Learning Across Academic Domains
Vanguard’s Approach to Learning Across Academic Domains: Pyramids
“EB: What are some things you learned about when we were learning about Egypt?
Max: We learned about the programming of robots and how they move.
EB: Oh, why did we learn about that?
Max: So that the robots could go up and see the tomb close up.”
Welcome to Vanguard Gifted Academy’s educational blog. This is the fifth blog in our series STEM to STREAM: Vanguard’s Approach to Learning Across Academic Domains. I’m Elizabeth Blaetz, Founder and Head of School at Vanguard Gifted Academy. In this series, we are exploring the subjects and activities that incorporate Vanguard’s use of the elevated STEM approach that we call STREAM. Today, we’ll discuss Egypt and pyramids with Aishani and Max, who are currently Band 2 students, but completed this project when they were in Band 1.
EB: Hi, guys.
Band 2 Learners: Hi!
EB: All right! Do you remember when you learned about Egypt?
Max: Yeah, a little.
EB: What are some things you learned about when we were learning about Egypt?
Max: We learned about the programming of robots and how they move.
EB: Oh, why did we learn about that?
Max: So that the robots could go up and see the tomb close up.
EB: Okay. And why did we think that was a good idea? What happens with real tombs? How do they explore real pyramid tombs today?
Max: They have robots.
EB: They have robots, don’t they?
Max: But like real, life-size robots.
EB: Right! So what did we decide we wanted to build as part of our study of Egypt?
Aishani: We decided to make a pyramid.
EB: Cool! And how did we decide to make a pyramid?
Aishani: We made cubes, and we stacked the cubes on top of each other, and then we put paper on top and then it was a pyramid.
EB: Where did we learn to make cubes?
Aishani: In math.
EB: Good! And what did we make the cubes out of, Max?
Max: Paper.
EB: Good! Did we have a problem when we were making the cubes out of paper?
Max: It took a long time.
EB: Were they strong enough?
Aishani: No.
EB: No, what happened?
Aishani: The cubes couldn’t hold up that much.
EB: Right! How big were the cubes?
Max: Two feet wide.
EB: Yes, yes! So, what did we have to do to support the cubes? What did we put in them so that they wouldn’t collapse?
Aishani: Pieces of cardboard.
EB: Right! We had to put pieces of cardboard as supports. So, we built the cubes. You guys measured out and cut the paper and folded it into cubes, and learned how to use what kind of tape?
Max: Packing tape.
EB: Yeah, duct tape, packaging tape.
Max: The hardest tapes in the world!
EB: All right. So we got the cubes all made and then what did we do?
Max: We helped make a robot.
EB: Did we make a robot?
Max: No! Derin’s dad brought in a robot that we could use.
EB: Okay. We brought in a robot, and what did we have to learn about technology?
Max: How to program a robot. And how they move and how they should be controlled.
EB: Right. Exactly. What else were we learning about that was going to go in our pyramid?
Aishani: A tomb.
EB: Tell me, what’s in a tomb?
Aishani: In a tomb, there’s a sarcophagus. And in the sarcophagus they put the mummy.
EB: Cool. What’s on the walls?
Aishani: They write what the mummy has to do in its next life.
EB: Good job. So now we’re going to put our technology together with our pyramid. And so what did we have to do?
Max: We built ramps so that the robot could go up the ramps and go to the tomb and go up each level of the pyramid.
EB: Cool. What did we build it out of?
Max: Wood.
EB: Right! We built wooden ramps, didn’t we? What were some challenges we had?
Max: The ramp was too steep and the robot couldn’t go up. So we switched to a stronger robot so that it could go up the ramps better. And the paper cubes kept breaking. And it took a long time to make the cubes. And we didn’t want to keep making it for 45 minutes of time. So we tried to make it shorter, and a final result for a final cube was only 10 minutes.
EB: Nice job. When we had Showcase Night, could you see the robot?
Max: You could because the cameras were put in the pyramid and one on the robot.
EB: Okay. So how tall was the pyramid, do you think, when it was all done?
Max: I mean, it was taller than you, taller than Miss Holub. It was probably like six feet.
EB: Yeah, it was a tall pyramid, wasn’t it?
Max: Yeah, not the tallest pyramid ever though.
EB: No!
Aishani: Shortest pyramid ever!
EB: How did it go on Showcase Night, what did we watch? We couldn’t see the robot once it went in the pyramid, right?
Max: Yeah, because we were looking at the tomb when it got in the tomb. And I think the audience really enjoyed that because I really enjoyed that, actually.
EB: All right. Cool. So what was your favorite part about the whole project?
Max: My favorite part was two things actually. When we finished the pyramid, the robot got to see the sarcophagus in the tomb, and another part was the design process and how we made it and the math.
EB: Cool! Aishani, what was your favorite part?
Aishani: My favorite part was when we were making the mummy, I liked cutting the hair off the doll. It was fun!
EB: Great. Can you tell a little more? Tell a little more about how we made the mummies.
Aishani: We cut the hair off the dolls, and then we wrapped them in newspaper, and then made a sarcophagus.
EB: What’s a sarcophagus?
Aishani: The thing a mummy goes in. Then we put the mummy in the tomb.
EB: All right. Anything else that you want to share about what you learned about pyramids or robots?
Max: I learned that pyramids are made out of all cubes except the top, and that robots already exist.
EB: What are you thinking, Aishani?
Aishani: Fake paths in the pyramids so that the raiders don’t find the treasure.
EB: Right! Good job! All right! Thank you so much for helping me with this blog.
Max: No problem!
Thank you so much for continuing in our STEM to STREAM series. We hope that Vanguard Gifted Academy’s educational blog will continue to be a resource for you. If you have any questions about the topics we covered today, please visit our website [insert link to https://vanguardgiftedacademy.org/] to learn more about Vanguard and our educational model for gifted children.