Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart, Houston, Texas
STATUS PAGE
CASIS TIMELINE
August 5 and 6 CASIS Orientation at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart
- Introductions
-Casis Background and Mission Objectives for the Pilot Program
-Microgravity information
- Feeling overwhelmed and unsure, but very excited
Week of August 12th
- Received our engineering notebook notes and directions via email
- Discussed the importance of engineering notebook to my classes
- Also set up our science notebooks with our engineering notebook
-Students struggle with the specifics in the engineering notebook.
I will probably use only 1-2 for the culminating examples.
Week of August 19th
- Alli Westover and Justin Kugler visit our classroom August 21st.
The girls enjoyed it and learned a great deal. A must do for the next program!
- Our class is slowly looking for experiment ideas online at sites.
- However, the girls are having great difficulty researching for ideas
so i am doing a lot of the research.
- Shared the Casisacademy site and spot the station which were thoroughly
enjoyed by the classes.
Week of August 26th
- Confirming with Casis that all of our funding is complete
- Looking ahead to the Spark Fun seminar in September.Highly recommend
getting one of the Arduino books to help low tech teachers.
- Meeting at Cristo Rey on August 26 and 28. These meetings were
extremely helpful by letting us become catapult engineers. Alli shared
excellent power points so we knew what will be expected this year.
- In our fourth grade classes, we continue to think about experiments.
I am doing most of the researching.I recommend that there is a set of 25
research ideas so that the elementary aged students can research within
these guidelines.
Week of September 3rd
- Teleconference on September 2nd with Alli and Kathy Duquesnay to review
and prepare for the future.
- I requested ardulabs in paper so that my girls could possibly create paper replicas.
However, we found plastic picture holders that have similar dimensions. We may use
instead of the paper.
- Also I asked for more Casis NDPC information for Parents' Open House.This was helpful!
- Spark Fun seminar on September 5 and 6 at Awty School. Learned Arduino
by extremely helpful Brian Huang and Jeff Branson.
It was very overwhelming the second day. However, the teachers would
offer any help we needed. Thank you!!
Week of September 9th
- Our 4th grade classes completed the survey and we sent it to Hilarie Davis.
- We were alerted to a launch similar to our future launch so we watched
it in our class.The girls loved it and were even more excited and enthusiastic.
- Kathy D. ordered more Arduino kits so we could have one on earth
one on the ISS.
- September 12th, our experiment ideas were due.
Week of September 16
- Our classes did catapult experiment with candle, button, tape, cup, 3 tongue
depressors and construction paper. We reviewed the engineering process then
created catapults in small groups. I had them use their Ipads to create a
storyboard using the app Explain Everything. See my page for picture.
They loved it and did not want to stop!
- This week we voted on our favorite experiment which turned out to be algae.
Next we broke into small groups and they researched different algae topics.
Each group shared their information with the entire grade and glued their notes
in their engineering notebook.We used online encyclopedias which worked well.
Week of September 23
- We continue to work on our catapult projects.
Week of September 30
- We submit our TEDP abstract for our experiments.
- Emailed Alli to find out more information on Weebly.
- Scheduled a Zoom meeting for all of Casis pilot program
Week of October 7
- Teleconference with Alli Westover to make sure all is well and to look
ahead for the next step. She also offered a plant physiologist to answer
questions for me.Here is a link to the news update.
Week of October 14
- Zoom conference on October 14th to provide a face to face meeting.
- We divided into groups of 3 to write up our procedures then made them
into paragraphs. Next, we voted on the top 3 paragraphs and procedures.
This was a hard activity for 4th graders. They left out a lot of specific details
for the procedures. We will work on them next week.
Those are the 3 designs that we sent to Alli Westover. We are waiting
for information from Dr. Stephens(plant physiologist).Here is our news update.
- We also have started working in sub-groups so that all girls are fully
involved in this experiment.cc
Week of October 21
- This week we worked extremely hard to meet our deadlines. We completed
our three designs and submitted them. Then all groups tweaked our best
procedural method and shared with the grade.
- Lastly, we created a very basic
matrix to pick the best design. The matrix worked well and was easy to follow.
I showed the class Alli Westover 's flow chart and some very basic flow chart
online.
