5th Grade

Structures 

Bridges is an interdisciplinary unit designed to foster an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math)and creative problem solving.  Students will become engaged in the topic as they complete various hands-on challenges and participate in classroom discussions. Then they will choose a specific type of bridge to research, using the Independent Investigation Method.  Finally, students will construct their bridge and present their findings at the end of the year QUEST Showcase.  

 Selfie Sculpture

This “Selfie Sculptures” activity was designed to facilitate meaningful conversations with gifted and talented students about their social and emotional learning and needs.  With guidance and support, students were able to recognize social and emotional characteristics and needs within themselves and represent them in a “Selfie Sculpture.”   These final sculptures included color-coded shapes that represent each student as an individual while encouraging creativity and a sense of community in our gifted classroom. 

 Bridge designers... Whose paper bridge design can hold the most pennies?  

The constraints: 

Types of Bridges 

Beam Bridge

Fifth graders are researching about the different types of bridges.  Our study begins with the beam bridge.  Students read articles, watched videos and took notefacts.  

                                    BEAM BRIDGE Continued



Students have been learning about one of the types of bridges. They researched beam bridges and created a slide portraying what they learned. They also had to construct a bridge using K'NEX. 


The students integrated ART in this extension activity. After listening to Monsters Under Bridges by Rachel Roellke, the students made their own monsters using felt, poly-fil, and assorted decorative materials. 

As the students continue working on their structures unit, they will connect this activity to their bridge building by placing their monster under every bridge they build and include it in their Google Slide presentation.


Truss Bridges  


Students are learning about various bridges. In this unit, they focused on researching the Truss Bridge by reading articles, watching videos, and selecting text from an online library. Next, students implemented the Independent Investigation Method (IIM) to take note facts. They build their bridge using K'NEX. Last, they had to upload a picture of their bridge built and write a summary with key vocabulary. 

MORE TO COME