Our Third, Fourth and Fifth grade students who are placed in the Gifted and Talented (GT) program, are asked to design, create and test a model every year and use their model to complete against other schools. After the competition, the students tour the Somerset County Technical High School to see the variety of different programs offered for students.
3rd Grade- Powerful Planes
GT Students in third grade were challenged to create a plane that could travel a far distance. The students have to follow the Engineer Design Process and include a wing span of 9in. Students were assessed on where their plane landed after launch. Partners included Kaidence and Paisley, Autumn and Tamia, Lincoln and Nicholas, as well as Jase and Maverick. Students worked for several weeks on their planes but Kaidence and Paisley’s plane won for the class challenge! At the county competition, our school placed 3rd with their plane but did an excellent job presenting their process to other students and guests. Thanks to Mrs. Kelly for working with these students!
4th grade - Rowdy Racers
GT students Mervin Mister and Reed McPhail were challenged to create a car with the following criteria and constraints. Criteria: build a car that rolls the farthest down a ramp placed atop the back of a chair. Constraints: the car must have at least 2 axles, at least 3 wheels, weigh less than 10 oz., and fall between 4 in. and 7 in. long. Our GT students engaged in the engineering design process over several weeks, in which they first learned about cars and what makes them structurally sound as well as what makes them travel far. They then imagined many ideas and drafted sketches to plan their design. They built, tested, and improved many models until they were able to create their best model - the "Shake and Bake". They went on to compete against the other two schools in the county to place 3rd place with their best distance of 223 cm! We are very proud of our 4th graders for how they represented DIS at the county GT challenge this year. Thanks to Mrs. Cullen for working with these students!
5th Grade - Tenacious Trebuchets
This was the first year pioneering the new 5th grade challenge - trebuchets! Our 5th graders worked tirelessly to research all about the history of trebuchets and the difference between them and catapults. After researching, they imagined many designs that fit within the criteria and constraints. The trebuchets had to be free standing, fit within a 1 sq. ft. tile, and the height of the base could not exceed 10 in. The farthest launch would be recorded wherever the gram stacker hit the floor. Many teams had to continuously build, test, and improve their best trebuchets until the best was achieved. Nellie and Annabel were able to launch thiers 106 cm and placed 3rd! Maddie, Kane, and Griffin launched theirs 137 cm and placed 2nd! Our first place winners, Kemper and Brantley, were able to launch their gram stacker 297 cm! They all went on to show off their designs at the county competition and our winning team was able to place 2nd place, with "Fred the Treb" launching the gram stacker 314 cm! We are very proud of all our 5th grade GT students for how the represented DIS this year! Thanks to Mrs. Cullen for working with these students!