Research Experiences for Teachers - Mililani Middle School

Participating Teachers

Teacher's Name Grades Subjects
Jennifer Kuwahara 8 Exploratory Wheel
Kim Maunakea 8 Science
Christopher Justo 7 Science
Laurie Sogawa 6 Science
Lillian Monti 8 Math, Pre-Algebra
Jake Kardash 7 Science, Technology
Jacob Tamaye 8 Science, Tech ED
Daren Anzai 7 SPED
Crystal Cook 7 Language Arts
Robert Fujii 6 Science, Math
Carrie Hata 6 Science, Math
Kristen Kato 6 Science, Math
Jennifer Kim 7 Science
Janice McCague 7 Science
Kristi Miyamae 7 Math
Michael Nishiki 7 Science, Math
Michael Oyama 7 Science
Carlos Pai 7 Science
Sharilyn Pang 7 Language Arts
Paul Sasaki 6 Science, Math
Jennifer Takamori 7 Science
Faye Tom 7 Science
Robin Ware 6 Science, Math
Jennifer Winter 6 Science, Math
Kelvin Wong 7 Physical Education
Richard Yee 7 Science

 

Activities Performed During 2012-13 School Year

Name of Activity # of Students Involved Grades Subjects
Plankton Monitoring 300 8 Science, Social Studies, Wheel
Science Fair Projects 150 8 Science
Rock/Mineral Lab 150 8 Science
Pan-Stars 20 8 Science
Ahupua'a Project 150 7 Science
Re-starting Aquaponic Units 35 7 Science

 

Activities Performed During 2011-12 School Year

Name of Activity # of Students Involved Grades Subjects
Big Island Trip 110 8 Science
Big Island Video 110 8 Media
HIP Robotics 24 6,7,8 Robotics
Aquaponics 25 7 Science
Greenville Workdays 150 7 Science
Aquaponics 10 7 Science
Ethnobotany 150 8 Science
Project Noah 150 8 Science
Best of the Solar System Webquest 150 8 Science
Space Spin-offs 150 8 Science
Observing with Nasa From the Ground Up 150 8 Science
Children's Book 150 7 Language Arts
Research Paper 150 7 Language Arts
Research Project-IDU 150 7 Language Arts
MMS School Video 18 Multimedia
MMS School Video 18 Multimedia
Environmental Service Learning Fieldtrips 150 8 Science
Science Fair 150 8 Science
Robotics 25 8 Technology
Aquaponics 150 7 Science
MMS Greenhouse 20 8 Science

 

Activities Performed During 2010-11 School Year

Name of Activity # of Students Involved Grades Subjects
Stop Motion Animation 25 6 Technology
Aquaponics 100 7 Science
Geology of Oahu 100 8 Science
Electromagnetic Spectrum & Objects in Space 300 8 Science
Vex Robotics 15 8 Technology
Jr. Engineering Expo 50 7/8 Technology, Math
Environmental Service Learning Field Trips 400 8 Science
Planets in Our Solar System 100 8 Science
Tech Ed. 26 6 Technology

 

Activities Performed During 2009-10 School Year

Name of Activity # of Students Involved Grades Subjects
Waves & Wave Technologies 100 8 Science
Introduction to Robotics 50 7/8 Tech Ed

 

Upcoming Activities

Name of Activity # of Students Involved Grades Subjects
FabLab 150 8 Math
Service Learning Wheel 72 6 Science
Next Generation Assessments and 6.6.6 summative 265 6 Science
Challenger Center 150 7 Science
Chimera Project 150 7 Science
Aquaponics 25 7 Science
Aquaponics 150 7 Science
Ecosystem-Invasive Species 150 7 Science
Making Connections 150 7 Science

 

Additional Activity Information 2012-13 School Year


 

Plankton Monitoring

Overview
Students collect and monitor plankton from various coastal areas around Oahu. We use digital microscopes to photograph the organisms.

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Science Fair Projects

Overview
Students use laptops to create graphs, and write lab reports.

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Rock/Mineral Lab

Overview
Students use microscope to observe rock features.

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Pann-Stars

Overview
Students are participating in a worldwide campaign to observe and analyze telescope images.

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Ahupua'a Project

Overview
Students research organisms in their ecosystems related to the parts of an ahupua'a.

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Re-starting Aquaponics Unit

Overview
Re-started aquaponic units using just crayfish and hybrid tilapia.

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Additional Activity Information 2011-12 School Year


Big Island Trip

Overview
Students collected seeds and removed mamane seeds from pods to help the national park service with their revegetation efforts. They took video footage and made a video using the laptops for a service learning showcase at windward mall on March 31, 2012.

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Big Island Video

Overview
Students Created Video diary of Big Island Trip.

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HIP Robotics

Overview
Students used the NXT program to program an autonomous robot to do various tasks for the FLL Robotics tournaments. Students also used laptops to do research on various subtopics of food such as the causes of food poisoning and mad cow disease.

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Aquaponics

Overview

  1. Kept aquaponic units indoors to ensure no vandalism.
  2. Fishes jumped out. Students looked at water environment, temperature, rate of flow for aeration, pH, and #of fish. Students determined 5 tilapia in each was a good # for each container.
  3. Students started growing taro. Did well indoors with florescent lights.
  4. Students tried growing green onions. Bulbs would get too soft and rot.
  5. Fishes started to die.
  6. Students kept trying other plants, strawberries, green onions, and tomato. Did not do so well.
  7. Put in different fish, Koi.
  8. Koi died.
  9. Students started growing mint using tilapia and guppies.
  10. Mint slowly dying. Students looking at other nutrients needed for plants.

