Community Agreements - Using Google Drawings

Discipline: Team Building and Community Agreements*
Age Range: 10+
Estimated Time: 20-30 minutes
What you need: A computer or tablet with internet access; a Google account (it is free to create one)

digital10.png

*Community agreements are created as a way to establish a mutual understanding or make a set of expectations for all members of a community to abide by. They can be based on many things, such as how to support each community member and how to make everyone feel included. Please see What is a Community Agreement? blog post before starting this project.

Creating a visual community agreement using tools online is a good method for creating a community agreement if you do not have any paper or other crafting materials available.

Instructions:

1. Open your Google Drive and select “New”

digital1.png

2. Select More → Google Drawings

digital2.png

3. For this specific example, we will create a sun with community values as the rays. Feel free to get creative during this step, as there are many other shapes and tools available. To create a shape use: Insert → Shape → Shapes

digital3.png

4. A plus sign should show up once you have selected a shape. Drag this plus sign to create and enlarge your image. You should end up with something like this:

digital4.png

7. You can change the color by selecting your shape and hitting the fill icon. Select whatever color scheme your community likes.

digital5.png

6. To create a center word or idea, try using Word Art or a text box. Pictured below is an example using Word Art: Insert → Word Art → Type out whatever you would like in the box that appears. This could be your family or community name, or it could include the names of everyone within your community. Get creative here!

digital6.png
digital7.png

7. Edit your center word in whatever way your community likes. You can change color or font, just make sure to have the word selected.

tpimage12.jpg

8. You may add in community values wherever you would like as well. For this example, we will add values to the sun rays using text boxes. Click on the T icon (circled below) to create a text box. Drag the plus sign that appears to build the box, and use the dot above the box (circled below) to rotate and fit it inside the sun rays. Type out your community values into the boxes.

digital9.png

9. You can get even more creative than this by exploring more of the Google Drawing functions. Make sure to listen to the people within your community and allow everyone space to contribute. Your finished product may look something like this:

Helpful Hints: Google Drive allows for collaboration by multiple people at the same time. Anyone else with a Google account can be added to your document or drawing by clicking the blue share button in the top right corner. Simply add their emails or share the link provided. Sharing will allow all of you to all work on your community agreement at the same time if you have multiple internet enabled devices.

Try creating a loose plan before getting started so that all community members have an open space to share ideas and contribute values before moving to the visual aspect.

If you have access to a printer, you can print out a copy for each community member to keep. If not, making your document shareable is another good way to distribute the agreement to everyone.

Community Agreements - Using a Coloring Page

Discipline: Team Building and Community Agreements*
Age Range: 10+
Estimated Time: 10-20 minutes
What you need: Coloring page (coloring book or online page that you print out); markers, colored pencils or paint

*Community agreements are created as a way to establish a mutual understanding or make a set of expectations for all members of a community to abide by. They can be based on many things, such as how to support each community member and how to make everyone feel included. Please see What is a Community Agreement? blog post before starting this project.

colorpg1.jpg

Instructions:
1. Start with a coloring book and choose your favorite page, or find an online coloring page that you can print or draw your own design.

colorpg2.jpg

2. Add some color.

colorpg4.jpg

3. Add values. Have everyone add different values they believe are important for being in a community.

colorpg5.jpg

Vision-Blocked Polygon

Discipline: Team Building
Age Range: All ages
Estimated Time: 20-30 minutes
What you need: At least three or more people our choice of rope, string or yarn, approximately 20-30 feet in length; vision blockers (i.e., bandana, scarf, beanie, t-shirt, pillowcase, headband, or a hoodie worn backward)

vision1.jpg

Instructions:
You and your team are going to work together to use the rope in front of you to create a shape. The catch is that you will be vision-blocked while you do it!

  1. Have each member of your team pick a spot on the rope and grab onto the rope with hands out in front of them like a set of handlebars on a bicycle (palms face down, hands out in front on the rope).

