STEAM Tank Challenge 2020: Great News!

Two of our teams made it to Regional Competition! This year, the competition will be held at Liberty Science Center on Saturday, March 14, 2020. We have four short weeks to prepare! Check out the Congratulations letter located above.

This year, all STEAM Tank proposal submissions are required via a two minute video presentation uploaded on YouTube. All videos were uploaded to YouTube as "Unlisted" to provide more security to your children. Anyone who wants to access the video must have the link, which can be found here:

Grade 4 Team: School Multitool

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmhdxU98Nuw&feature=youtu.be

Grade 7 Team: MyFootprint

https://youtu.be/XvP5p2HQq80

Grade 5 Team: HappyHome

https://www.youtube.com/edit?video_id=KkiivwEtmk4&ar=1575307096048&nv=1

Grade 5/6 Team: SortaTrash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlfWsv6_EZI

STEAM Tank Challenge 2020 Rules and Rubrics:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W3xdGbkJuv8_1AsKJy4mt45hW4i84IyLZZqjDiYC9fI/edit

STEAM Tank Challenge 2019

All three teams made it to Regional Competition:

Grade 7 "The Wheelchair Retriever"
Grade 6 "The Shroller"
Grade 4 "The Welcome Kit"

Congratulations to our teams! THANK YOU parents, the Northvale Board of Education, and Northvale administration for all your support!!

STEAMTank Challenge 2018

We are headed for State Finals!!!

Presentations held during the School Boards Association Convention on Oct. 23, 2018 at the Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJ

Congratulations Time Slot 9618 Northvale Public School

Congratulations Time Slot 9618 Northvale 2

STEAMTANK 2018 North Jersey Letter.pdf

We are headed to Regionals!!! Sat., April 14 at NJIT

STEAM Tank Challenge!

4th through 7th Grade SDL students have submitted a proposal to the 2018 STEAM Tank Challenge sponsored jointly by the NJSBA and the US Army. Each team submitted their proposal for approval on Feb. 9, 2018. Stay tuned for results of our submissions!

Please note: If we are admitted into competition, the North Jersey Regionals will be held on Saturday, April 14, 2018 at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

THIS JUST IN!

THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2018

Good Afternoon,

I know everyone is eagerly waiting to see if your teams have advanced to the regional competitions.

However, due to the substantial amount of applications received this year; the STEAMTEAM will need a few more days to review applications.

We do apologize for the delay, however we want to ensure each & every application is sufficiently reviewed.

Central Jersey STEAM Innovators will receive first notification, as their regional competition is set for March 16th, followed by the South, then North.

Should you have additional questions or concerns please send all inquiries to: steamtank@njsba.org

We appreciate your patience and will be in touch very soon!

Thank you,

Jennifer Siehl

Administrative Assistant

Member Education/Training/County Activities/iSTEAM/Sustainability

New Jersey School Boards Association

Phone-(609)-695-7600

Fax- (609)-695-1577

jsiehl@njsba.org

www.njsba.org

Friday, Feb. 16, 2018

Good Morning,

Thank you participating in the STEAM Tank Challenge 2018 the third and largest year of STEAM Tank. We have received well over 400 applications, more than doubling the total amount of last year. Due to the amazing amount of entries, we need additional time to review the applications to determine who is going to be invited for the regional competitions. We will have all applications reviewed and you will receive notification on 28 February.

Thank you for your understanding as we know everyone is waiting in anticipation! We look forward to another exciting year of the STEAM Tank Challenge.

When emailing with questions or inquiries be sure to email the official email of STEAM Tank at steamtank@njsba.org

SFC Josh Simpson

U.S. Army iSTEAM Specialist

New Jersey School Boards Association

7th Grade Submission:

STEAM Tank Challenge 2018

Purse Preserver

Invent something new, modify an existing product, or identify a situation or real world problem that needs a resolution

What do you keep in your purse? Maybe your wallet, money, credit cards? Or possibly your phone, keys, ID? You are at dinner with your family, enjoying yourself. You turn for your purse to pay, and it isn’t there! What do you do? Our invention will solve this dilemma. The invention we created is called the Purse Preserver.

The Purse Preserver is designed to be screwed underneath the restaurant table. The Purse Preserver is a chain with screws on both ends. One screw will be permanently attached to the bottom of the table while the other can be screwed easily with your hands. To use the Purse Preserver, you will take the loose end of the chain and bring it through the handles of the purse. To close it, you will put the chain through the nail and screw it into the table. There is also an option for the Purse Preserver to come with a restaurant table that aligns with the screws that are on the Purse Preserver.

With the Purse Preserver, you never have to worry about losing your purse. Instead, you can enjoy yourself at a nice meal with your family.

~7th Grade Team

Northvale Public School Northvale, NJ

6th Grade Submission:

Reusable Watercolor Brush

STEAM Tank

Challenge 2018

Our idea is a reusable watercolor brush. Since paintbrushes always become worn after being used, the general idea for this paintbrush is similar to a mechanical pencil. After the paint brush head gets too worn to be used, simply push a button at the top of the paint brush. Then, you can cut the worn out bristles, keeping only the new bristles. The way this works is that there is super long paint brush bristle in the handle of the paint brush, which allows the paint brush to last longer. Whenever you run out of bristles, you can instantly replace the paintbrush head with a brand new one.

Without these brushes, once a brush gets worn out, you will need to continue buying new ones, which wastes money compared to our innovative idea. Think of all the aspiring artists who spend hundreds of dollars on paint brushes, materials, etc. With our reusable watercolor paintbrush, people will not have to continuously replace their paint brushes, which can save time and money. Our paintbrushes will come with five extra paint brush heads, which will last a very long time. This idea is an essential need for artists, and is definitely a good candidate for the STEAM Tank challenge.

Sixth Grade Team

Northvale Public School

Northvale, NJ

4th and 5th Grade Submission:

Tipper Stopper

Leaf Productions© presents to you… The Tipper Stopper! The Tipper Stopper is a very stable piece of plastic that extends when you tip your chair. All you have to do is attach it to any chair you want, and then tip away! The Tipper Stopper lets you tip as much as you desire. This is how it works: when you tip a chair, the Tipper Stopper contracts in, working as a holder that bends back so that you don’t fall down. You can bend your chair back as much as you wish without falling. It can hold up to 300 lbs! To install it, all you have to do is screw a nail into two holes on the side, and into the chair. It’s as simple as that! It only costs $19.99, and shipping is free. So simply buy, install, and Tip Away All Day.

You are probably thinking, “Why waste money on something that prevents my child from falling while tipping his chair, when I can just tell him to stop?” But we know, whether in class or at home, children just can’t stop tipping. Why try to fight it when you could just make it safer? And it is so easy to use! All you have to do is tip back, and as soon as you get too far back, the Tipper Stopper locks into place so that your child or student isn’t falling on the floor.

The Tipper-Stopper is a wonderful product that everyone needs! It prevents people from injuring themselves during school, at home, or anywhere else they may be! Once a chair is tipped, it may be very hard for it to stop, so attaching the Tipper-Stopper will help. When kids tip back, the Tipper-Stopper slides out of the chair and acts as a stopper which locks into place before the chair can fall. Our Tipper-Stopper is an easy, safe, and affordable way to help your child or student safely tip away!

4th and 5th grade team

Northvale Public School

Northvale, NJ

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