STEAM Update!

It's been a few weeks since I've updated you all on what's been going on in STEAM, so take a peek!

Kindergarten: This week Kindergarteners began engineering shade structures to reduce the warming effects of sunlight on an area. To begin our lesson we read a short story on monsters and their need for shade. After reading we worked as a group to brainstorm different places and objects humans use to cool off or get away from the suns powerful rays. In pairs, students colored in and created monsters to test their structures with. To begin our structures we started with planning our designs using a brainstorming worksheet. Student will be constructing their structures from a large collection of recyclables that I collected the first month of school. In order for them to plan accurately, I let them explore all of their recyclable options first so that their drawings would clearly display which types of recyclable materials they were planning on using. Next class, students will begin creating their shade structures using their plans/drawings. Once all students are done creating/engineering, they will begin testing their designs!

1st Grade: The past few weeks in 1st grade have been full of sounds and vibrations! We have seen, felt, and heard sounds. We've completed several experiments: Musical Splash, Musical Rulers, Kazoo Building, Guitar Creating, and Cup Phones. Students have had numerous learning opportunities to delve deeper into the world of sounds and vibrations and creatively navigate their way through lessons. For those of you who ended up with a musical instrument at your house or a child who created one at home after our class, I am so excited for you (imagine 26 Kazoo's at once)! : )

2nd Grade: In second grade we have been experimenting with all sorts of structures and properties of matter. We have done labs on flexibility, absorbency, as well as solving real life problems using our knowledge of properties of matter. This week students have been taking a quick assessment to test their knowledge and next week we will be moving on to reversible vs. irreversible changes! Students have been so thrilled with all of our hands-on activities, ask your 2nd grader which lab was their favorite.

3rd Grade: As our weather unit continues students are finally working on their typing skills and some groups have move into their planning and creating phase of their prototypes. Students have been working very hard and are so excited to get started on creating their iMovies! I look forward to sharing them with parents/guardians as soon as students begin to complete them.

4th Grade: In 4th grade students have been working on energy. As a whole students have begun to truly own our science vocabulary and I have actually been told they have been heard explaining potential and kinetic energy to other teachers! Certainly a feel good moment for me : ) Our first science experiment has been to test if speed and energy are related through a balloon rocket activity where students test to see if the amount of breaths (energy) placed in a balloon effects the distance traveled and the time it took for the balloon to travel across a 500meter line. Before students began this process they had to complete several trial runs to see which line (yarn, fishing line, or twine) worked best and why. As students complete the experiment in their groups they are responsible for relaying their findings and new found knowledge back to me through a worksheet I have created. Please ask your 4th grader which job they have been responsible for and what their favorite part of the experiment has been so far!

5th Grade: In 5th grade students have been working on MCAS review topics for their 5th grade Science and Technology/Engineering MCAS this spring. Our first topic was the rock cycle! Students have been working in small groups to research using our review Padlet wall as well as serval preselected books. Once all group members felt they had enough research to qualify for the full 4 points on their rubric, they set out to sketch how they were going to set up their posters. Once all posters have been completed and graded the posters will be displayed in their classrooms so they have easy access to their review material in hopes of remembering it for their MCAS! Please look for your child's rock cycle art work in their classrooms.

Thanks for checking in!

-Mrs. Henderson

What is STEM/STEAM?

The acronym stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. 

STEAM education is an exciting approach to teaching that stimulates children's creativity and draws upon their natural curiosity. Students naturally gain knowledge and experience in the STEAM disciplines by working on engaging, project-based activities. As a teacher I facilitate students' independent discoveries by guiding them through the STEAM Design Process, helping them to explore, observe, question, predict, and investigate STEAM concepts and possible solutions. 

Using the STEAM Design Process to solve problems gives students opportunities to learn and apply STEAM concepts towards a successful solution. The STEAM Design Process is a four-phase cycle that helps scientists and engineers find solutions to problems in a systematic way. Each phase in the process promotes creative thinking, learning, and innovation. The four phases we follow here at Cove are:

Planning: Students think of a solution to the problem based on their own experiences or knowledge. Drawing their ideas on paper helps them work though a plan and come up with a solid design. These drawings will also be used to reinforce what students have learned once they have successfully completed the project. 

Create: Students use critical thinking and problem-solving skills as they build a model of their design using specific materials. I often encourage students to talk about their models and explain how they are using their materials or how they came up with their unique features. I also encourage students to create models that reflect their original drawings as closely as possible. 

Test: A great deal of learning occurs when students are able to test their designs. Watching how their model performs during a test provides students with new knowledge of what works and what doesn't. For accurate results, testing must be consistent. 

Ask: Finally, students analyze their results and use their new knowledge to think of solutions for their new problems they noticed or encountered during the testing phase. It is IMPORTANT to help students realize that failure is a natural and useful part of the STEAM Design Process. I always encourage students to try again, starting at the first phase to create a plan for a new testable design. As Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” As a STEAM teacher I do my best to instill this motto in my students! 


If you have any questions about your child's STEAM education here at Cove, please feel free to email me at KHenderson@BeverlySchools.org

-Mrs. Henderson :)

Full STEAM Ahead Friday!

Welcome back to Mrs. Henderson's STEAM updates!

In 1st Grade we continued our exploration into SOUND by taking a sound field trip right here at Cove. To start our lesson we quietly sat in our STEAM classroom, shut the lights off, closed our eyes and began focusing solely on our sense of hearing. It's amazing how strongly our senses work when we focus our attention on that particular sense. Within the four walls of our classroom we heard nothing but silence, but as soon as we opened the hallway door we heard a flood of sounds. Being able to suddenly hear an abundance of sounds sparked excitement in the 1st graders! We quickly got into pairs, grabbed our clipboards and pencils, and set out on our field trip. As a group we silently walked through the halls and wrote down/drew everything we heard. Once we had navigated the whole school we set out on an outdoor expedition not only to see what we heard outside but also to see which sounds were present both indoors and outdoors. Students loved being able to be up and actively learning about the sounds around them. Ask your 1st grader what their favorite part of our sound field trip was. 

