OJCS Science

Welcome to Genius Hour! This is a project that encourages students to follow their passions as they develop their research and inquiry skills by learning about a topic of their choice, making, designing, or building a product based on their learning, and then presenting what they have learned and made.

While students will continue to practice the timeless skills of researching, testing, analyzing, and presenting to an audience like a traditional Science fair project, Genius Hour opens the door to amplify student learning. Along with the previously mentioned skills, students will also be practicing digital citizenship, heutagogy or self-directed learning as they work towards short and long term goals, media literacies, network literacies, and divergent thinking as they think creatively to generate innovative ideas, products, or solutions to problems that interest them.

As students make their own thinking visible by sharing their process, they will also be documenting for others to learn from, and practice metacognitive techniques as they document and reflect on their own process. The autonomy, and self-directed learning that genius hour encourages is student-centered, personalized, curiosity driven, and builds skills that are relevant in today’s rapidly changing world.  

Passion driven projects like genius hour provide learners the challenge to be creative, to design and build, to follow their interests, and to give their work a sense of purpose. Every teacher should strive to create students who are lifelong learners and Genius Hour is a big step in that direction!

What will YOU learn and create with the time?

Genius Hour Tracking Sheet

The Scientific Method

Writing a Bibliography

STEAM Tracking Sheet

Grade 6 Flipgrid Pitch Printout

Research and Learn Handout

Make, Create and Design Handout

TED Talk Presentation Handout

Judges Rubrics for Genius Hour, STEAM, & STEAM Innovation Projects

Beginner Cup Tutorial

Wood Textured Cup Tutorial

Engraving Text Tutorial #1

Engraving Text Tutorial #2

How to Curve Text (Begin video @ 8:00 mins for curved text)

Bracha Text to Import onto Cup

Students learned how to source in-text citations properly, how to create bibliography citations using online aids like easybib, and then practiced their skills researching the history of the microwave.

They were tasked with taking notes in their own words, writing paragraphs that contain in-text citations, and creating a bibliography, all on the history of the microwave.

7 Students from the OJCS participated in this year’s Ottawa Regional Science Fair held at Carleton University.

With over 275 students, 225 projects, and 32 schools participating, our team brought an impressive amount of original scientific thought and innovation the the fair.

Congratulations to all students for their amazing scientific thought, and to Zoe N. on her 3rd place finish for her Monster Melter energy project.

Due Dates

Cup Design for Printing: Wednesday April 17th

Volume Calculations: Wednesday May 1st (Mrs. Cleveland’s post on completing volume calculations here)

Student Choice Tutorial: Thursday May 16th (adjusted due to number of classes missed recently)

 

 

 

Wood Textured Cup Tutorial

Beginner Cup Tutorial

Engraving Text Tutorial #1

Engraving Text Tutorial #2

How to Curve Text (Begin video @ 8:00 mins for curved text)

 

The grade 8 Science class is learning how to create some 3D graphics to eventually design and 3D print their own kiddish cup in time for Passover. Here are some of the tutorial videos we have been following to learn the Blender program. These videos and others like it can be found from the beginner tutorial series at the Blender Guru.