  2. Once each team member has grabbed onto the rope and put on vision blockers, decide on which shape you would like to make. You can make any shape that you want, but here are some examples to get you started:

    Easiest: circle, square, triangle
    Easier: banana, ice cream cone, tree, hot sauce bottle
    Medium: the letter “Y,” shape of Nevada or California, Pac-Man
    Harder: star, lightning, heart, tea kettle
    Hardest: sunglasses, human body outline, a hand

  3. Once you have begun, there is one important rule: You may not take your hands off of the rope! You may slide your hands up and down the rope, but if you bump into someone you cannot go around them.

  4. During the activity, you will have to communicate with your team members to try to create the shape. Once you feel good about your shape, lower the rope to the ground. Once you have done this you can take your vision blockers off to see how you did!

vision2.jpg
vision3.jpg

Debrief Questions:

  1. How did it feel to be vision-blocked?

  2. What was your plan for this activity? How did you come up with that plan?

  3. What did/didn’t you enjoy about the activity and why?

  4. How did you ensure that everyone knew what was happening?

  5. Did you adapt your approach to the activity at any point? How did you adapt?

Helpful Hints: Start with a less challenging shape and once it is complete, talk about it as a team afterward. This will give your team a chance to talk about what went well, and make an improved plan for the next shape!

With some of the more challenging shapes, you may not get it perfect. Our team took 30+ minutes trying to get into the shape of a star before we decided as a group it was the best we could do.

New Words:

Polygon: Any two-dimensional shape formed with straight lines. Triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, and hexagons are all examples of polygons. The name tells you how many sides the shape has.

Mystery Object

Discipline: Team Building
Age Range: All ages
Estimated Time: 10 minutes
What you need: At least two people, vision blockers (i.e., bandana, scarf, beanie)

MysteryObjectimage1.jpg

Instructions:
This activity will require you to trust a partner (or two) to accomplish tasks with limited senses. Before you begin, make sure that everyone involved is comfortable being vision blocked.

With Two People Available:

  1. Decide who would like to be vision-blocked first and who would like to give the directions first. Using a bandana or other materials, block the vision of the designated person.

  2. The director will help spin the vision-blocked person around three times.

  3. The director will silently choose a mystery object somewhere in the area, then begin directing the vision-blocked person towards it. (i.e., “Forward! Stop! Turn right! Crouch down! Pick it up!”) NOTE: The director may not touch the vision-blocked person. They must direct using only words.

  4. Once the object has been retrieved, the vision-blocked person must use touch, smell, and hearing to make observations and try to guess what the object is.

  5. Switch roles and repeat!

maysteryobjectimage2.jpg
mysteryobject3.jpg

With Three People Available:

mysteryobject4.png

  1. Choose one person to be vision-blocked, one person to speak (speaker), and one person to act (actor). Using a bandana or other materials, block the vision of the designated person.

  2. The speaker must stand between their two partners, facing the actor and with their back toward the vision-blocked person.

  3. The actor will silently choose an object in the area, then use motions to act out directions for the vision-blocked person to find that object.

  4. The speaker will translate the actor’s motions into words, and the vision-blocked person will follow their directions.

  5. Once the object has been retrieved, the vision-blocked person must use touch, smell, and hearing to make observations and try to guess what the object is.

  6. Switch roles and repeat!

Debrief Questions:
As a team, try to reflect on and answer the following questions once you have finished the activity.

  1. How did it feel to be vision-blocked?

  2. How did it feel to give directions or act?

  3. What was most helpful to accomplish the common goal? Did you change anything?

  4. How can we apply what we learned in the future?

Helpful Hints: If you can, try to do this activity in an open space!

Make sure to direct the vision-blocked person so that they do not bump or trip into anything.

With three people, the actor and the speaker may want to practice their lefts and rights — it can get confusing!

New Words:

Observations: Something you see, hear, or notice using your five senses: sight, sound, touch, hearing, or smell.
Vision block: a piece of cloth tied around the head to cover someone’s eyes and prevent them from seeing anything.

Create Your Own Journal, Step-by-Step Instructions

Journal1.png

Discipline: Social Emotional Learning
Age Range: 9-12 (all ages with adult supervision)
Estimated Time: 20-30 minutes
What you need: Scissors, rectangular tissue box or any other cardboard box, printer paper, stapler OR needle and thread, sharpie, glue or tape (optional), plus any fun decorations (optional)

Journals are used by many people to pull thoughts, feelings, and ideas out of their heads and on to paper! These ideas can be expressed through words, drawings, pictures, and many other creative ways. Here is one way of constructing your very own journal, with limited resources, to use how you would like!

