Tech Talk: What's Happening at Episcopal?

The Spanish IV students worked collaboratively to create a public service announcement that dealt with the issues of sustainability and protecting the environment in iMovie and MovieMaker. The students were asked to present a problem, provide evidence that this problem existed in the world today, and finally provide solutions to solve this problem.  Not only were the students practicing their speaking skills, they were taking their learning outside of the walls of Episcopal by addressing critical issues in our world. Take a look at one of these amazing PSA's here:  

AP Physics took an interesting field trip this week!  Read Ms. Dowell's description of their adventure below: 

The AP Physics C students took measurements at the Metropolitan Bank Building to find the maximum acceleration of that buildings elevators both ascending and descending.  The students took these measurements in two ways.  The first was the old-school way using a mass on an electronic balance.  The second way was to use the accelerometer built into an Apple laptop.  This was the first year in which using this new technology was possible!  There were some challenges to this new method.  Initially, the students thought they would use an app on an ipad to take the acceleration measurements.  In the limited time between thinking of this option and the execution of the lab, there wasn't time enough to find an app that was just right for the scientific data the students wished to collect.  The second challenge has been the analysis of what, exactly, the accelerometer on the laptop was measuring.  The preliminary analysis of the accelerations has shown a large discrepancy between the results using the mass/balance and the laptop.  The students continue to try to reconcile the data!

Analyzing Data

In their discussion of A Separate Piece, the ninth grade English classes used Popplet, a mind-mapping tool, to analyze a chosen character's development over the course of the novel.   Follow the link to view an example: 

Character Development: Gene 

The eighth grade Math classes have been continuing their work with slope by completing a mini-project titled, "Up, Up and Away." They were asked to inflate balloons to seven varying circumferences, and then measure the diameter, projected radius, projected surface area, projected volume,  and the time it took for the balloon to deflate when let go.  The collected data was gathered in a spreadsheet and graphing tool provided by National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).  This online tool allowed students to determine if there was a linear relationship between the measured variables, and then determine slope.  Finally, the students were asked to discuss how slope corresponds with the experiment and geometric relationships.

Students, Parents, and Teachers: Don't forget to check out the Fine Arts Blog at: http://fineartecs.blogspot.com

Katie Robinson