-The girls were to create a basic flow chart on the best procedural method
( we will use them as a bulletin board display).We also wrote up the pro's and
con's which was very difficult.At this point, I have tried to have
all girls involved in the entire planning and designing process. As we vote for
the designs or procedures, then each girl has to re-design the newest design
or procedure. I feel this makes everyone take a part in the engineering design
process. After they have done this part of our CASIS class, then they move
on to their sub-group to work on their projects. They create these projects will
little help from me. Here is a copy of our first school news update that was sent
to the Lower School parents,
Week of October 28
- On our CASIS Wednesday, we had my former student and family friend, Thomas
Mc Vaney met with the programmer and builder group about Arduino programming.
It was hard, but the girls enjoyed it and asked many questions.
- The rest of the class broke into their sub-groups to work on the patch, research
about the ISS, blog online, share with our parents on the LS email, created our
experiment in a small box to show with the LS girls at our assembly, one group
was writing thank you note to Dr. Stephens, and one group was taking pictures,
videos for our digital frame and our archives. As we work each Wednesday, we
come up with more questions such as how do we secure the three lights, do
we need a temperature sensor or not, SO I dutifully email Alli with our questions.
We heard from her and Dr. Stephens that day, as it turns out, we will not need
a temperature sensor, nor a CO2 sensor. I have noticed that the girls are asking
specific questions that show their level of understanding. Thomas Mc Vaney was
an excellent help and guide who worked hard to teach the girls about programming.
Here is the news update.
Week of November 4
This week, we had Thomas McVaney teach the girls about programming so that
each girl has a basic knowledge of Arduino.
-We anxiously await for the National Geographic
group visit our class.
-My favorite moment was that the girls created a set with a background to
interview all of the 4th graders and some of the CASIS staff. What an awesome connection!
The rest of the class continued to work on their sub-groups. So far, the sub-groups are
working out very well. As a teacher, I am working as a facilitator, which has been a change
in the class dynamics. I am really enjoying being guide on the side,not the sage on stage.
This is more of a constructivist style of teaching is allowing the girls to use higher level thinking skills,
instead of me solving the issues. It is much more effective for me and the girls. Here is the news update.
Week of November 11
Thomas McVaney worked with the programmers and builders groups on the circuit boards.
- The girls are catching on and are able to apply the sensors by themselves. WOW! The rest of the groups are
working on their own goals. As a class, I am trying to have each small group complete a flow chart sequencing
the steps of the experiment. In regards to the flow chart,I could have waited to assign the flow chart.
Some of the girls are confused due to the experimental design has changed so often that they
are confused. I should have done a practice one then at the beginning of December assign the final
flow chart. Here is the news update.
Week of November 18
This week, we purchased a plastic photo cube and plastic hockey puck containers.
-The building and
programming team experimented with different ways to attach the containers of algae. We have yet
decided on a final design.
-I ordered the 3 vials of algae this week and bought many LED lights from Spark Fun.
Our CASIS group met at DASH to touch base and meet with Dr. Morgan. The
meeting was informative and helpful. Dr. Morgan probed with many questions to help me decide how
to place the algae and containers. Next I met with Alli to check on the status of our experiment and to
plan ahead. She also brought breathable tape, agar for the algae and some sterilized petri dishes.
Week of November 25- Thanksgiving BREAK
Week of December 2-
This was a very slow week due to the camera issues. We are waiting for Dr. Morgan and his students to test which
camera is best for the Ardulab. We had the 8th grade programmers visit our girls this week. It is awesome to see
such strong problem solving taking place in our classrooms! I bought Lexan plastic to use as a divider possibly.
I am thinking it may be too thick, now I think we may use black thick cardboard?! I will let the girls work on that issue.
This week was just waiting and a little slow. Next year, I would have a list for the students to use for both the Ardulab
and the ground testing so we could alleviate the waiting. Just a suggestion!
Week of December 9-
We met with Dakotah and Dr. Joe Morgan from TAMU this week. It was very informative and SO helpful to me and the girls.
I was very proud of the girls who listened and asked pertinent questions during a 1.5 hour meeting. Dr. Morgan is now our
official mentor. He requested that we send him a flowchart, program and a picture of what the circuit board will look like.
I sent him our flowchart, we will send the Arduino program and picture this week. Dr.Morgan will create a divider for our
experiment so we can mount the 3 red and 3 blue lights and the 2 cameras for both ground testing and the ardulab. Their advice
and ideas were immensely helpful. My first mentor, Thomas Mc Vaney, found a real engineering job so we will miss his expertise.
