CRITICAL THINKING: Snowball Challenge

1/26/2019

Snowball Challenge

Today, we participated in a Critical Thinking (Develop and Design) Challenge. Students collaborated and worked on the Snowball challenge! After completion, students self-assessed their ability to think critically. The data will be collected and used to help support our school goal of developing critical thinking skills and abilities. We carried on working on decimals in Math. Congratulations to the Gr. 7 basketball team on their successes this week!

1.) MATH:

Complete any unfinished work.

2.) POST A RESPONSE:

Write a learning reflection for the Snowball Challenge
Follow the reflection criteria posted on our class website.
Give another student some feedback on their learning reflection based on the learning reflection success criteria.
Edit/revise based on the feedback you receive

VIDEO LINK:
What is critical thinking?

Max

1/26/2019 12:21:00 pm

The first learning intention of this activity was: “I can try different ideas of my own and others to create a snowball launcher.” The second learning intentons was: “I can create success I criteria for the project.” The third learning intention was: “I can make changes to the launcher to improve it.” The last learning intention was : “I can make good choices during the challenge.”

I met the learning intention. I learned what kind of design makes the snowball fly the farthest, and I learned that strapping the snowball to the LEGO brick and chucking it made it to the farthest.

My strengths were designing the mechanism for the launcher and throwing the snowball. My stretches were collaborating with my partner because I kind of did all the work.

After looking at my classmate’s designs, I took some inspiration and modified my snowball launcher.

Next time, I will work with my partner and throw the snowball more accurately and harder.

Ariel

1/26/2019 07:58:44 pm

@Max
you spelt "intentions" wrong in "The second learning intention was"
Overall, your PAR is great!!

Unaid

1/26/2019 05:11:07 pm

On Thursday, January 24th, we had begun a mini critical thinking challenge. The challenges and learning intentions consisted of, “I can create success criteria for the project", “I can try different ideas of my own and others to create a snowball launcher", and “I can make changes to the launcher to improve it". These were all pieces of the challenge as a way to view how we were able to think, and if we had succeeded in creating a snowball launcher using critical thinking.

I feel that I had followed the learning intention at an acceptable amount, this is justified as my partner and I had tried different ideas to create a launcher, and we found different ways to improve it which gave us an average of Silver/Gold in the testing range. We had viewed different Ideas and one common idea was adding weight to the snowball to turn it into a chuck-able object, we had taken inspiration from this and creating an abject meant to be thrown in a similar fashion to that of a knife.

One strength that I had noticed during the process was that we were able to use different ideas that were quite logical, and our throwing strength had also helped us during the tests.

One thing that I feel we could work on was our techniques, we had contributed some very thoughtful and resourceful ideas, but we weren't able to execute it as well as I had wanted to.

Unid

1/26/2019 05:11:27 pm

Second >:3

Adrian

1/26/2019 05:13:46 pm

I tried different ideas of my own and others to create the launcher. I was able to create success criteria for the project. I made changes and modifications to the launcher to improve it. I was able to make good choices throughout the challenge. I can’t say that I did meet all the learning intentions. However, I believe I could meet some of them, and I am going to improve everytime. I did learn a lot of things. About the principle of leverage and the cycle of energy.

My strengths are I can cooperate and discuss with my partner. We worked very well and discuss a lot of ideas. My stretched maybe will be we didn’t discuss the best ideas and didn’t win. But I know the spirit of our project is more important than winning the game. I will improve my skills of planning ideas. Next time, I will learn more about critical thinking (design, develop). I am sure I will improve more the next time.

Adrian

1/26/2019 09:27:15 pm

I tried different ideas of my own and others to create the launcher. I was able to create success criteria for the project. I made changes and modifications to the launcher to improve it. I was able to make good choices throughout the challenge. I can’t say that I did meet all the learning intentions. However, I believe I could meet some of them, and I am going to improve every time. I did learn a lot of things. About the principle of leverage and the cycle of energy.