Instructions:

1. Cut out the bottom of the tissue box so you have a rectangular piece of cardboard.

Journal2.png

2. Fold the cardboard rectangle in half. You’ve created the cover of your new journal!

Journal3.png

3. Fold one piece of printer paper in half (hamburger style), and then in half again (hamburger style). This should create a small booklet of four pages.

journal4.png
Journal5.png

4. Use this folding method for at least four pieces of paper, then stack the booklets of paper together as shown. When stacking, be sure that the sides that open are with each other and closed sides are together as well.

Journal6.png
Journal7.png

5. Place the stacked booklets inside the cardboard “cover”. Align the open-sided pages up with the top edge of the cover. The closed sides of the pages should poke out from the bottom of your cover.

Journal8.png

6. Use scissors to cut off the edge of the pages that poke out the bottom of your cover. All of your pages should be able to open left to right, just like a book. Your journal is almost complete!

Journal9.png

7. Using a stapler, staple your journal together along the folded edge of the cardboard. Keep the stapler as close as possible to the fold so that you can maximize the size of your page. (Don’t have a stapler? No problem; you’ll find instructions in a second blog post for using a needle and thread.)

Journal11.png
Journal13.png

8. Your personal journal is done! Use whatever materials you’d like to decorate the cover — stickers, glitter, drawings, paint, etc.

Journal14.png
Journal15.png
Journal16.png

Part 2, Create Your Own Journal, Needle and Thread Binding

Journalsewn.png

Discipline: Social, Emotional, Learning
Age Range: 9-12 (all ages with adult supervision)
Estimated Time: 10 minutes
What you need: Completed journal from Part 1, Create Your Own Journal, plus needle and thread

Journals are used by many people to pull thoughts, feelings, and ideas out of their heads and on to paper! Here’s Part 2 of creating your own journal and now to bind it using a needle and thread if you don’t happen to have a stapler.

Instructions (alternative to stapling the spine of your journal):

1. Thread a sharp needle on about 12 inches of thread. Tie off the end of the thread with several knots.
2. Open your booklet to the centerfold of all pages. With a sharpie, mark a dot on both sides of the booklet along the fold, about an inch away from the edges of the booklet. (This dot is where your needle and thread will be going through.)

Journal17.png

3. Now, insert your needle through one of the sharpie marks (in through the pages, out through the cover side), so that the knotted end of the thread is on the inside of the booklet.

Journal17b.png

4. Next, poke the needle through the back of the booklet (in through the cover, out through the side of the pages), so the needle and thread come back through the second sharpie mark.

Journal18.png

5. Repeat this pattern several times so that you have a thick band of thread along the spine of the booklet.
6. Tie the thread off with several knots near the opposite sharpie hole from the original knot. Tie the knots just as you did with the starting knot.

Journal19.png

Your journal is now complete!

Weathering Scavenger Hunt

Discipline: Earth Science
Age Range: 10-14
Estimated Time: 20 minutes
What you need: Download the Weathering Scavenger Hunt activity sheet and you’ll need an area outdoors with rocks

Instructions:
Have you ever wondered what causes rocks to break?

In science, we have a special word for when rocks get broken down by nature. It is called weathering. Weathering is the natural process of breaking down rocks and minerals into tiny pieces of sediment.

Did you know that there can be other ways that weathering can break down rocks? They are called Freeze-thaw, water, and vegetation.

Can you guess how these three things break down rocks?

Freeze-thaw making rocks crack

Freeze-thaw making rocks crack

Freeze-thaw is when water freezes and pushes against the rock as it expands making the rock crack. You might have seen something like this happen if you ever left a soda pop in the freezer. What happened to the can?

Water breaks down rocks, so they are round and smooth. Have you ever felt a smooth river rock? The force of sediment and the water hitting the rocks over long periods of time makes this happen.