At this point, I am looking at starting ground testing when we return from Christmas break(around January 8ish). We will test
the lights to make sure that they work well with the algae and make sure the lights are powerful enough. After we tweak that part,
then we will program the ardulab with the cameras and test it. Tweak again and finalize our experiment.
This week we also visited with Manu
from Ardulab who reassured us that they will get the interfacing issue with the cameras fixed or come up
with another idea.
I am feeling better about our experiment. The camera issue was a pain , but retaining Dr. Morgan makes it all OK.
I feel that when doing science and engineering, one must be patient , flexible and creative. I enjoy the creative part, but I like
to get the project done and move to other projects. I am thankful to be part of this CASIS group.
Week of December 16-I ordered the cameras for our experiment and mailed them to Dr.Morgan.
Week of January 2- I completed the necessary forms for the investigative summary form.
Week of January 7-This week we were waiting to receive our Ardulab from the TAMU students on Friday. At our Casis class meeting,
we updated all groups such as the patch group proposed 2 different shirts and colors for our official CASIS t shirts. We voted on the tahiti
bluec color and will have the patch embroidered on the left front of the shirt. We are having a bake sale on Jan.24th to fund the t shirts. We hope to have the t shirts ordered by the end of the month. The newsletter group is working on a second edition of their paper. One group is anxiously awaiting the programming from the TAMU students next week.See the 4th grade update
This week was slow due to the camera and programming language issue, but Dr. Morgan and the TAMU students came through and solved the
problem.
Week of January 14- We saw our Ardulab with the divider and lights. It looks great and we cannot wait to start testing the experiment. Our weekly Casis meeting was slow due to the winding down of the experiment and time constraints. The girls did meet and interview with Mrs. Hillarie Davis which went well. The girls love that the experiment was important, fun and hard. I gave Mrs.Davis 2 of our science CASIS notebooks for her records.Next week, we plan to receive our programming basic code so we can program our Ardulab soon. YEA!!!
I started a ground experiment with the chlorella vulgaris algae in the agarose. I am starting to get nervous so I want to see how the algae grows. Next week, we will set up the experiment with the Ardulab. The girls are ready to start the testing.
Week of January 22-This week we continued to ground base testing. No algae growth so I emailed Dr. Stephens for more information. He suggested that I purchase a LED plant growth lamp. The lamp should initiate more algae growth. Our CASIS groups continue to work on their jobs. We have almost finalized the DASH CASIS t shirts with our own logo. We will have a bake sale on 1/27 to raise money for the shirts. I have ordered more algae and asked for more phyto agar from Dr. Stephens.
I am getting a tad worried about the lack of algae growth but will continue to move forward. I will purchase a plant growth lamp to start the algae growth. Kathy D very generously gave me her TEDP so I will work on mine this weekend.
Week of January 29-On Friday, we met with the MS computer teacher to help us with the code. Unfortunately, it did not work, but we think it will be a fairly quick fix. WE hope so!!! The programmers and builder group worked on ways to cover the lights on our white board divider. I am always amazed at their creativity and smart ideas. They came up with black construction paper with double sided tape. They also created ways to attach the petri dish to the ardulab.We are almost ready to order our own CASIS t shirts . We raised about 360.00 with the bake sale!!Colton from TAMU sent us the Load Table, they have been a huge help!!
My red and blue LED light lamp arrived yesterday so I will set it up on Monday. I hope it works so that the algae will grow!! Also I am ready for the programming to work so we can start ground based testing. ONe idea for the future, create a guide to explain the TEDP. I had no idea about some of the items. I completed the TEDP, my girls could not do that part. This could be tweaked a bit in the future.
Week of February 3- This week we are still waiting for the programming to work properly. Our MS computer teacher, Alli Westover and Dr. Morgan will have a phone conference to discuss this problem. We have the algae under mostly red LED lights in the classroom. I will have the girls observe it daily and make notes on it for about a month.This observation will serve as a baseline for the algae growth.We are ordering out t shirts this week!! I will assign a new portion of the CASIS experiment since most groups are winding down a bit. The new project is the CASIS FILM FESTIVAL in which the girls will create a 2 minute movie or PPT describing our CASIS endeavor. The programmers and builders will continue to build and program our Megaboard.
