6th Graders Participate in Eastern Iowa Math Bee

Thirteen sixth grade students made the trip to Cedar Falls this week to compete in the annual AEA267 Math Bee.  This competition had 35 teams competing and over 140 individual students from schools all over the state.  Each of the four West Elementary teams did well representing Independence, and the team of Caitlyn, Cerephine, Carter and Sydney placed 7th overall, while Sydney placed 10th in the individual competition.  These 4 students have earned the right to compete in the state Math Bee competition in a couple weeks to represent Independence.  This is quite an accomplishment and we are very proud of all the students who competed and were challenged with math problems all morning long.  Great job KIDS!!!

Battle of the Books

5th Grade students from West Elementary have been reading a lot of books this year.  Recently, six students made the trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa to compete in the annual Battle of the Books competition.  This state competition had 38 teams from all over the state battling it out to see which team had the best comprehension of the selected books.  Of the 37 books, 95 questions were given to the group to answer.  West Elementary students finished the competition by placing 3rd in the state.  All of us here at West Elementary are proud of their hard work, CONGRATS kids!

5th Graders Using Wind Power

5th Grade students spent some time recently harnessing the wind to power their model cars.  They learned a lot using the Scientific Method to test and change their designs to extend their trial runs.  After testing their cars they would modify and test them again to see if their adjustments helped their total distance.  Not only did the area of the sail make a difference but the total mass of their car made a large difference too.  They did a fantastic job, all students reached the goal of traveling 10 feet and a few car traveled over 30 feet!

West Elementary National Winners

West Elementary TAG students have participated in the Noetic Math Learning Contest for many years.  Each year the students of Independence show their best and compete against students from all over the country.  Students are given 25 math problems at and above their grade level to solve in 40 minutes or less.  

This year West Elementary had 4 National Honor Roll winners, meaning they placed in the top 5% of all test takers in the nation.  This is quite an accomplishment for these young boys and girl.  

CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS kids!!!

Let's build a rocket

Students in 3rd grade have been using the Scientific model to build and test their paper rockets.  They have learned that there is a fine balance between too much weight and too little weight when designing their models.   A lot of testing and tinkering going on to build that one great flyer!

Student challenges

Students have been busy with various challenges this winter.

Here, students try to create boats that will hold pennies.  Buoyancy was a topic that seemed easy until they put their boats to the test.  Once they sink, the amount of pennies are recorded and they go back to redesigning the boat.  Straws, tape and tinfoil are the only materials being used.

Math Olympiad Problem of the Month

Challenge Accepted

Students have been working with the Scientific Method to problem solve in small groups.  They began with some basic materials and were challenged to build a tower.  Many different designs were tried, some failed, some succeeded.  All students were pushed to another level of communication and solving problems as they appeared in this real-time activity.