Spreadin' the "wealth"

[red hill]

Hey, All!
As a science teacher I'm required to do lab investigations 20% of the time we are in class.  Well... All the kids want to do is blow stuff up or make something poisonous, or dangerous otherwise.  So I decided to spend these two days before our Thanksgiving holiday on something I've grown to love.
Today and tomorrow we're working on a board bow I had started earlier.  
I hauled my shaving horse and hand tools to the classroom. Brought a couple of board bows I'd completed. And the roughed out stave along with a fresh board for demonstrating.
I wrote some trad terms on the board and modeled the finished bows to give the kids an idea of what our objective is.  Also shared a little bow common courtesy and good behaviors on handling bows.
Next we discussed determining draw length and bow length.  A few of the kids knew what was up but not many.  I passed around the less dangerous handtools to let the kids actually feel what I feel when working on these boards.  I demonstrated the more hazardous tools, the hatchet, drawknife, scraper (fillet knife) and so forth.
(If Eric Krewson reads this they were very impressed with your gizmo and especially liked the name.)
Then I went to the shaving horse where I began making out a bow on the extra board I had brough along.  Then I shifted to the rough stave to save time and began rasping, drawing, and shaving on one limb.  I had to stretch this out because I have 6 classes of 8th and 9th grade sciences.  Almost every kid was all ears...
(Bona, the girls are very impressed that a girl can make bows, too!)
Well, my last class just came in, I'll be back later.
Stan  

[Over&Under]

Now I would have enjoyed school a little more if that was part of my classes for the day!

 

[DannyBows]

Excellent! I'd have loved learning "useful" things like that in school. I surely would have paid more attention. Keep up the good work!  

[red hill]

Okay, seventh period ended everyone is headed home.  I think today was a success!  Tomorrow will show how much they listened and we'll see if they really were impressed.
I'll also try to get a few pictures to show my kids, or at least what we're tying to do.  (There's an internet policy that may not allow me to post pics of students.)
A couple of teachers stopped by to see what was up.  They thought this was a great idea and could see the mathematical and scientific applications in what I am trying to do.
The Arkansas Game and Fish have a program in which they sponsor archery teams in public schools.  A student teacher/coach I had a couple of years ago is in to it.  I've been kicking around the idea and may see if we can try it here. But working two jobs, keeping kids in college and just everyday life... Have to make sacrifices.
Stan

[bretto]

When I was in Jr. High the High School shop teacher let all the shop guys build laminated recurve bows for their final shop project.

He left the year I started high school and we got a furniture builder for a teacher after that. He made Me build a coffee table. LOL

Sounds like a great project for the kids.

[maineac]

All sorts of physics to that.  Potential and kinetic energy.  Simple machines in the tools, mechanical advantage.  Great job

[Shedrock]

Good deal, I wish my teachers would have done that.

[Chris Sims]

Red Hill,
I hope you are using this to teach physics, math, etc. Otherwise it is just shop class and not what the lab time you are "required to do" was intended for.  Excuse me if I seem a bit turned off by this, but I am a biology professor in Arkansas and I deal with students that have a pathetic science background on a daily basis.  I once had a student tell me that they spent their lab time in high school drawing butterflies.  I am sure that I am overly critical of your statements and if so I apologize.

[beetlebailey1977]

Man needed that when I was in school....I would have been doing this stuff sooner.

[red hill]

Chris,
I have a brother named Chris, and our last name is also Sims... Go figure.

I understand your concerns.  I take the education of my students seriously and I know what you are saying.  The reason I became a teacher was due to what you have described.

My first science class was 7th grade life science.  Taught that for 13 years.  

One Monday a female student came to class and told me her brother had used her class notes to study for his freshman bio test.  
I asked who his teacher was, thinking I knew all the science teachers at the high school.  
She said I probably didn't know the teacher because her brother was a freshman at Louisiana Tech.

I do not show videos in my class.  I do not allow the students to play 'tic-tac-toe' on my board.  There is an objective written in the upper left corner of my board every day.  My lesson planbook is a 2" 3-ring binder with state standards documented for each chapter, even the ones I don't teach.  I usually have grades/scores 3-4 days per week. I hate to miss class for any reason what so ever. I have a masters degree from HSU in administratioin and my bachelor degree is from SAU. I spent 6 years in administratioin but didn't like working with adults.  I'm a kids person and love special education students and elementary. And I have been a head football coach.

The public school where I now teach (6th year here) has been in the top 10 academically each year since 2005. (The only school south of Little Rock to be ranked so highly academically.)

I do not mean to sound like a braggart but I am proud of the job I do as a teacher.  My reasons for using traditional archery as a science lab are numerous.  The science implications of course, but also the interest factor figures in greatly.  Often times I'll have a student ask, "What do I need this for, anyway?"  Projects such as making a traditional bow demonstrate how they can, and will use skills taught in class outside of class.

Stan Sims,
Teacher...Not instructor

[Chris Sims]

Good deal.  Keep up the good work.

[va]

Red Hill

You nailed it.  The physics, etc. can come after the students do the hands-on stuff.  It will stick in their brain better.

All I ask is for some pictures... PLEASE!

[Buckwheaties]

Keep up the GOOD WORK teach.. Excellent idea and project. Maybe you can take them on a field trip and put the bows into action?? You know, trajectory, momentum, FOC, archers paradox etc.?? Please keep us posted..

[red hill]

I checked with the administration on posting pics of school students.  As long as there are no recognizable face shots it'll be okay.  I felt this would the case but had to double check.  
My students are 8th and 9th graders. I use the lab time to reinforce what has been, or will be taught in class.  Sometimes it's fun to do things that may not appear to have anything to do with subjects covered by a text book.  
As I mentioned earlier, students will often ask what they need to know some of the information teachers are trying to share with them.  I am using this experience to emphasize that skills learned in school can, and should be transferred to other situations.  We are also learning experimentation procedures, trial and error scenerios, and testing techniques.  This list could be way too long...
The encouragement from all of you is great.  The students think it is cool that I plan to share pics of our project with you.  
However, I hope I didn't give the wrong impression.  "Everyone" isn't building a bow yet. We're building one as a group effort.  Several of the students want to meet before and/or after school to make their own individual bows so that's what we're gonna do!  Can't wait and I'll post pics.  Some of them have even tried to get to this website.
Stan

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

The kind of teacher one remembers for life. Excellent post and BRAVO!    

[Gray Buffalo]

Where was you 55 years ago when I was in school??????????  

[Mike Vines]

That sure would have kept my attention alot better than using a magnet to move another magnet.  Good job.

[boznarras]

Good job. This is something the kids will always remember.

Here's a follow up idea- maybe involving using the bow that you made?

A middle school teacher here (who is an avid hunter and fisherman) each year brings in a deer he has taken. He spreads a tarp outside and butchers the deer with the kids. He does the various cuts and handles everything carefully to prevent waste.
I think he mixes in some anatomy, some game management ideas, some thinking on where food really comes from. It's all good.
I believe he does the same thing with king salmon in the spring.