13 - 18 December 2021

Classes will meet Monday afternoon to disassemble their robots and inventory the kits.

Tuesday morning each class will have STEM for approximately two hours. During this time students will be presented with a variety of online and offline activities related to STEM.

6 - 10 December 2021

All groups are completing the programming challenges independently. Each challenge requires a reflection to be completed. As each team is working at their own pace, different teams will be able to complete a different number of programming challenges during this time. EV3 robots will be disassembled at the end of the week.

All work is designed to be completed in class. After each challenge, students have work reflections to complete on paper.

29 November - 3 December 2021

Most groups have finished building their Driving Base and have begun learning to program using a "Scratch"-style language. All teams have worked through downloading the programming app and connecting their robot to the app via Bluetooth. Each team is working through the programming challenges at their own pace.

All work is designed to be completed in class. After each challenge, students have work reflections to complete on paper.

15 - 19 November 2021

Gravity Cruiser races will be held on Monday in the gymnasium.

The sixth grade STEM classes will now begin the second half of the quarter with robots! The students are excited to start this new unit during which they will learn building techniques as well as block programming. We are using Lego Education EV3 robots generously provided by the school. Students will be working with new partners for this unit.

All work is designed to be completed in class. After each challenge, students have work reflections to complete on paper.

8 - 12 November 2021

We are nearing the end of our Gravity Cruiser unit. By the end of class on Monday, all teams should have completed Task #3. We move on to choosing which variable to modify to improve the performance of our cruisers. The final task slides depend on which variable the team has chosen. Next Monday is the final Gravity Cruiser race event with both 6th grade classes. On Tuesday of next week, both classes will move on to our robotics unit. Each student will be assigned to a new group.

All work is designed to be completed in class. Students may choose to work on their team's Google Slide presentation outside of class in order to maximize the time they spend on designing, building, and testing their prototype. The Google Slide presentation is a graded activity. Students are provided a rubric and an exemplar for this assignment.

1 - 5 November2021

Both classes continue construction and testing of Gravity Cruisers. Task #3 requires the team to finish building the tower and lever system for the Gravity Cruiser. After building, teams will measure the major components of their Gravity Cruiser to have a "spec sheet". After the specifications are recorded, students will perform at least five test runs of their Gravity Cruiser, recording their observations of its performance (did it stay in the lane, how far did it go, etc.) and how they changed their cruiser to improve performance. Task #3 is expected to be completed by the end of class Thursday.

All work is designed to be completed in class. Students may choose to work on their team's Google Slide presentation outside of class in order to maximize the time they spend on designing, building, and testing their prototype. The Google Slide presentation is a graded activity. Students are provided a rubric and an exemplar for this assignment.

25 - 29 October 2021

Both classes are continuing to work on Gravity Cruisers. Task #2 requires the team to dive deeply into what knowledge they need to access to design their Gravity Cruiser. They will sketch a prototype of their initial Gravity Cruiser, build the chassis using the materials provided, and perform initial validation testing. All documentation will be added to the Google Slide presentation. Groups should be finished with Task #2 by Wednesday or Thursday.

All work is designed to be completed in class. Students may choose to work on their team's Google Slide presentation outside of class in order to maximize the time they spend on designing, building, and testing their prototype. The Google Slide presentation is a graded activity. Students are provided a rubric for this assignment.

18 - 22 October 2021 - WELCOME TO QUARTER 2 STEM!

Both classes are working on Gravity Cruisers. Task #1 is developing team identity and determining team roles. This should be completed (on paper) by Wednesday. Next, teams will create a Google Slide presentation that will be the documentation for this unit. This slide presentation will be compiled and added to as the unit progresses. In Task #2, the team will determine what knowledge they need to access to design their Gravity Cruiser. They will sketch a prototype of their initial Gravity Cruiser, build it using the materials provided, and perform initial validation testing. All documentation will be added to the Google Slide presentation. This task will continue into next week.

All work is designed to be completed in class. Students may choose to work on their team's Google Slide presentation outside of class in order to maximize the time they spend on designing, building, and testing their prototype. The Google Slide presentation and the paper packet are graded activities. Students are provided a rubric for the presentation via Google Classroom.

Here is a copy of the syllabus (ignore the due date printed on the signature page). Please complete the last page and email a copy to me at jjacobs@pinnacleclassicalacademy.com. You can use the Kami extension in Google Chrome to electronically fill out the form. A paper copy will be distributed on the first day of class and can be completed and returned in person, as well.