Since we are at the end of our experiment planning part, I will wind down most of our groups so that they can start working on the movie. I think we will publish one more CASIS newsetter, 1- 2 more parent letters, 1-2 more Lower School presentations, 1 -2 more 4th grade blogging, and 1 more ISS presentation. I hope to start ground base tesing this week if we can get the programming started!!!
Kathy Duquesnay and I represented CASIS at the SEEC conference at Space Center. There were many visitors to our booth!
Week of Feb. 10- WE have a hit wall in regards to our programming. We are reaching out to Alli W and to Infinity for further assistance. We did not observe the algae so we will try it this week. On Wednesday, I created more algae cultures that will go directly under the LED lights and the past algae cultures is sitting on the window sill. Dr. Stephens will visit our class soon so I have some questions to ask him about our algae growth. The programming issue is causing us to fall behind on the ground based testing. Here is another issue of our CASIS newsletter.
- Introductions
-Casis Background and Mission Objectives for the Pilot Program
-Microgravity information
- Feeling overwhelmed and unsure, but very excited
Week of August 12th
- Received our engineering notebook notes and directions via email
- Discussed the importance of engineering notebook to my classes
- Also set up our science notebooks with our engineering notebook
-Students struggle with the specifics in the engineering notebook.
I will probably use only 1-2 for the culminating examples.
Week of August 19th
- Alli Westover and Justin Kugler visit our classroom August 21st.
The girls enjoyed it and learned a great deal. A must do for the next program!
- Our class is slowly looking for experiment ideas online at sites.
- However, the girls are having great difficulty researching for ideas
so i am doing a lot of the research.
- Shared the Casisacademy site and spot the station which were thoroughly
enjoyed by the classes.
Week of August 26th
- Confirming with Casis that all of our funding is complete
- Looking ahead to the Spark Fun seminar in September.Highly recommend
getting one of the Arduino books to help low tech teachers.
- Meeting at Cristo Rey on August 26 and 28. These meetings were
extremely helpful by letting us become catapult engineers. Alli shared
excellent power points so we knew what will be expected this year.
- In our fourth grade classes, we continue to think about experiments.
I am doing most of the researching.I recommend that there is a set of 25
research ideas so that the elementary aged students can research within
these guidelines.
Week of September 3rd
- Teleconference on September 2nd with Alli and Kathy Duquesnay to review
and prepare for the future.
- I requested ardulabs in paper so that my girls could possibly create paper replicas.
However, we found plastic picture holders that have similar dimensions. We may use
instead of the paper.
- Also I asked for more Casis NDPC information for Parents' Open House.This was helpful!
- Spark Fun seminar on September 5 and 6 at Awty School. Learned Arduino
by extremely helpful Brian Huang and Jeff Branson.
It was very overwhelming the second day. However, the teachers would
offer any help we needed. Thank you!!
Week of September 9th
- Our 4th grade classes completed the survey and we sent it to Hilarie Davis.
- We were alerted to a launch similar to our future launch so we watched
it in our class.The girls loved it and were even more excited and enthusiastic.
- Kathy D. ordered more Arduino kits so we could have one on earth
one on the ISS.
- September 12th, our experiment ideas were due.
Week of September 16
- Our classes did catapult experiment with candle, button, tape, cup, 3 tongue
depressors and construction paper. We reviewed the engineering process then
created catapults in small groups. I had them use their Ipads to create a
storyboard using the app Explain Everything. See my page for picture.
They loved it and did not want to stop!
- This week we voted on our favorite experiment which turned out to be algae.
Next we broke into small groups and they researched different algae topics.
Each group shared their information with the entire grade and glued their notes
in their engineering notebook.We used online encyclopedias which worked well.
Week of September 23
- We continue to work on our catapult projects.
Week of September 30
- We submit our TEDP abstract for our experiments.
- Emailed Alli to find out more information on Weebly.
- Scheduled a Zoom meeting for all of Casis pilot program
Week of October 7
- Teleconference with Alli Westover to make sure all is well and to look
ahead for the next step. She also offered a plant physiologist to answer
questions for me.Here is a link to the news update.
Week of October 14
- Zoom conference on October 14th to provide a face to face meeting.
- We divided into groups of 3 to write up our procedures then made them
into paragraphs. Next, we voted on the top 3 paragraphs and procedures.
This was a hard activity for 4th graders. They left out a lot of specific details
for the procedures. We will work on them next week.
Those are the 3 designs that we sent to Alli Westover. We are waiting
for information from Dr. Stephens(plant physiologist).Here is our news update.
