Greetings!
Our day started off with activities such as SET, NIM, and a Rubik’s cube mosaic. The design for the Rubik’s cube mosaic was the superman logo. We then split into our two groups and went to computer science class and math class.
We started our class by figuring out the magic tricks that we had learned on day one. the class then proceeded to learn the penny trick. The penny trick is where the magician puts at least 15 pennies on a table in the shape of a “9.” the audience member has a tiny piece of paper and picks a number between 7 and however number of pennies there are. They then start at the bottom of the 9 and count up first, up to the number they have chosen, and then around, again, counting up to the number they have chosen. after they reach their destination penny, they place the piece of paper under the penny. The magician, who has looked away the entire time, guesses the correct penny the piece of paper is under.
In the computer science class the students first reviewed all the Processing commands learned the day before. Then they learned more commands and got a little bit more familiar with the software. They were also introduced to the concept of variables in Computer Science. Finally, they modified the code that they were working on yesterday using variables to see how useful they are. Some of them got really creative with their drawings!
For art, the students continued to work on their clay pieces, which were in what Susie called the “leather-hard” stage of development. One difficulty in this stage was that when the clay dries, it shrinks slightly. Students rose to the challenge both mathematically and artistically, either using tools to smooth out the edges of their shapes so that they fit, or creating new shapes to place in the gaps created by the shrinkage.
After this, some students began using cardboard or wood to create small frames for their shapes to fit into, while others opted to try creating new puzzles. In either case, it was exciting to see that they were more familiar with how to work with the materials they were given and also thinking more carefully about how they wanted to craft their puzzles.
Afternoon activities today were a hike to Blithewood Gardens, Rubik’s Cube, and paper folding.
Blog by Maya Schwartz, Kate Blaine, Marysia Tran, and Andres Mejia