My strengths are I can cooperate and discuss with my partner. We worked very well and discuss a lot of ideas. My stretches maybe will be we didn’t discuss the best ideas and didn’t win. But I know the spirit of our project is more important than winning the game. I will improve my skills of planning ideas. Next time, I will learn more about critical thinking (design, develop). I am sure I will improve more the next time.

Mr. Hong

1/27/2019 07:08:47 pm

@ Adrian - Your writing has improved significantly! You must be working really hard at home! Keep up the amazing work!

As I suggested in your essay writing, always keep your sentences short and concise. Don't try to get too complicated. I find that when you do this, your writing is much clearer!

Adrian

1/27/2019 08:30:13 pm

Thanks, Mr. Hong : )

1/26/2019 06:41:48 pm

first since nobody called first yet? only second.

Adrian

1/26/2019 07:07:29 pm

@RZ. You know what. Since you guys are discussing about first or second. Someone else are working hard. The definition of first or second, is when you finished everything, and you followed the success criteria. And, you should do your P.A.R. now.

Ariel

1/26/2019 07:55:58 pm

The learning intentions for the snowball challenge was “I can try different ideas of my own and others to create a launcher”, “I can create success criteria for the project”, “I can make changes and modifications to the launcher to improve it” and “I am able to make good choices throughout the challenge” (listening, cooperation, sharing work, using time well, testing) I think I met the learning intention because I was able to create a successful launcher that went the farthest in our other ideas.

My strengths were cooperating and sharing ideas with my partner. My partner and I created a successful launcher that combined both of our ideas. My stretches were being able to keep all our materials in one place. After we launched the snowball it went missing so we had to get a new one, but in the end, we found it. Also, we left some of our materials near the testing table and when we came back from testing, it was gone. Next time, I will try to watch where we put our things and try to make a better launcher that will launch the snowball farther.

1/26/2019 08:26:53 pm

serd

colin

1/26/2019 08:45:45 pm

Last Thursday, our class had a snowball challenge. for the reflection, I think I did pretty good, as I made a launcher and cooperated with my partner We thought of various launchers, and settled with one at the end. I thought that there was too less materials. If there was 5 sticks, two rubber bands, and string, then I could of made a catapult that might be good. Next time, I will make the snowball heavier, because it makes it go farther.

1/26/2019 09:02:58 pm

Last Thursday, our class had a snowball challenge. I was quite surprised to have a snowball challenge because that there was no snow in the winter, and I never had one before. But it was real. We had to throw snowballs without touching them, but you could use a spoon, two popsicle sticks, a rubber band, and some tape, and obviously, the snowball, which was a pom-pom.

For my reflection, I think I did pretty good, as I made a descent launcher and cooperated with my partner We thought of various launchers, and settled with one at the end. I thought that there was too less materials. If there was 5 sticks, two rubber bands, and string, then I could of made a catapult that might be good. Some things I think I did good was making the launchers, but bad at thinking of them. Somethings I learned is that if you bend the spoon too much it will break. I happened to bend it to see how far the "snow flake" will go. But I just ended up with a broken spoon. A thing that I thought was good was that the materials were wood. If the sticks and spoons were plastic, then it will bend easily. But I'd rather have them to be metal. Then the catapults will be great. Next time, I will make the snowball heavier, because it makes it go farther. Like I also learned that if you throw a pom-pom, it will go to silver, but with a Lego brick attached t it, it will go to gold.

Overall I now know that first, pom-poms are really hard to throw, and not always when you throw really hard or smack hard etc. then it will go really far.

