The Writer and Producer of Paranormal Creature

If you are in the mood to see crazy and funny creativity, then the PCSM Claymation clip is meant for you! This intro enrichment class required the conception, construction and filming of a claymation short video. Students paired up with their like-minded peers and designed scenes with materials of their choice. I reinforced many times that ANY materials could be used. To film these “claymations”, students used the versatile and HD quality Flip Video recorders. The small-size and ease-of use of these devices was a real bonus to the process.

Click on the YouTube link below to check out the claymations:

Teamwork has never been so much fun!

Check back in once in a while to see video creations from 2D & 3D Comics, the session 2 class at Partnership for Community Schools in Malden (PCSM)

Da Vinci Inventions at Partnership for Community Schools in Malden (PCSM) has come to a close. This enrichment group was filled with stories and facts about Leonardo Da Vinci. The Da Vinci catapult lesson from over the past summer was a huge hit, so we created new catapults, but then got our hands “gooey” during this anatomy study.

We talked about Da Vinci’s keen interest in anatomy. To help him sketch with precision, he would carefully study all of his subjects which sometimes included dead animals and humans. He was determined to find out how blood and fluids traveled through the body and how our muscles and tendons controlled out movements. Da Vinci was a pioneer in the world of dissection and autopsies. The 14 and 1500′s had yet to utilize formaldehyde to preserve bodies, so Da Vinci had tight time constraints  between the time a person died and when their body would become too pungent to commence studying.

Each student focused on an organ. If you look carefully (and use some imagination) you can see the eyes, heart, esophagus, large and small intestines, gallbladder, stomach, liver, pancreas, kidneys, lungs and larynx. Sorry Matt, we must have lost the brain you made on the way to the morgue. In addition to the shape and scale of the organs, we also learned about the basic functions of each organ and the relationships they have with one another.

The students referred to human anatomy textbooks and the following links to learn about their organs:

www.innerbody.com

www.bartleby.com

This lesson also aligned nicely with Halloween;)

This past summer, I worked at PCSM’s A-Z Channel Surfing Program in Malden. Each week featured a new country and new enrichment curriculum. From Peruvian Artifacts made from Sculpey clay, to catapults inspired by Da Vinci, students were active with their hands and minds. PCSM’s version of “Channel Surfing” is much more fun than watching TV. Check out what we learned and all of the channels we checked out:

Peru – Peruvian Artifacts were created out of Sculpey clay. We researched ancient Inca and Peruvian culture. Students discovered unique artifacts that they found interesting and telling of ancient Peruvian culture. Next to each artifact created, students answered the following questions: What is it? What was it used for? What does this artifact tell us about Peruvian culture?

Peruvian Artifacts on Display at the Salemwood School in Malden

Ancient Inca Mummy, dating back to 1200 AD

Guinea Pigs - A common cuisine in Peru.

Here is a Vicuna, a llama-like animal, which has helped Peruvians with agriculture and transportation.

Italy – Doing Da Vinci was an incredible week of research, creativity and building. We reviewed Da Vinci’ s accomplishments as a painter and artist, and then quickly focused on his prized notebooks. His notebooks were filled with sketches and theories about science, mathematics, the human body, and more. As a group, we learned how Da Vinci collaborated with mathematician friend, Luca Pacioli. They created a book called The Divine Proportion. In this book, Da Vinci illustrates Pacioli’s theories on proportion and geometry. His drawings were ground-breaking, giving 3 dimensional objects a sense of shape on a flat surface like never before.

With some help from Amazing Leonardo Da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself by Maxine Anderson, we created Polyhedrons, which are a multi-surfaced geometric shapes. All we needed was toothpicks, mini-marshmallows and patience. Check them out!

Everyone started with Octahedrons - 8 faced figures.

Next we moved onto 20 faced figures, Icosahedrons.

Icosahderons were easy for most of us.

Once the class was warmed up with 8 and 20 faced shapes, the most nimble hands attempted to make the Rhombicuboctahedron, which has 26 faces. Only one group was able to pull it off. Notice the busy hands around it, bracing for the collapse. This was a lot of fun.

At this point in the class, we all had sticky hands.

Da Vinci – Catapults – Being an artist during the Renaissance was difficult. There were so many talented artists, all trying to achieve greatness and bidding on the same jobs. Even though Da Vinci is regarded as one of the greatest painters ever, others were commissioned before him during the Renaissance. Michaelangelo was chosen to paint the Sistine Chapel over Da Vinci, which may have pushed Da Vinci into further studying engineering, mathematics, physics, astronomy, anatomy and other subjects.

Da Vinci used his superior ability to draw and convinced the Duke of Milan to be Milan’s military engineer. While in this role, Da Vinci designed many kinds of war machines such as weapons, tanks, submarines, catapults, crossbows and trebuchets.

The class loved drawings like the one above. We discussed the physics behind what makes a catapult work. Words like tension, motion, acceleration, momentum and inertia were used a lot. At this point, they were ready to create their own catapults.

Teamwork in Action!

Once all of the catapults were built and tested, we had a contest to see which catapult could launch a ping-pong ball the furthest. The winning ball went over 35 ft!

Australia – Boomerangs! This week was especially fun. We researched the history of boomerangs, discovering that boomerangs were initially intended at hitting objects and NOT coming back. Found throughout the world, boomerangs were used to kill prey. The children loved learning about boomerangs – history, designs, flying techniques – everything. Much like previous weeks, we focused this week on “hands on” learning. You guessed it, we made our own boomerangs.

We attached paint mixing sticks together with two rubber bands. Next we sanded down the corners and edges of the wings to make the boomerangs more aerodynamic. It was fun to watch the children use sandpaper. It seemed as if this kind of “hands on” activity was new to them.

You can just see him visualize the flight, can't you?

Once we sanded down the edges and corners, we flew our boomerangs in a test flight. Though many flew in interesting ways, very few boomerangs landed back in the thrower’s hands. We returned to the classroom and reviewed proper throwing techniques and the physics behind the flight of a boomerang. Once we sanded down our flyers, we decorated them. We researched Aboriginal art and tried to give our boomerangs both a unique and authentic appearance.

Nice kangaroo!

Let's go flying!

Nice throwing form!

In the end, many boomerangs flew in different forms of a loop. Some returned to their owners, some did not. It was very satisfying to watch these children work hard at shaping their boomerangs with sandpaper. It was great seeing smiles of pride and accomplishment. Like a well-designed boomerang, this lesson will be coming back!