- We also have started working in sub-groups so that all girls are fully
involved in this experiment.cc
Week of October 21
- This week we worked extremely hard to meet our deadlines. We completed
our three designs and submitted them. Then all groups tweaked our best
procedural method and shared with the grade.
- Lastly, we created a very basic
matrix to pick the best design. The matrix worked well and was easy to follow.
I showed the class Alli Westover 's flow chart and some very basic flow chart
online.
-The girls were to create a basic flow chart on the best procedural method
( we will use them as a bulletin board display).We also wrote up the pro's and
con's which was very difficult.At this point, I have tried to have
all girls involved in the entire planning and designing process. As we vote for
the designs or procedures, then each girl has to re-design the newest design
or procedure. I feel this makes everyone take a part in the engineering design
process. After they have done this part of our CASIS class, then they move
on to their sub-group to work on their projects. They create these projects will
little help from me. Here is a copy of our first school news update that was sent
to the Lower School parents,
Week of October 28
- On our CASIS Wednesday, we had my former student and family friend, Thomas
Mc Vaney met with the programmer and builder group about Arduino programming.
It was hard, but the girls enjoyed it and asked many questions.
- The rest of the class broke into their sub-groups to work on the patch, research
about the ISS, blog online, share with our parents on the LS email, created our
experiment in a small box to show with the LS girls at our assembly, one group
was writing thank you note to Dr. Stephens, and one group was taking pictures,
videos for our digital frame and our archives. As we work each Wednesday, we
come up with more questions such as how do we secure the three lights, do
we need a temperature sensor or not, SO I dutifully email Alli with our questions.
We heard from her and Dr. Stephens that day, as it turns out, we will not need
a temperature sensor, nor a CO2 sensor. I have noticed that the girls are asking
specific questions that show their level of understanding. Thomas Mc Vaney was
an excellent help and guide who worked hard to teach the girls about programming.
Here is the news update.
Week of November 4
This week, we had Thomas McVaney teach the girls about programming so that
each girl has a basic knowledge of Arduino.
-We anxiously await for the National Geographic
group visit our class.
-My favorite moment was that the girls created a set with a background to
interview all of the 4th graders and some of the CASIS staff. What an awesome connection!
The rest of the class continued to work on their sub-groups. So far, the sub-groups are
working out very well. As a teacher, I am working as a facilitator, which has been a change
in the class dynamics. I am really enjoying being guide on the side,not the sage on stage.
This is more of a constructivist style of teaching is allowing the girls to use higher level thinking skills,
instead of me solving the issues. It is much more effective for me and the girls. Here is the news update.
Week of November 11
Thomas McVaney worked with the programmers and builders groups on the circuit boards.
- The girls are catching on and are able to apply the sensors by themselves. WOW! The rest of the groups are
working on their own goals. As a class, I am trying to have each small group complete a flow chart sequencing
the steps of the experiment. In regards to the flow chart,I could have waited to assign the flow chart.
Some of the girls are confused due to the experimental design has changed so often that they
are confused. I should have done a practice one then at the beginning of December assign the final
flow chart. Here is the news update.
Week of November 18
This week, we purchased a plastic photo cube and plastic hockey puck containers.
-The building and
programming team experimented with different ways to attach the containers of algae. We have yet
decided on a final design.
-I ordered the 3 vials of algae this week and bought many LED lights from Spark Fun.
Our CASIS group met at DASH to touch base and meet with Dr. Morgan. The
meeting was informative and helpful. Dr. Morgan probed with many questions to help me decide how
to place the algae and containers. Next I met with Alli to check on the status of our experiment and to
plan ahead. She also brought breathable tape, agar for the algae and some sterilized petri dishes.
Week of November 25- Thanksgiving BREAK
Week of December 2-
This was a very slow week due to the camera issues. We are waiting for Dr. Morgan and his students to test which
camera is best for the Ardulab. We had the 8th grade programmers visit our girls this week. It is awesome to see
such strong problem solving taking place in our classrooms! I bought Lexan plastic to use as a divider possibly.
I am thinking it may be too thick, now I think we may use black thick cardboard?! I will let the girls work on that issue.
This week was just waiting and a little slow. Next year, I would have a list for the students to use for both the Ardulab
and the ground testing so we could alleviate the waiting. Just a suggestion!