Miranda

1/27/2019 10:29:12 am

Wow, a snowball challenge! Hey wait... how do you even get snowballs? The learning intention for last week's "Snowball Challenge" was to launch a pom-pom as far as it can go through the air using only limited materials and as creative as possible. I learned how to use our brain in different ways to meet a challenge that seems difficult. A strength was that my partner and I worked smoothly together, with no problems. However, we were so excited to try launching the pom-pom that we lost it twice. Overall, I think we improved the general design of our launcher to make it go farther/ (All the way to Gold+ !). Next time, I will try to do something even more unique and original by thinking critically and using different designs.

shannon

1/27/2019 12:09:32 pm

learning intentions:
-I tried different ideas of my own and others to create the launcher
-I was able to create success criteria for the project
-I made changes and modifications to the launcher to improve it
-I was able to made good choices throughout the challenge (listening, cooperation, sharing work, using time well, testing)

Learning intentions:
-I tried different ideas of my own and others to create the launcher
-I was able to create success criteria for the project
-I made changes and modifications to the launcher to improve it
-I was able to make good choices throughout the challenge (listening, cooperation, sharing work, using time well, testing)

In my opinion, I think I reached all the learning intentions. This is because we made many modifications to our launcher and chose the one that worked best. I learned many things while making our launcher. The general idea of what I learned would probably be how to think outside of the box. I learned that its easy to find loopholes that work. Of course, loopholes aren't necessarily good, but if you find a smarter way to do something, you should do it. I think my strength would be working with my partner to find better solutions for our launcher. I think my stretch would be using our supplies to our advantage. Throughout this project, I improved on cooperation in general. Next time I will try more variations of our launcher to see which goes farthest.

In conclusion, I had lots of fun doing this project and can't wait for more!

shannon

1/27/2019 12:10:55 pm

(ignore the first set of learning intentions)

Emily

1/27/2019 08:30:39 pm

@Shannon, wow! Good job! You followed the criteria and added a conclusion sentence. Keep up the good work? (I don’t know I couldn’t find anything to point out so that’s good! Right?)

Emily

1/27/2019 02:38:17 pm

I'm in whatever place after someone.

Emily

1/27/2019 08:26:01 pm

I believe I reached the learning intentions because I gave some suggestions, listened to my partners suggestions, and included both in our project. We followed the criteria by not touching the snowball/Pom Pom, let the Pom Pom fly in the air, etc. We didn’t exactly create criteria. We made changes to the contraption to make it fly longer. We made very effective and improving decisions like throwing the elastic tied Pom Pom, or ‘running’ (speed walking) down the halls holding the brick. We listened to each other, cooperated well, shared work, used time well, tested the contraption for areas we could improve upon.

I learned how to think outside the box and to improve my work for the better. I also learned how to find areas that need improvement instead of ignoring it and continuing.

My strength is that I can be creative while still following the criteria. A stretch for me would be to take my time. I wanted to hurry up and go test right away as soon as they announced the testing station was ready. So I should take my time and spend time making sure I’m ready before going to the next task. So I should improve on my patience. But I should also improve on the time and quality aspects in my work. Not too fast, not too sloppy. I mean it should be quick and neat, but don’t think that’s possible.

Next time I would make a contraption, instead of thinking too much outside of the box. I could see a few disapproved of our method, I half agree and half disagree. So next time play it fair. (Ish.)

1/27/2019 03:22:23 pm

I saw the word S N O W B A L L, and the first thing that came too my mind was a snowball fight. I got all excited, I was ready to wreck everyone but after I found out that it is just a challenge to see who can launch a pom-pom the furthest, I got even more excited because I did this before and got first place so I wanted to use my idea again. After me and my partner got gold+. And then we did a self-assessment. Now I am going to do a learning reflection.
I did reach the learning intentions. I learned that teamwork is a really important skill and that you should always be positive. One strength I had was designing the launcher, and a stretch I had was putting the launcher together. I improved on listening to other's ideas and trying them. Lastly, next time we have a challenge like this I would try to use a different idea.
In conclusion, the snowball challenge was enjoyable and fun!

Justin

1/27/2019 08:07:24 pm

@ Raymond - Good job! I like how you were detailed and gave examples. Though, make sure you don’t have any run-on sentences. For example, the second sentence is supposed to be split into three separate ones. Remember that you should always try to keep your sentences with one conjunction word or comma. Other than that, great job!

Zarif

1/27/2019 06:09:24 pm

First cause no one said first.

1/28/2019 03:39:43 pm

@zarif
I called first

Priya

1/27/2019 06:45:22 pm

Last Thursday, we learned how to make a launcher.