The syllabus signature page, with information on how to contact you, is due (signed) by October 25, 2021.

END OF QUARTER 1

11 - 15 October2021

As the quarter comes to an end, many teams have finished all EV3 challenges and are working on extension challenges. Due to the testing schedule this week, we may or may not have class. Robots will be broken down on Thursday, October 14, 2021, to prepare them for the next quarter's classes.

4 - 8 October2021

All teams have begun working on a series of programming challenges. At the end of each challenge, the team completes a reflection before continuing to the next. All teams are working at their own pace. Each team is only evaluated on the challenges they have completed.

All work is designed to be completed in class; however, teams may decide to complete the reflection outside of class in order to maximize their in-class time to program and test.

This unit will be wrapping up at the end of this work/beginning of next week. NC Check-Ins are next week and may interrupt the flow of classes.

27 September - 1 October2021

Most groups have finished building their Driving Base and have begun learning to program using a "Scratch"-style language. All teams have worked through downloading the programming app and connecting their robot to the app via Bluetooth. Each team is working through the programming challenges at their own pace.

All work is designed to be completed in class. After each challenge, students have work reflections to complete on paper.

20 - 24 September2021

The sixth grade STEM classes will now begin the second half of the quarter with robots! The students are excited to start this new unit during which they will learn building techniques as well as block programming. We are using Lego Education EV3 robots generously provided by the school. Students will be working with new partners for this unit.

All work is designed to be completed in class. After each challenge, students have work reflections to complete on paper.

13 - 17 September2021

We are nearing the end of our Gravity Cruiser unit. All teams should have completed Task #3 and are choosing which variable to modify to improve the performance of their cruiser. The final task slides depend on which variable the team has chosen. Next week, both classes will move on to our robotics unit. Each student will be assigned to a new group.

All work is designed to be completed in class. Students may choose to work on their team's Google Slide presentation outside of class in order to maximize the time they spend on designing, building, and testing their prototype. The Google Slide presentation is a graded activity. Students are provided a rubric and an exemplar for this assignment.

7 - 10 September2021

Both classes continue construction and testing of Gravity Cruisers. Task #3 requires the team to finish building the tower and lever system for the Gravity Cruiser. After building, teams will measure the major components of their Gravity Cruiser to have a "spec sheet". After the specifications are recorded, students will perform at least five test runs of their Gravity Cruiser, recording their observations of its performance (did it stay in the lane, how far did it go, etc.) and how they changed their cruiser to improve performance. Task #3 is expected to be completed by the end of class Thursday.

All work is designed to be completed in class. Students may choose to work on their team's Google Slide presentation outside of class in order to maximize the time they spend on designing, building, and testing their prototype. The Google Slide presentation is a graded activity. Students are provided a rubric and an exemplar for this assignment.

30 August - 3 September2021

Both classes are continuing to work on Gravity Cruisers. Task #2 requires the team to dive deeply into what knowledge they need to access to design their Gravity Cruiser. They will sketch a prototype of their initial Gravity Cruiser, build the chassis using the materials provided, and perform initial validation testing. All documentation will be added to the Google Slide presentation. Groups should be finished with Task #2 by Wednesday.

All work is designed to be completed in class. Students may choose to work on their team's Google Slide presentation outside of class in order to maximize the time they spend on designing, building, and testing their prototype. The Google Slide presentation is a graded activity. Students are provided a rubric for this assignment.

Testing will interrupt our classes on Thursday, September 2nd, and Friday, September 3rd. There will be no assignments for those days.

23-27 August 2021

Both classes are working on Gravity Cruisers. Task #1 is developing team identity and determining team roles. This should be completed early in the week. Next, teams will create a Google Slide presentation that will be the documentation for this unit. This slide presentation will be compiled and added to as the unit progresses. In Task #2, the team will determine what knowledge they need to access to design their Gravity Cruiser. They will sketch a prototype of their initial Gravity Cruiser, build it using the materials provided, and perform initial validation testing. All documentation will be added to the Google Slide presentation. This task will continue into next week.

All work is designed to be completed in class. Students may choose to work on their team's Google Slide presentation outside of class in order to maximize the time they spend on designing, building, and testing their prototype. The Google Slide presentation is a graded activity. Students are provided a rubric for this assignment.