Moose Challenges

There is a moose on the loose in Cecilia Owens's science classroom this month, and he’s been keeping fifth graders on their toes with a series of fun science and holiday-themed challenges. 

The small stuffed moose, dubbed “Ace Moose-icle” by the fifth graders, is a personal representative of Fay’s mascot, Mortimer Moose, and he arrived at the beginning of the month bearing treats and promising adventure. Ace has been leaving the students letters with various challenges to solve. His first task was to decode a message he had left for them on a balloon using a test tube, baking soda, and vinegar. As the chemical reaction caused by the vinegar and baking soda inflated each balloon, students worked together to decipher the message. A few days later, students arrived to find another challenge. Ace left students balloons, cups, and a pile of packing peanuts and asked them to design something for him to play with over the weekend. Students tapped into their creativity and design expertise to create a variety of catapults that could shoot packing peanuts. A few days later, students arrived in class to find the tables covered in confetti and another letter from Ace, wondering if they could figure out how to create static electricity with a balloon and clean it all up. Students have been popping into the classroom throughout the month to see if Ace has left another message or a reward for their hard work and good behavior. After solving a binary code message Ace had left them, students were rewarded with peppermints! While the challenges are separate from the fifth grade science curriculum, students are having fun and building on the skills they are learning in class without realizing it. “Each challenge requires them to follow directions, think about the experiment they're doing and why, and work together,” says Cecilia.