Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?

iNERDE 2014 Week Four Recap & Preview of Week Five

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As iNERDE’s Colonie de Vacances STEM moved into its fourth week, the nerds looked back at everything they’ve learned so far and got down to business with a week full of hands-on projects. They also got the chance to see how bazin fabric is dyed on another exciting field trip!

“When I grow up I will be a pilot. My pilot career will be so successful that I will build my own airport. I will protect all the passengers. The food will be free. There will be no alcohol or cigarettes. I will develop my country and other countries too. The plane tickets will not be too expensive. I don’t like to see handicapped people, poor people, blind people, so I will do my best to protect them. I will also find a cure for ebola virus. I will do everything for my people and others in the world. I will be just like iNERDE. I want to build a place for handicapped people, for the poor, and for blind people, just like I.G.E.A. (a facility for the blind in Bamako).”

– Diaw, iNERDE Student

Thanks again to all of our week four activity sponsors!

Nerd Spotlight

Alimata

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Age 9 years old

What I Want to be When I Grow Up  A doctor, because I want to help sick people

If I had a Robot… It would be my friend and I would teach it to work

STEM Subject I like the most I like science the most and I like the field trips a lot

Favorite Color  A tie between pink and purple

Favorite Athlete Messi

iNERDE Jeopardy

Sponsored by Michael Riley & Kadiatou Kante

On Monday our nerds were put to the test: the class answered questions about everything they’ve learned so far in an exciting game of iNERDE Jeopardy!

Social Responsiblity & Watercraft Challenge

Sponsored by John Schlosser & Suwagmani Hazarika

Kouta wrote in her Science Journal about how she wants to become a doctor in order to take care of her family and community.

After a lesson on density and buoyancy, the class was challenged to build a boat strong enough to hold a load of 50 pennies without sinking.

Zip Line Challenge & Field Trip to Bazin Tinture

Sponsored by Robert Duffy

On Wednesday, the students were faced with the task of designing and building a device that could carry a little passenger from the top of a zip line to the bottom as fast as possible. Our speediest team clocked in at 1.22 seconds!
Here’s Cheickné ready to test his team’s creation on the zip line.

We also took our nerds on a field trip to a bazin tinture site that showed them how chemistry really is a part of everyday life. They learned about how chemical reactions are needed to fix the dye to the traditional cotton fabric that much of their clothing is made from.

Paper Tower Challenge

Sponsored by Torsten Mohr

Thursday, the nerds worked together to design and build a table made out of newspaper strong enough to support the weight of a heavy book. After a week filled with great challenges and educational experiences, everyone is looking forward to next week’s activities!

What’s in Store for Week Five?

Week Five Activity Sponsors
Launch It
Charles S. Phillips

Touchdown
Fatoumata Dembele

Solar-Powered Cars
Klein Gauthier
Franco Famularo
Daniel and Blandine Stringer

The Physics of Soccer
Brooke Schwartz
Aishwarya Sarma

Field Trip to Énergie du Mali
Habi Coulibaly

This is the Week 4 Newsletter. Click here to go to the Week 5 Newsletter