Fifth graders take ‘Shark Tank’ plunge
Team K.R.A.M. and team Cloonie Shooz shared first-place in the Shark Tank project. The two teams are seen here with three of the four "Sharks": entrepreneur Cory Hanneman of Element 7 Concrete far left), website designer Jonathan Sultemeier of Apoterra Design in Cottonwood Shores (middle), and Highland Lakes Elementary Principal Michael Pittard.
By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula
Sixteen Highland Lakes Elementary 5th-graders faced four merciless “Sharks” Thursday, Dec. 18, as part of the “Shark Tank Box It Championship,” one of Marble Falls Independent School District’s project-based learning initiatives. These projects are meant to enhance learning by doing.
This project was based on “Shark Tank,” an American Broadcasting Company TV show in which entrepreneurs attempt to secure investment money from a panel of businessmen.
Beginning with 16 teams (with 38 students involved), that competition was narrowed to five finalists, who faced the panel with their creative projects.
Essentially, “we gave them a task and they had to find a solution,” said Linda Angelosante, teacher leader at Highland Lakes Elementary. Students determined which formulas to use and how to draw 3D figures, mostly using internet research.
“Most of the time, we asked and answered questions as a way to guide them,” Angelosante said.
“It was only when they got too frustrated that we stepped in and had a lesson,” she said, adding that frustration ultimately leads to academic growth. “If they’re never frustrated, if they never hit that wall, they just show what they already know.”
Angelosante was the mind behind the project, based on another school district’s idea. “We modified it to fit our students; it was from a middle school out east,” she said.
One of the two winning teams impressed the panel with their company Cloonie Shooz, which sold shoes that could be individually designed in appearance and fit. The other winning team, K.R.A.M., had a company selling X-Ray glasses.
The “Sharks” swam in from several businesses in the region, MFISD central administration, and from the principal’s office.
See Tuesday's Highlander for more.