Week of December 9-
We met with Dakotah and Dr. Joe Morgan from TAMU this week. It was very informative and SO helpful to me and the girls.
I was very proud of the girls who listened and asked pertinent questions during a 1.5 hour meeting. Dr. Morgan is now our
official mentor. He requested that we send him a flowchart, program and a picture of what the circuit board will look like.
I sent him our flowchart, we will send the Arduino program and picture this week. Dr.Morgan will create a divider for our
experiment so we can mount the 3 red and 3 blue lights and the 2 cameras for both ground testing and the ardulab. Their advice
and ideas were immensely helpful. My first mentor, Thomas Mc Vaney, found a real engineering job so we will miss his expertise.
At this point, I am looking at starting ground testing when we return from Christmas break(around January 8ish). We will test
the lights to make sure that they work well with the algae and make sure the lights are powerful enough. After we tweak that part,
then we will program the ardulab with the cameras and test it. Tweak again and finalize our experiment.
This week we also visited with Manu
from Ardulab who reassured us that they will get the interfacing issue with the cameras fixed or come up
with another idea.
I am feeling better about our experiment. The camera issue was a pain , but retaining Dr. Morgan makes it all OK.
I feel that when doing science and engineering, one must be patient , flexible and creative. I enjoy the creative part, but I like
to get the project done and move to other projects. I am thankful to be part of this CASIS group.
Week of December 16-I ordered the cameras for our experiment and mailed them to Dr.Morgan.
Week of January 2- I completed the necessary forms for the investigative summary form.
Week of January 7-This week we were waiting to receive our Ardulab from the TAMU students on Friday. At our Casis class meeting,
we updated all groups such as the patch group proposed 2 different shirts and colors for our official CASIS t shirts. We voted on the tahiti
bluec color and will have the patch embroidered on the left front of the shirt. We are having a bake sale on Jan.24th to fund the t shirts. We hope to have the t shirts ordered by the end of the month. The newsletter group is working on a second edition of their paper. One group is anxiously awaiting the programming from the TAMU students next week.See the 4th grade update
This week was slow due to the camera and programming language issue, but Dr. Morgan and the TAMU students came through and solved the
problem.
Week of January 14- We saw our Ardulab with the divider and lights. It looks great and we cannot wait to start testing the experiment. Our weekly Casis meeting was slow due to the winding down of the experiment and time constraints. The girls did meet and interview with Mrs. Hillarie Davis which went well. The girls love that the experiment was important, fun and hard. I gave Mrs.Davis 2 of our science CASIS notebooks for her records.Next week, we plan to receive our programming basic code so we can program our Ardulab soon. YEA!!!
I started a ground experiment with the chlorella vulgaris algae in the agarose. I am starting to get nervous so I want to see how the algae grows. Next week, we will set up the experiment with the Ardulab. The girls are ready to start the testing.
Week of January 22-This week we continued to ground base testing. No algae growth so I emailed Dr. Stephens for more information. He suggested that I purchase a LED plant growth lamp. The lamp should initiate more algae growth. Our CASIS groups continue to work on their jobs. We have almost finalized the DASH CASIS t shirts with our own logo. We will have a bake sale on 1/27 to raise money for the shirts. I have ordered more algae and asked for more phyto agar from Dr. Stephens.
I am getting a tad worried about the lack of algae growth but will continue to move forward. I will purchase a plant growth lamp to start the algae growth. Kathy D very generously gave me her TEDP so I will work on mine this weekend.
Week of January 29-On Friday, we met with the MS computer teacher to help us with the code. Unfortunately, it did not work, but we think it will be a fairly quick fix. WE hope so!!! The programmers and builder group worked on ways to cover the lights on our white board divider. I am always amazed at their creativity and smart ideas. They came up with black construction paper with double sided tape. They also created ways to attach the petri dish to the ardulab.We are almost ready to order our own CASIS t shirts . We raised about 360.00 with the bake sale!!Colton from TAMU sent us the Load Table, they have been a huge help!!
My red and blue LED light lamp arrived yesterday so I will set it up on Monday. I hope it works so that the algae will grow!! Also I am ready for the programming to work so we can start ground based testing. ONe idea for the future, create a guide to explain the TEDP. I had no idea about some of the items. I completed the TEDP, my girls could not do that part. This could be tweaked a bit in the future.