Water breaking down rocks

Water breaking down rocks

Vegetation is a special word meaning plants. Can you think of a word that sounds similar to vegetation? Vegetable!  Vegetation can break down rocks in two ways. One way is then plants grow and push against the rocks causing them to crack. Have you ever noticed that tree roots can creak driveways? Pretty strong, right! Plants can also produce a chemical that breaks down the rocks too.

Vegetation pushing against rocks to make them crack

Vegetation pushing against rocks to make them crack

Now that you know the three different ways weathering can break down rocks go outside and see if you can find:
1. One rock weathered by freeze-thaw.
2. One rock weathered by water.
3. One rock weathered by vegetation.

Helpful Hints: More than one type of weathering can break down a rock. You might see rocks that look like both water and vegetation have broken them down. 

New Words:
Weathering: The breaking down of rocks and minerals into sediment.
Freeze-thaw: When water freezes and pushes against the rock making it crack.
Vegetation: Plant life.

Floating Fingers

Discipline: Team Building
Age Range: 7-12
Estimated Time: 10 minutes
What you need: At least two people; the more people you have will make the activity more challenging and fun! A lightweight, rigid object such as a ruler, pencil, hula-hoop, board game box or CD

Instructions:
This is a simple team-building activity that can be modified with a number of household objects. The goal is to collectively lower an object to the ground. Each participant will stand and place their pointer finger out, palms down. The object will be placed on top of all the fingers. Everyone must keep their finger in contact with the object at all times. As a team, carefully lower the object all the way to the ground. If any fingers come off the object or the object falls, restart from the top. If you master this activity with one object, try it with another. See what objects are easier or harder than others. Try it with different numbers of people; the more people, the more challenging the activity will be.

FloatingFingersimage1.jpg
FloatingFingersimage2.jpg

Debrief Questions: Once you have completed the activity, discuss how it went.

  1. Why was it hard to lower the object?

  2. How did you communicate during this activity?

  3. What changes did you need to make to be more successful?

FloatingFingersimage3.jpg
floatingfingersimage4.jpg

The Science of Snow Melt

Discipline: Physical Science
Age Range: 8-12
Estimated Time: 10 minutes for set-up, then the time needed for the snow to melt
What you need: Snow, a see-through container such as a glass or jar, ruler and salt

snowmelt1.jpg

Instructions:

  1. Fill the container up with snow

  2. Bring it inside

  3. Place the ruler straight up inside the container, press it down all the way to the bottom.

Observations: (Charts for all experiments are provided as a downloadable PDF below.)

  1. Make note of the type of snow you collected. Is it powdery, icy, wet, dry, etc.?

  2. Measure and record the height of the snow in your container.

  3. Make a prediction about how long you think it will take the snow in the container to completely melt.

  4. Measure and record the height of snow in 10-15 minute increments. (More time slots can be added to the chart if needed.)

snowmelt2.jpg
snowmelt3.jpg
snowmelt4.jpg

Experiment Variations:

[Experiment 2] Collect multiple containers of snow (same amount), and place them in various locations (kitchen, outside, fridge, etc.), measure the snow height as you did in the first experiment.

[Experiment 3] Collect various types of snow (if possible) and compare melting times between the varieties by measuring the snow height the same way you did in the first experiment.

[Experiment 4] Collect two containers of the same type and amount of snow, sprinkle table salt into one container and leave the other plain - compare the melting time of the two containers of snow using the same method as the first experiment.

Snow Science:

  1. Physical state
    Snow melting into water is a physical change
    Physical changes are reversible - water could be frozen back into ice or snow
    Water exists in all three phases - ice as a solid, water as a liquid, and water vapor as a gas

  2. Volume/Density
    Density is the weight of an item compared to the space it takes up
    Snow amount and water amount have the same weight
    Snow takes up much more space in the jar than water
    Snow is less dense than water

  3. Melting
    Snow begins to melt when brought inside
    Various temperatures (variation 2) affect melting differently
    The warmer a space is, the faster melting will occur
    The colder a space is, the slower melting will occur

Worksheetsnowmeltphoto.jpg

Night Vision and a Pirate's Tale on the High Seas

Discipline: Animal Biology, Literacy/Folklore
Age Range: All ages, but you need at least two people — one person reading the story and the other person participating in the activity.
Estimated Time: 15 minutes
What you need: A flashlight or lamp; a dark room or an outside area at night

