Cohen Middle School
Mr. Dan Crandall and Mr. Jason Howe are in charge of Cohen's SciFair initiative. Their primary focus will be based on exhibiting the different biomes that our world is comprised of.
Week 1 (July 21st-25th)
With the help of mentors, Josh Hulett and Heather Rice, we were able to, run the kids through the basics of operating the system, give them exploratory time, teach them basic commands and actions, and allow them to practice build, as well as, present practice projects. Students were paired and selected biomes to base long-term projects on. They then conducted preliminary research at the end of last week. The students will continue research on biomes and we will have them begin their biome projects before the start of next week. The work that the students begin the coming week will be accompanied by mini-lessons each day on the more complicated aspects of the program.
Week 2 (July 28th-August 1st)
We continued our lessons on how to conduct proper science research related to the biomes that the students selected. Tutorials continued on bumping, teleporting, light commands, triggers and commands, active-wiki page use, and exploring other worlds for ideas. Students finished presenting their preliminary test building projects as well (Monday). On Tuesday, the students decided to clear their original projects, grid sectors in the world were assigned to each biome, and we began texturing, landscaping, and sign creation. Time was also spent teaching the students how to create food webs for their biomes. We had to close the lab and send students home on Wednesday due to the presence of glue adhesive fumes in the lab. All attempts to find alternative locations failed due to construction issues here in the Heights and the fumes could not be cleared from the lab. Thursday was a day of uninterrupted work - texturing, landscaping, object creating, and sign creating. Friday began with a reminder to students to listen to Josh and Heather and consider them to be exactly what they are - a valuable resources. Students were strongly encouraged to go to Josh and Heather with technical questions. Mini-Tutorials were held on changing colors, movement, creating images, texturing, and masking. Students were asked to generate lists of animals (sprites) that they would like to have in their biomes. The remainder of the time was given over to biome construction. Students began to experiment with sound.
Week 3 (August 4 th-August8th)
Permission slips were collected on Monday (for the culmination event at Wings of Eagles). Students were reminded to complete the science component of their projects today if at all possible (to clear the way for pure technical work and construction in their worlds). Students were reminded to watch their chatter and Josh continued his tutorial on pictures and masking. The remainder of the time was spent on biome construction. Much time was spent clearing a misunderstanding that Josh and Heather had regarding the direction of the world. We reemphasized that the science component of the project was not designed (on our part) to be the only thing that the students were to work on. Instead, Jason and I were trying to push the kids through that aspect so that they could concentrate on the technical (computer based) aspects of the project. Tuesday was largely dedicated to biome construction, heavily aided by Josh and Heather's tutorials on visible/invisible commands, bumping, and on/off commands. Wednesday through Friday were also entirely devoted to pure biome construction and all technical issues related to the program. Students were strongly encouraged to seek out the help of Josh and Heather. A strong emphasis was placed on being creative and using the full potential of the program to make the biomes look as good as possible.
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