Where Everybody Belongs

WEB orientation was great success.  New R.J. Frank Academy 6th grade students participated in  the Where Everybody Belongs orientation day on Friday, June 14th.  Special thanks to all 65 of our 8th grade mentors and WEB leaders.  Als thank you to our WEB coordinators Josh Goldstein, Crystal Regan, Mark Urwick, Christine Simonson, Amber Perguson, Angelica Fuentes and Doug DuBois.

Anticipation sets in as our new 6th grade students arrive and wait outside the gymnasium.

A brief message from Principal Dr. Liam Joyce before the activities begin.

Our WEB leaders are in their blue shirts as they sit with the 6th graders.

Mr. Goldstein is leading a whole group activity.

WEB leaders are running small group activities designed to teach the incoming 6th graders to be confident, and learn strategies for success at a new school.

NOAA Deep Sea T-Shirt Art Contest

I want to give recognition to some Frank artists. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is doing deep sea research off the Channel Islands.  They recently had a t-shirt design contest to promote interest in this ocean science research, and many R.J. Frank students from Ms. Byrnes and Ms. Hernandez’s class entered the contest by submitting original artwork.  There were so many great designs that the scientists involved in choosing the winner decided to choose nine designs and create a montage of the art with nine winners. Three of the artists are Frank students.  Besides recognition they will win a NOAA deep sea t-shirt.

The t-shirt contest winners are all from Katherine Burns art class, and they are

• Francisco Rosales (rockfish)
• Ruby Lemus Basket Star (basket star)
• Gustavo Perez (angler fish)

The t-shirts arrived over summer vacation and they will be given to Francisco, Ruby and Gustavo.

World Ocean Day is June 8

The Finch is a simple robot that students program by dragging blocks. Here is an attempt at synchronized motion.

R.J. Frank Students go birding at Parque Del Sol.

Linnea Hall and René Corado from the Camarillo Bird Museum were our naturalist guides for the day.  Today's bird's list includes;

Northern Mockingbird

Eurasian Collared Dove

European Starling

Yellow Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

Western Tanager

Black-headed Grosbeak

Hooded Oriole

Allen’s Hummingbird

Anna’s Hummingbird

House Sparrow

Western Gull

California Gull

Warbling Vireo

Cedar Waxwing

House Finch

Turkey Vulture

Northern Rough-winged swallow

American Crow

 The orange crowned warbler is difficult to spot with the binoculars, but we could hear them singing.

Local radio station KCLU's Lance Orozco came out to the field trip for a radio story.

A turkey vulture flew overhead

Students learned to use binoculars (purchased with our STEAM grant) to look at sparrows.  They learned the males are more colorful than the females.

A dead bird was found hanging in a tree.  Linnea suggests that perhaps a hawk killed it, and then left the remains in the tree after snacking.

We listened to the crow's call after it landed.

CSUCI Students are visiting in room A-16 to discuss college and how to prepare for it.

Paper airplanes and the design process.

Students are testing their airplane designs by measuring the distance they travel.

Family Math Night At R.J.Frank Academy of Marine Science and Engineering

Families attempt to build the tallest structure they can from marshmallows and toothpicks. The structures were then placed on the earthquake simulator to see if they could withstand the shaking.  Measurement, and structural engineering, and seismology were explored in this activity.

The first Venier probeware activity involved using the temperature probes to measure temperature.

Families are building race cars that are powered by light. Students practiced inquiry through the concepts of mechanical engineering, photovoltaics, rates, distance and time.  And they had to read and follow directions!

Students engineered pasta race cars, They then measured distance and time to determine the rate of speed.

Students in the robotics class helped families build robot race cars.  The skills of mechanical and structural engineering and computer programming were needed to make a successful car.

In the Second Vernier activity, students used the GPS built in to the LabQuest to create geometric shapes on the display.