In my opinion, I didn’t to reach the learning intentions because I actually not make a good launcher with my partner. I learn to try my best in this project. One strength I had was try to launch the “snowball”. I try to launch to bronze and I did it. One stretch I had was designing a launcher. I impove on my skills of launch. Next time I will l try to brainstorm different ideas for this project.

In conclusion, the snowball challenge was pretty fun.

Anita

1/27/2019 07:12:52 pm

The learning intention for last week snowball challeges is I can made changes and modifications to the launcher to improve it and create a success criteria for this project.
In my opinion, I think I reached all the learning intention, because I was able to make changes to my launcher. I think this project basically want us to communicate with any person in grade 7 and use our creativity to create a launcher. During this project, I learned a lot of things, for example: I use my brain to think of something that can use air to make the pin pim fly as far as possible and without touching the pin pom, (think outside of the box). I also learned we shouldn't just work with our best friends, we have to work with any one and still can make the project good. Next time, I will try not throw the snowball to make it fly further! :)

In conclusion, we think outside of the box to make our snowball fly further and further.(the snowball challenges is fun!)

Wendy

1/27/2019 08:10:56 pm

I think I’ve reached the learning intention because I worked cooperative with my teammate to create an all-right launcher using the materials that have given. I learned how we need to be optimistic about making launcher since there’s no right or wrong answer because we’re working on developing skills and creativities. One of my strength is being positive and accepted others opinions, to make our launcher even better. One of my stretches would be being kind of getting into the red zone because of the time limit and all those little stress I had. I think I improved on communicating with my teammate because this time our teacher decided to make groups with only two members, so I got more chances to communicate more with my teammate. For next time, I’ll actually do the same, but try to really put myself into this activity and enjoy this amazing opportunity to learn.

Justin

1/27/2019 08:19:33 pm

Developing good critical thinking is important on whatever we choose to do. It could be to do work, study for your test, or even playing videogames. Critical thinking always come to use. This Thursday, we participated in the Snowball Challenge. We had to use critical thinking to launch a pom-pom the farthest we can using only limited supplies.

The learning intentions were to work well together with your partner, trying different ideas, being able to improve your idea, and making good choices throughout the challenge. I think I met those learning intentions (though not fully to extending) because I was really focused, worked well with my partner, and was able to launch the pom-pom pretty far (to gold). The importance of self-assessing and improving your mechanism was shown clear to me for this challenge, too. I think my strength for this assignment is how my partner and I worked cooperatively, making our challenge easier. On the other hand, my stretch for this assignment is how we didn’t try many ideas. I hope that we can try out different designs next time to launch our “snowball” even further!

Zarif

1/27/2019 09:01:45 pm

@Juntin- I think you did a great job in your essay which is brief and concise.

DianumcOonedUnid

1/27/2019 09:48:36 pm

@Justin

Hey ho that was a pretty neat Par but here's one small suggestion that I can offer :3

When typing paragraphs or essays, it can be very useful to recite the sentences in your head to make sure what you said made sense. Certain words may work, but when recited may not give the message you were hoping to send. "It could be to do work, study for your test, or even playing videogames." I can understand what you were saying but when I had recited it in my head the whole wording felt quite off. It is best to think about the words in your head and think about what you had typed,. The sentence that had been shown before could be changed to, "Critical thinking can be involved in activities such as, working, studying, and playing videogames." For listing different ideas, it is best to use as little words as possible, if not the whole sentence may come off as too wordy and long.

All together I can say this was a great PAR, and it was most definitely better than mine.

Zarif

1/27/2019 08:59:21 pm

What is a snowball challenge? Well, a snowball is a toy which the class div 1 and div 2 created using 2 Popsicle sticks, a Lego piece, spoon, rubber band, measuring tape, balled like snowball made similar to a catapult. Each one has a partner to complete the challenge by hitting the balled like snowballs into a launcher until the farthest. Whoever makes it to the farthest means that they have a creative mind to get until the end of the challenge.

