High School Visitors

     

The class poses with the 3 visitors for a photo.

   On the last day of March, something incredible happened!! Three Mashpee High School girls taught Miss. Manning and Ms. Martin's classes about the types of engineering they do at their school. What they do at their school in STEM is much different from what we do here in 4th grade. It isn't different in a bad way, we just don't have the large machines that they have to create technologies. Instead, we do it the old fashioned way so we can get ready for the machines at the high school. They use these machines to create amazing objects that can be big or small. Our favorite object they made was an adorable wooden penguin.



   Oh, by the way the girls' names are... Kelly, Brittany, and Emma. They work as a team of engineers because they all have their difficulties and strengths. They can share ideas for improving or creating new objects. The girls also shared with us pictures of the equipment that is in the STEM area at the high school. From a 3D printer in the STEM lab, the girls created a miniature penguin. They had a slab with each of the individual pieces of the penguin on it.  

                                                     

   We were very inspired by their work. All of us are really excited to enter high school and engineer different things with new equipment. We are also excited to be able to choose our own subjects and schedules. Choosing their own subjects helps them learn more about a career for their future. Not all of the girls want to be an engineer. One wants to be a businesswoman and just wants to do engineering for a hobby. The other girls still want to do engineering, but they aren't doing the same subject of engineering. One wants to be a "mechanical engineer". A mechanical engineer is an engineer that works with moving technologies such as engines in a car. The last girl wants to be a "civil engineer". A civil engineer designs non-moving technologies like bridges, canals, dams, and roads. 

They explained how they made the penguins by using our classroom Eno board.

Here are 2 examples of a toy penguin. One was made on the wood shop "Shop Bot" and finished by hand.  The other penguin was made in the plastic 3-D printer.

Written by: Jillian, Sadie, and Ms. Martin.
Edited by: Victoria

Squirrel Monkeys

   Squirrel monkeys can live in groups up to 10-70, but they can also be in groups 100-300. They are shy and don't fight. They rarely squeak, but when they are scared they make small squeaks. They will rarely come to the ground, but they will come down sometimes to get food. They eat bugs, bird eggs, small birds, fruit and nuts. They mostly eat soft small tropical fruits. 
 They leap from tree to tree with their small hind legs. Their legs help them have more force when they jump. The baby squirrel monkeys will cling on their mothers back and let the mom do the climbing job. 
   These monkeys are in terrible danger do to habitat loss. This is because some of these monkeys live in Costa Rica and this area has less than 2,000 animals there. Luckily they are raising money to save animals there. 
  Body: They are skinny and built to have a short gray warm coat. Most of the body is yellow and grayish and green. They have 36 teeth. Males have k-9 teeth at the top. These monkeys have nails in stead of claws. They have been called small nervous monkeys. The length of its body is 9 to 19 inches long. Their tail is about 14 to 19 inches long. Just so you know squirrel monkeys don't look like squirrels at all.