marshmallows and creativity

Our sixth graders took the Marshmallow Challenge and learned some valuable lessons on teamwork, collaboration, innovation, and creativity! The Marshmallow Challenge is a design challenge in which each team is given 20 spaghetti sticks, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow. They have 18 minutes to build the tallest marshmallow holding structure.


After their first attempts we took a break to watch this:



Our sixth graders relished the challenge and congrats to Abe, Henry, Luke, and Oona! Their design was 24" high and Julien, Natalie, and Reggie came in at a close second with 23" high.



Adrianna and Morgan had a really creative way of using the yarn as a marshmallow holder!



Special thanks to NCS mom Linda King who found vegan marshmallows for me! I'll definitely be using them next year:)

second grade fireworks

We had a lovely time at our neighborhood 4th of July celebration last night and it reminded me of a fireworks inspired project from our second grade artists earlier in the year.



We took a look at the art of Cai Guo-Qiang, a contemporary artist from China. His signature art is based on “explosion events” that use gun powder as a drawing tool. The second graders observed that he is interested in things that are both beautiful and ugly/dangerous at the same time.



Cai is the artist that choreographed the 2008 Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony fireworks show. His art inspired the second grade artists to make their own fireworks using the design elements of line and color. They made a mark of their choice and then repeated it concentrically while overlapping designs. I always enjoy watching them approach this algorithm in their own unique way. Enjoy the fireworks!

second grade NOTAN

NOTAN
Light and dark at play
Japanese design concept
Balance, shape, and space