To start with, my partner and I shared different ideas and skills on how to make it work but it seems like every time we tried to make it to the challenge it failed, and that made us fall into the bronze place.

I have learned from this activity that we need to use critical thinking in order to come up with a better idea, and be more creative by assessing and analyzing were did we go wrong so that the next attempt could have been successful.

And lastly in this challenge, critical thinking about decision making was very important which my partner and I lack.

In conclusion, in whatever we do to meet any challenge of our lives one should use critical thinking because a creative thinker is a great problem solver.

olivia

1/27/2019 09:27:37 pm

I think I’ve reached the learning intention for this snowball challenge, because I worked cooperative with my partner to create an launcher for snowball using the materials that been given, and it also help me got a gold+. One of my strength is being positive and accepted others opinions so our launcher would be even better. One of my stretches would be playing with the material. I think if I have to do this again I improved on corporate with my teammate, because there is time where we argue about what we should do . For next time if ever I have a, I’ll actually do the same kind of structure I use this time , but just really try to put myself into this activity and enjoy it.

olivia

1/27/2019 09:28:51 pm

I think I’ve reached the learning intention for this snowball challenge because I worked cooperative with my partner to create a launcher for snowball using the materials that been given, and it also helps me got a gold+. One of my strength is being positive and accepted others opinions so our launcher would be even better. One of my stretches would be playing with the material. I think if I have to do this again I improved on corporate with my teammate because there is a time where we argue about what we should do. For next time if ever I have a, I’ll actually do the same kind of structure I use this time, but just really try to put myself into this activity and enjoy it.

Ben

1/27/2019 10:35:47 pm

The learning reflection for this snowball challenge is “ I can create and throw a snowball while creating good ideas which I think all of us did great and used great ideas to create a way for it to fly every fast and where ever it lands that’s how basically much you get. On Thursday when we getting teach on what to do and there was also rules such as can’t touch the snow ball when launching it and we just did it outside of the classroom and there was a line where there was bronze,silver, and gold and I think everyone aimed for gold so they know that they did a good job and used great strategies. We where also doing this in the morning and when we were doing and we were finished we do the assessment and on where you improved and did you use good strategies and something like that. Then after that when we’re done writing about the assessment and on where you did good and after that we had to go to are website and there were different sections such as there were the boy section and then the girl sections. We also didn’t get to chose are partners and we were partners on the person sitting next to us and I think it’s fair and I don’t want anyone to get left out.

Breanna

1/28/2019 07:18:44 am

SMASH! Oh no. My spoon hit the floor too hard! That’s okay, we are still learning how to this project.

I met the learning criteria, and reflected on it.

In this project I learned how to work as a team, and I learned how to make a catapult.

My strengths are finding out strategies to make the catapult more unique and strong.

My stretches are not being able to make the snowball go as far as we hoped.

We will improve on working together to make an amazing catapult!

Next time me and my partner should make a better strategy

Breanna

1/28/2019 07:19:30 am

Sorry for my short post, I forgot to do it this weekend, and now I have basketball.

Dennis

1/28/2019 08:08:58 am

Wow, I can believe it we have a snowball challenge, like what could that be about and I thought to myself and I asked a question in my mind why Snowball and what's was the subject we were using this for, ( Science, Social Studies, engineering and programming or Art ) and whatever it is I know it is going to be fun. And can't forget about the learning intentions:
I tried different ideas of my own and others to create the launcher
I was able to create success criteria for the project
I made changes and modifications to the launcher to improve it
I was able to made good choices throughout the challenge (listening, cooperation, sharing work, using time well, testing)

I think I was very co-operative with my partner and I was able to write down all the ideas we had on a sheet of paper and the snowball launches itself was a little bit of a surprise, because of how far it got I was estimating that it would land in bronze to the starting point, and I think that it was a great success because my estimate was wrong it actually landed in silver to bronze, most of the time the modifications were actually the launcher itself, we partially rebuilt half of the launcher, and I would say that co-operation is one of the most important part of creating something and everything else was went great!

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CRITICAL THINKING: Snowball Challenge

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