Field trip to Ft. Worth Science Museum

Today we started a new engineering challenge Shrinking Shores.  We discussed erosion and watched some videos on erosion.  We came to the definition  of the movement of rocks, sand, or soil by natural forces such as wind or water.  Here is one of the videos we watched.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChEHQUMEkXw    Then we discussed how erosion affects wildlife?   We read a story where two kids are trying to save turtles habitats from erosion.  We discussed the term Wave: The movement of energy from place to place.  We then discussed how the energy in a wave most often comes from wind.  We talked about how a wave can be visible, such as in the side-to-side movement of a rope, or invisible, such as in the back-and-forth movement of sound waves.  But all waves move energy from one place to another.  Then we used ropes to see how force affects waves and their size. 

Field Trip

Tomorrow is Field Trip Day to the Ft. Worth Science Museum.  Here are a few reminders:
*Arrive at school on time. (7:45 am)
*Send your child with a sack lunch (no lunch boxes)
*Wear comfortable shoes

Please read

Greetings Cannon Parents!

I hope everyone has enjoyed this unexpected SNOW DAY and is staying warm! 

Believe it or not, we are already busy planning for next year!  As a campus with special programs, students in other GCISD schools are allowed to apply to enroll at Cannon through the lottery system, based on space available.  In order for us to plan for incoming students, we need to verify which of our current Pre-K 4th grade students will be returning to Cannon next year - 2015-2016. 

Please complete this very quick survey to let us know of your plans!  Use the link below to access the survey.  Please note that if you have multiple children enrolled in Cannon, you will need to complete a separate survey for each child. Simply complete the survey for one child and click on Submit.  You will then be given the option to complete another survey. 

Please complete the survey(s) by 4:00 pm on Friday, 2/27.   CLICK HERE FOR THE SURVEY LINK 

Thank you SO much for your help!

Mrs. Blizzard :)

Ice days

Stay safe! If you need something to do at home, you could read, write, create, or use technology for studying. #gocannoncubs

And in honor of Ice Day #2

Progress reports

Parents of 2nd-5th grade: To access progress report/grades through Skyward, follow these directions:

To Cannon Parents/Guardians of 2nd-5th grade Students:

Beginning this semester, all of the progress and report cards will be found online.  It's a very simple process and is a helpful tool for parents to access their child's grades, attendance, immunizations, and much more.

How to view progress reports/report cards:

Go to gcisd-k12.org

Click on Skyward Family Access (found at the top right of the home page).

Enter your login and password.

From the menu on the left side, choose Progress Reports/Report Cards.

Click the report you wish to view.

The official report will be displayed.  

All of the progress reports/report cards will be stored in your child's profile.  They can be printed at any time while your child is enrolled at GCISD.

If you have more than one child attending GCISD and need to view their information, click on the drop-down arrow at the top of the page to see all students in your family.

If you have forgotten your login or password, it will be sent to your email address on file simply by clicking "forgot password".

Volunteers requested

 

Great day of teacher learning. We got to see the DaVinci surgical robot at Baylor Medical Center. STEM in the real world!

 

Today was our final day of our STEM Wall lesson. The children had redesigned their mortar and wall design from our tests earlier in the week. Today was our testing day. Most groups had success and the group that didn't know right away how they would change it if we were to build it again. Here are the results. Congratulations to our strongest walls out of both classes.Kairi, Victor, & Ayden Level 4, 5 hitsRowen, Robert, & Aubri Level 4, 2 hitsT.J., Rocket, & Ace Level 4, 2 hitsSutton & Trevor Level 4, 2 hits

Today was the redesign day. We used our redesigned mortar mixtures to build our redesigned walls. Some of the groups used more water. Most groups went with a clay, soil, and soil mixture. Here are some pictures of our redesigns.

We tested our walls with the demolition ball. Some groups walls started to break apart after 2 to 3 hits. A of groups made it to the level 4 with 4 hits at that level. We then analyzed all the walls and talked about what made those successful. Both of the groups that made it to the level 4 had a mortar mixture that was 2 soil and 1 clay. One group used 4 Tablespoons water and the other group used 5 Tablespoons. Both groups used a staggered block design. We then took the information from our observations and created our redesign for our mortar and wall plan for tomorrow.

Learning about Mortar

Today 2nd graders learned about concrete and mortar from Argos Redimix. We learned about the difference between cement and concrete (did you know there was a difference?). We also learned the thickness of concrete is measured by "slump".   Hopefully we can use this new learning as we work to improve our walls this week.

Today in STEM we got to create our 1st mortar mixture and build our 1st wall. We used our plan from Friday to create our 1st build.

Pavestone presentation

Today we had a visit from Mr. Robert Baker, an engineer at Pavestone Pavers. He brought models to show how a staggered wall is stronger than a stacked wall.

Today for our STEM lesson we tested the mortar sandwiched we made yesterday. We created two tests for the mortar. They were the Sticky Test and the Earthquake Test. Before we started testing we did some predicting about the results based on our observations without touching. Then we conducted the tests and the results were the clay worked the best on both tests. The sand worked somewhat on the earthquake test, but not at all on the sticky test. We then looked at real mortar and realized how many of the properties were like the clay powder. But we concluded that it was more gritty than the clay powder. So we are thinking that maybe we should add some sand to the clay powder.

Today in STEM we made mortar sandwiches out of the wet earth materials from yesterday. Yesterday we concluded that the wet materials were more sticky and would be better for the mortar. Today we took the 3 materials(clay powder, dirt, and sand) and put them between two tiles. We labeled them and are leaving them to dry overnight. We also decided on the tests we will use tomorrow to test the mortars stickiness and strength. We decided on a "Sticking Test" and "Earth Quake Test".