Instructions:
Place a hand over one eye like an eye patch. Turn the flashlight (or lamp) on and place it on the ground 5 feet in front of you. Making sure zero light is getting through to your covered eye, look at the items around you that the light is shining on or to the side of the light with your free eye for the duration of the night vision story — all while keeping one eye covered. At the end of the story, turn off the light, remove your hand and look around you.

piratestoryphoto1.jpg
piratestoryphoto2.jpg

Story:
Long ago, there was a group of pirates known as The Eye Patch Hunters, who were notorious for taking treasure and goods from enemy ships at night without being seen. Every pirate on the ship had both eyes except for one pirate named Patches. At night when Patches would sleep, he switched his patch over to his good eye and used it as a sleeping mask, blocking out all lingering light. One night, he heard a noise and he quickly switched his patch away from his good eye, ran onto the deck and peered into the black water. He saw a giant whale swimming right next to the ship. When his fellow pirates accompanied him on the deck, they were unable to see the whale because their eyes had not adjusted to the low light conditions like Patches’ eye. As quickly as the whale appeared, it dove back down into the depths of the sea. Patches felt bad that his fellow crew members did not get to see this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He wondered how he was able to see the whale when no one else could.

Over time, his good eye had adapted to total darkness as he slept with an eye patch giving him the ability to see better at night. On the other hand, his bunkmates had lantern light and moonlight seeping through their eyelids. Patches observed his fellow pirates and noticed that he was the only one wearing an eye patch.

One day, he decided to use his night vision to his advantage and he came up with the idea to start stealing from other ships at night. He cut leather eye patches out and gave them to each of his crew members. Every pirate started wearing eye patches; day by day each of their eyes adapted to total darkness. Now the pirates had the upper hand at night.

The pirates painted their ship black and wore all black clothing for camouflage. The ship was a pirate legend because a dense screen of fog always hid it even on the brightest and clearest of days. The Eye Patch Hunters would lurk in the shadows as they waited for a cargo ship to exit the port. They would follow the ship until nightfall. During the day, the pirate crew had eye patches on, allowing their covered eyes to adjust to total darkness while their free eye allowed them to see. Once the sun had set, the pirates would hoist the mainsail and speed toward their prey. The Eye Patch Hunter pirates threw lines with grappling hooks onto their enemy’s ship. The metal thuds from the hooks woke the enemy crew that was guarding the treasure, and in their sleepy stupor, complete chaos broke out because the pirates would send gunpowder flares into the sky. The bright light blinded the confused the crew, which gave The Eye Patch pirates the perfect opportunity to sneak on board unseen. Even when the flares died out, the other crew was unable to see in the darkness because their eyes had not adjusted. The Eye Patch Hunters sprang into action and switched their eye patches over to their other eye allowing them to easily find the goods and treasure. Before the enemy crew’s eyes adjusted, the pirates had already sailed away.

Key Questions

  1. What is night vision?

  2. Which animals have advanced night vision?

  3. Why do these animals use night vision?

The Science of Biological Features and Night Vision

  • Certain animals, such as cats, have a mirror-like layer behind the retina called a tapetum lucidum — a shining layer that reflects visible light back through the retina. Have you ever seen an image of a deer or a cat with glowing green eyes? That glow is coming from the tapetum lucidum reflecting light.

  • There are photoreceptor features in eyeballs called rods and cones that serve different functions that allow humans and animals to see; however, some animals such as owls have adapted excellent vision in low light conditions by producing more rods than humans produce.

  • Rods sense dim and scattered light and do not produce color, and cones sense bright and focused light and do produce color.

  • Rhodopsin is a protein pigment in rods that is sensitive to light and increases vision in low light conditions. Animals such as owls have high amounts of rhodopsin in their rods.

Vocabulary

  • Tapetum Lucidum: the shining layer that reflects light back through the retina

  • Photoreceptor: a structure in a living organism, especially a sensory cell or sense organ, that responds to light falling on it

  • Rods: Photoreceptors that sense dim or scattered light

  • Cones: Photoreceptors that sense bright or focused light

  • Rhodopsin: Protein pigment in rods that is sensitive to light

Translation Services USA