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Greenville Workdays

Overview
Students used laptops to type research on workday topics (animals, hydroponics, aquaponics, plants-vegetable and decorative, composting-vermi, hot-cold, upcycling and recycling.)

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Aquaponics

Overview
Using the information from the RET workshop I attended with Dr. Tamaru about aquaponics helped provide some information and ideas from our aquaponics unit for our school’s Advanced Media Design class to create a larger aquaponic unit design and create a video on aquaponics that aired on PBS- Hiki No.

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Ethnobotany

Overview
Students will research important plants in their culture and experiment on their antimicrobial properties.

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Project Noah

Overview
Students will take photos of the living organisms in their community and upload to Project Noah

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Best of the Solar System Webquest

Overview
Student s will practice observation skills and their ability to communicate findings through this Webquest.

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Space Spin-Offs

Overview
Students will research Spin-Off projects and how they have impacted life in our society.

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Observing with Nasa From The Ground Up

Overview
Students use laptops to control OWN telescopes using MicroObservatory Robotic Telescope Network.

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Children’s Book

Overview
Students use the laptops to research about their assigned animal. They used this information to create their own Children’s book.

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Research Paper

Overview
Students researched about a topic and wrote an essay.

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Research Project -IDU

Overview
Students researched a current issue or problem facing contemporary Polynesia, Micronesia, or Melanesia. Students needed to come up with possible solutions.

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MMS School Video

Overview
Students wrote a script for a school video called “Welcome to Mililani Middle School”

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MMS School Video

Overview
Students finished their script and recorded it on the laptop.

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Environmental Service Learning Fieldtrips

Overview
Students collected data on water quality as well as marine debris while also participating in environmental stewardship projects at Ho'oulu'Aina.

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Science Fair

Overview
Students created science fair power point presentations. They took pictures and imported them into their projects, and documented findings using charts and graphs.

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Robotics

Overview
NXT program has been downloaded to the laptop for use with the High Interest Program(HIP) Robotics Group.

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Aquaponics

Overview
Students set up the aquaponics systems and began experimenting with green onions and lettuce.

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MMS Greenhouse

Overview
Club members are writing donation letters to various companies to help raise money to conduct our school greenhouse.

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Additional Activity Information 2010-11 School Year


Stop Motion Animation

Overview
The students created their own stop motion animation movie. The movie was supposed to be at least one minute long at a rate of 8 frames per second. Students brought their own digital camera and props/characters.

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Aquaponics

Overview
Students set up the aquaponics systems and began experimenting with green onions and lettuce.

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Geology of Oahu

Overview
Students took a field trip to the Waianae range with SOEST scientist Dr. Sinton to learn about the geology of Oahu. Bus transportation was provided by RET.

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Electromagnetic Spectrum & Objects in Space

Overview
Students researched and presented on components of the universe and how we understand them using telescopes and the electromagnetics spectrum. Funds for the spectral tubes were provided for by DonorsChoose.org.

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Vex Robotics

Overview
Students used the laptops and Google Sketchup to create a 3 dimensional drawing of their prototytpe robot for the Vex competition.

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Jr. Engineering Expo

Overview
Students competed in the annual Jr. Engineering Expo at UH. Pre-planned events include popsicle stick bridege, and catapult competition.

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Environmental Service Learning Fieldtrips

Overview
Students collected data on water and soil quality as well as marine debris while also participating in environmental stewardship projects at Ho'oulu'Aina and Mokauea Island.

Related Links


 

Planets in Our Solar System

Overview
Students researched and presented on planets in our solar system, investigating planetary features and the possibility of human travel to other planets.

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Tech Ed.

Overview
Students learned the basics of google SketchUp to create 3 dimensional drawings.

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Additional Activity Information 2009-2010 School Year


 

Waves & Wave Technologies

Overview
Ocean Floor and Unexploded Ordinances Mapping.

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Introduction to Robotics

Overview
Basic robotics construction and programming.

Related Links


 

 

 

Additional Upcoming Activity Information 2012-13 School Year


 

FabLab

Overview
FabLab will be used to supplement the filling and wrapping unit in 8th grade math.

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Service Learning Wheel

Overview
Laptops were used to research on various topics related to the ecology such as microorganisms (composting).

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Next Generation Assessments and 6.6.6 Summative

Overview
Students used laptops to research on how an electromagnet works.

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Challenger Center

Overview
Used laptops for Challenger Center training.

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Chimera Project

Overview
Students used laptops to type out work for their Chimera Project, where students learn about cells and the make-up of organisms to create their own fictional organism.

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Aquaponics

Overview

  1. Students observing plants starting off okay, but then slowly withering.
  2. Students looking into what other nutrients are needed for plants to grow steadily.
  3. I’m speculating being inside is a big factor for the aquaponic units not being successful.
  4. Students want to re-start one of the aquaponic units.

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Aquaponics

Overview
After learning about the characteristics of a balanced ecosystem, we are going to focus our efforts on re-starting and maintaining our aquaponic units.

  1. Review research about aquaponics, taking care of fish, and nutrients for plants.
  2. My aquaponic group of 25 will re-start, monitor, and collect data on our aquaponic units.
  3. The building of our school’s greenhouse will provide a place later to house the aquaponic units outside. Hopefully it will be better outside.
  4. Students as part of their Scientific Inquiry benchmark will develop experiments on the topic of aquaponics.

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Ecosystems-Invasive Species

Overview
Students researched invasive species in Hawaii and their effects on Hawaii’s ecosystem.

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Making Connections

Overview
Students create reports on how what they learned in class with their benchmarks connected to what they did in their workdays with their Greenville topics.

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