Piedmont Arts Visit

Our guide for the Piedmont Arts visit, Director of Exhibitions, Tina Sell, gave us a very interactive tour of each gallery on display often letting the students touch art when appropriate. She placed special emphasis on the theme for the major gallery which was CRAFTS, explaining to us that crafts are the intersection of functionality and aesthetically pleasing art. Thanks to the guide the students seemed to enjoy their visit and gain a bit of knowledge on interpreting and identifying various pieces.

After School Science Plus, Fall 2009

MHC After 3 students laughed and learned this fall while making discoveries all semester long! The museum presented several hands-on programs from the After School Science Plus curriculum (published by The Educational Equity Center at AED)

In "Who Does Science?", the students created collages showing that everyone does science.

Virginia Museum of Natural History

"Oobleck: Solid or Liquid?" was the all-time favorite. The students tried to determine what "oobleck" was, and then made some of their own to take home. Oobleck is a non-newtonian substance, and changes from liquid to solid when pressure is applied.



Bassett Community Center

Collinsville YMCA

Martinsville Boys and Girls Club

Martinsville YMCA

Fieldale Community Center

The students explore a colorful bottle of unknown ingredients in "Mystery Bottles", discover what sinks and floats in the substances, and then creat their own bottles.

Spencer Penn Community Center

Bassett Community Center


In "Building With Wonderful Junk", the students use trash to create treasure. Each group of students designed and build their own unique structures.

Bassett Community Center

Bassett Community Center

Virginia Museum of Natural History

"Bubble Science" allows the middle-schoolers to rediscover their childhood joy of playing with bubbles. They designed their own bubble wands and discover the science behind the spherical, floating wonders.

Martinsville YMCA

Science Behind Bubbles

VMNH educator, Robin Jensen, explained important physical science and mathematical concepts through the use of bubbles. She had students to first construct bubble wands using any materials they liked and then to test each of their wands. Prior to testing, however, students were to hypothesize the effects different wand shapes would have on the bubbles shape and size and the different factors that would cause the bubbles to burst. The students noted that the bubbles would always be spherical in shape (unless distorted by the wind), and that the size of the wand dictated how large of a bubble was produced. Overall, the students were very excited about the experiment and were able to sufficiently interpret their qualitative “data” in a concise and meaningful way.

Invent!

Today, VMNH educator, Robin Jensen, had students, first brainstorm about unconventional uses of everyday items like spatulas and whisks and to then invent a machine. The machines were to incorporate at least three simple machines (pulley, inclined plane, lever, wedge, screw, and wheel and axle), and successfully move an aluminum can across the table without directly attaching anything to the can. Although, none of the students were quite successful in creating a device with three simple machines, they showed great creativity and ingenuity with the machines that were developed.

Enunciate!

English tutor, Mr. Smith, shook up the normal routine by having the students to participate in several acting exercises. The exercises emphasized enunciation and focus in a fun, playful manner. The videos below show the students, staff, and instructor taking part in a few of the exercises.

Lessons in Design: Optimization

Today, VMNH educator, Robin Jensen, coordinated an activity to teach the students about optimization in design and repurposing waste for useful products. The VMNH MHC-After 3 students were required to construct stand-alone structures with all of the waste items they chose from a large trash bag. One group of students chose to build a “monster truck” while the other group made a “sorority house” (see pictures below). The students showed great creativity and resolve to complete structures under the given constraints and attested to the scientific skills that were used.

Math Session: Blokus Game

Mrs. Bredamus and the students played a competitive game of Blokus. The game forced the students to carefully scrutinize the placement of each geometric shape, known as a polyomino (polygon created from less simple geometric shapes, squares for Blokus), on the game board in order to be successful. All of the VMNH student participants seemed to thoroughly enjoy the game and in the process, enhance their geometric and critical thinking skills.

PHCC: School of Craft & Design Activity

Led by art instructors from the Patrick Henry Community College School of Craft & Design, the students made custom jewelry pieces. Each student was allowed freedom in the artistic direction of their personal pieces as well as whether the adorned glass would become a necklace or pin.

MHC After-3 Fall Carnival!

All of the students from each MHC After-3 site convened at Piedmont Arts Association for a classic fall carnival. The students participated in games created by each site, including a corn toss game, a football toss, sticky darts, and several other unique games. In addition to games, there was also traditional carnival fare like hot hot dogs, cotton candy, caramel apples, and popcorn. All of the student and parent participants genuinely enjoyed the event and the excursion from normal programming.

Music Workshop

Doug Williams, musician extraordinaire, presided over a very entertaining two-day songwriting workshop. On the first day he noted the fundamentals of songwriting, taking the students step-by-step through the process of constructing a well organized, yet organic sounding song. On the second day, the instruction culminated into a creative song produced by the students with Doug’s assistance. Please see the video below, to see the students’ work.

Math Tutoring

Students took part in a mathematics workshop, led by instructor Mrs. Bredamus. Students first completed a timed math quiz as a warm-up exercise. Afterwards, the students were split into two teams and competed in a quiz bowl style math competition, answering questions from a math influenced narrative.

Oobleck

Today, VMNH MHC After-3 participants investigated the dilatant (increased viscosity with mixing) property of non-newtonian fluids under the guidance of Youth Education Coordinator, Robin Jensen, by making "oobleck" (a mixture of cornstarch and water). Students excitedly observed that the mixture has properties of a solid and a liquid.

Students from the VMNH site MHC After-3 program participated in an exciting science oriented program (After-School Science Plus) moderated by Youth Education Coordinator, Robin Jensen.

Above, one of the student participants constructed a drawing of scientist. This activity was created to show the common stereotypes about scientists.

Students were also instructed to make and present collages that displayed the relevance of science in everyday life.

Ultimate Summer Camp Experience

July was full of activities for MHC After 3 summer campers. The museum provided outdoor and indoor programming, and kept participants busy learning about science and natural history.

The group from the Spencer Penn Center enjoyed the "Wet and Wild" camp. The kids learned about watersheds and erosion, tested water quality, searched for macro invertebrates in a stream, helped shoot off a water rocket, and went canoeing on Fairy Stone Lake.

The groups from the Collinsville YMCA, Martinsville YMCA, and the Fieldale Community Center tested science myths in the "Mythbusters" camp. Some of the myths they tested: Your shoe is dirtier than a toilet seat; Mentos in soda causes an explosion; M&Ms melt in your mouth, but not in your hand; Water is always frozen at 32 degrees fahrenheit; and more.

Students at the Bassett Community Center, the Martinsville Boys and Girls Club, and VMNH challenged themselves with the "Amazing Challenge" Camp. They travelled to Fairy Stone State Park, Philpott Lake, and the Gravely Nature Preserve to complete a series of challenges using GPS and their natural history knowledge.