Week of February 3- This week we are still waiting for the programming to work properly. Our MS computer teacher, Alli Westover and Dr. Morgan will have a phone conference to discuss this problem. We have the algae under mostly red LED lights in the classroom. I will have the girls observe it daily and make notes on it for about a month.This observation will serve as a baseline for the algae growth.We are ordering out t shirts this week!! I will assign a new portion of the CASIS experiment since most groups are winding down a bit. The new project is the CASIS FILM FESTIVAL in which the girls will create a 2 minute movie or PPT describing our CASIS endeavor. The programmers and builders will continue to build and program our Megaboard.
Since we are at the end of our experiment planning part, I will wind down most of our groups so that they can start working on the movie. I think we will publish one more CASIS newsetter, 1- 2 more parent letters, 1-2 more Lower School presentations, 1 -2 more 4th grade blogging, and 1 more ISS presentation. I hope to start ground base tesing this week if we can get the programming started!!!
Kathy Duquesnay and I represented CASIS at the SEEC conference at Space Center. There were many visitors to our booth!
Week of Feb. 10- WE have a hit wall in regards to our programming. We are reaching out to Alli W and to Infinity for further assistance. We did not observe the algae so we will try it this week. On Wednesday, I created more algae cultures that will go directly under the LED lights and the past algae cultures is sitting on the window sill. Dr. Stephens will visit our class soon so I have some questions to ask him about our algae growth. The programming issue is causing us to fall behind on the ground based testing. Here is another issue of our CASIS newsletter.
Week of Feb.17-28- It has been a waiting game these last 2 weeks. We are waiting for help with the Ardulab. Our program is working but both red and blue lights turn on at the same time which is a problem. We will get the MS computer teacher to work with our programming. Last week we were lucky to have Alli Westover ande Dr. Brian Stephens( our plant physiologist) visit our class. He gave us some ideas on the lack of algae's growth such as the petri dish may be too tight. He also said that we could measure the chlorophyll in our experiment. His advice was extremely helpful. WE see the light at the end of the tunnel which is very exciting. The girls have learned more science concepts and life lessons throughout this endeavor. Next week we are changing up the jobs because the jobs are completed. New jobs are to create a count down with a QR code on it and post them around the school to generate excitement for our launch.Lastly, we received our CASIS t shirts - they look awesome.
March 3-14- Time is running fast so we are feverishly trying to put all of the missing pieces together for our launch. Since we have bougth t shirts, the patch and bulletin board group are creating countdowns for the launch with a QR code linked to our Weebly. The managers are busy with writing thank you notes and makings sure that all of the group members are on task and meeting deadlines.
Kathy and I had a Zoom meeting with Brian Rieger from Infinifty which went very well. Manu and Brian are planning to visit us during spring break to fix the programming issues with the Ardulab and help put the final touches on the Ardulab.
March 15- April 2- We worked with Brian and Manu on the programming and the Ardulab logistics during spring break. After much discussion, I have decided not to add a real time clock. I am trying to keep it simple. We found out last week that the launch has been moved to Ocotber. We only have a few more tasks to do then we are finished. Each group is finishing their last tasks and working on their 2 minute videos. I will get Live Santos to help finalize our programming and coding so we can do the ground based testing on the algae. Then we will stop until we hear further notice. I have updated the TEDP on the Weebly and sent it to Mrs. Westover. I will post again when we get the ground based data.
March 3-14- Time is running fast so we are feverishly trying to put all of the missing pieces together for our launch. Since we have bougth t shirts, the patch and bulletin board group are creating countdowns for the launch with a QR code linked to our Weebly. The managers are busy with writing thank you notes and makings sure that all of the group members are on task and meeting deadlines.
Kathy and I had a Zoom meeting with Brian Rieger from Infinifty which went very well. Manu and Brian are planning to visit us during spring break to fix the programming issues with the Ardulab and help put the final touches on the Ardulab.
March 15- April 2- We worked with Brian and Manu on the programming and the Ardulab logistics during spring break. After much discussion, I have decided not to add a real time clock. I am trying to keep it simple. We found out last week that the launch has been moved to Ocotber. We only have a few more tasks to do then we are finished. Each group is finishing their last tasks and working on their 2 minute videos. I will get Live Santos to help finalize our programming and coding so we can do the ground based testing on the algae. Then we will stop until we hear further notice. I have updated the TEDP on the Weebly and sent it to Mrs. Westover. I will post again when we get the ground based data.