Gifted QC sixth-graders build a Ferris wheel

May 17—Working with 6,000 parts and pieces, a basic instruction book, curiosity, talent and a little bit of basic instruction from an invested teacher, the Desert Mountain Elementary school's gifted and talented KNEX team has just completed a project that might have left some heads spinning.

Under Dr. Seth Kessler, the sixth grade engineering students created a working, 6-foot tall Ferris wheel as part of their gifted and talented curriculum this year.

For Kessler, teaching and overseeing projects like this is all about keeping his students engaged,

Kessler is the district's leader of the gifted and talented program who teaches those students at Desert Mountain Elementary.

"Those students who qualify at the 97th percentile score are able to come to a session once a week," he added. "Gifted students typically require fewer repetitions for mastery.

"This is a way for them to get some different types of instruction rather than repeats. This is for our high ability, high achieving students."

During that 2 1/2 hour weekly session, the kids, who are identified starting in second grade and take part in the program through sixth grade, participate in an enrichment project aimed at developing their cognitive strengths.

The ferris wheel was this year's project, and the kids were confronted with the requirements and limitations it presented.

They had to design the Ferris wheel and determine how it would operate based on scientific principles they were learning in class.

"So, we looked at some of the science behind it," Kessler said. "We looked at weights and loads, centrifugal force and basically what's going to happen to it as it spins.

"They studied different makes that people have done around the world," he said. "So, we looked at the Eye of London. The kids did a small report and then they had to create their own."

Kessler said the project also taught them life skills and challenged them to come up with an organizational leadership model.

And they had only 10 weeks to do it while meeting just once a week for a few hours at a time.

"One of the biggest limitations was time. So, they had to break off into working teams and strategize," Kessler said. "It's not going to be 'who is bossing people around?' There was a lot of collaborative work, which was the goal."

Kessler said gifted students often must challenge themselves to work collaboratively because they tend to work alone or want to be the one in charge.

Neither tendency is conducive to good team work, which is what this project required, he said.

"And this was a good opportunity for that give and take," he added.

Kessler said the project also focused on risk taking, problem solving and error analysis skills the kids worked on through the year.

"All of a sudden pieces and big sections weren't ... going together," he said. "And of course, we talked about 'that's the real world. You've got great plans but sometimes things don't pan out. You don't just give up. What's your next step? What's your plan?"

Kessler is already looking forward to next year's team, for which 19 students have qualified and are enrolled, though he has not said yet what the students will be working on.

He added a bigger group provides even more learning opportunities for the kids to work with other students.

Kessler said that gives him yet another chance to present a life lesson on top of the engineering instruction: "At least be able to work with others. You don't have to absolutely be best friends with them, but it is important to at least be able to be friendly and functional."

Kessler said success depends largely on how well students can work with each other, and introducing that concept to the youngest kids also is key to the success of the district's gifted program.

"Even the oldest students are only 12 years old," he said. "But it's good to start those foundations so as they move into the older grades and robotics and things like that, the collaborative structure is highly important for those students to understand."

"It's not how smart are you," Kessler said. "It's how are you smart?"