1st Graders exploring sounds

in the Cove School Children's Garden

Here is our data sheet

In 2nd Grade we began exploring how to compare and contrast properties of matter using a venn diagram. To begin our lesson we worked as a whole group to compare the contrast the properties of a Pencil and a Marker. Each student was given a certain color sticky note that indicated which property they were responsible for (pencil, marker, or both). Together we created one large venn diagram outlining what made the pencil and marker both unique and similar. Then, using our scientific language we wrote down a few sentences starting with the phrase "I observed". I wanted students to be able to explain what they discover by doing this activity so they could try it independently later in the class. Once students felt comfortable, I sent them to their tables to begin their investigation. Each student was given a cotton ball and a different marble so we could have a variation in our data. I was so thrilled to see that many students identified that both the marble and the cotton ball were solids, spheres, matter, and that they both had a bounciness to them. Please ask your 2nd grader what observations they made using their scientific language! 

Our worksheet under the document camera

In 3rd Grade we continued working on our weather projects. This week all groups have moved on to writing their weather scripts! Students are very excited to start building their pro-types and begin recording their news broadcasts. Please check in with your 3rd grader to see what their role is and which region they are researching. 

In 4th Grade we began our ENERGY unit by taking a pre test. After administering the pre test I took a quick thumbs up survey and found that most students didn't know much about the scientific method or energy, but they were excited to start learning! To kick off our unit we watched a science video on energy to give us a broad introduction into the topic. While watching the video students completed a video worksheet and shared their newfound learning with me. Check in with your 4th grader and feel free to message me any questions they may present to you : )

Last but not least, In 5th Grade we finally wrote, filmed, and edited our first news broadcast and sent it out to the entire school! I am so proud of them all and I cannot wait to slowly hand over all of the responsibility to them as they become one cohesive news team. 

-Mrs. Henderson : )

Weekly STEAM update

Hello everyone! It was nice to meet so many of you on our curriculum night, we had such a great turnout.

Thank you for checking in on our progress as we continue to delve deeper into the world of STEAM. Please take a look at our weekly update:

In first grade we watched a science video on sounds and vibrations to get us ready for our Listening Walk next week! Students began learning that sounds are made from vibrations and created a web of all their prior knowledge. We will be continuously adding to our sound web as we get further into our unit. 

If you have any toilet paper or paper towel rolls you'd like to donate to our class we will be using them to create musical instruments later in the year. 

In second grade students completed their properties of matter lab and created science folders to hold all of their amazing work. As we complete each unit I will be sending all of their worksheets home to share with you! I hope you're as excited to see their work as they were to complete it.

In third grade students continued their research and some groups began designing their solutions to their regions weather hazard. To be honest, third grade was the highlight of my week! I was truly blown away by students thinking and teamwork. I had several groups create weather solutions with detailed blueprints that blew my mind. Students were creative, innovative, and downright spectacular! Three cheers for my third graders! 

In fourth grade students began their journey into ENERGY. We started our lesson by working on group brainstorms and creating a K-W-L chart for each table group that we will continue to build on as our unit continues. Most groups didn't know much about energy and put few items in their K(know) column and excitingly enough there were many items and questions placed in the W(want to know) column. It's very exciting to have students want to learn and already be full of wonderful content related questions. I'm hoping to answer all of their "W's" before the end of our unit. Once students had completed their K-W-L charts we watched Bill Nye's Energy episode and completed a 5 question exit ticket. Students had to name two types of energy, answer wether or not energy could be converted/changed, as well as tell me a few interesting facts they learned or questions Bill Nye may have sparked. I felt like this was a great way to give students a quick overview of our unit before we begin our first energy lab next week. 

In fifth grade we completed our first Cove School news broadcast from beginning to end! This was a huge accomplishment in such a short amount of time. Students delegated jobs, wrote scripts, recorded their portion of the news, and together we created one cohesive presentation. Once we had a final product students sat in groups as we watched our first try as a whole. I then had students find a "rose and a thorn" for the presentation. Our roses(positives) were that we worked as a team, we created a final product, and that we were funny yet informative. Our thorns(negatives) were that students never lifted their eyes from the script, our camera's were shaky at times, we weren't close enough to our subject and filmed too much empty space, and we gave cues out loud on camera. In finding our roses and thorns students were able to create a list of changes to be made for our second try. I feel sometimes it is easier to see and learn from our mistakes rather than being told. Students found this exercise very helpful and they cannot wait for their news broadcast to go live and be sent into the classrooms. Please be patient as we continue to learn the ins and outs of the news world and prepare for try number two : )

Thanks again for checking in!

-Mrs. Henderson

Our 1st FULL week of school!

This week in STEAM/Media:

1st graders have been working on their iPad skills and learning how to navigate an iPad. This week 1st graders completed an iPad scavenger hunt to test their technology skills. I discovered that although most 1st graders know how to unlock an iPad and wake it from "sleeping "they do not understand what APP's are or how to use many of them. I will be taking my survey data and creating lessons around their needs in the up coming weeks!

2nd graders continued their exploration into properties of matter by completing their first lab. To start off our lesson I held out various items and began describing them.

A pencil:

• It's the color yellow with a green and pink eraser
• It's hard
• I can't bend it
• The texture feels smooth and pointy on the end

After doing this I asked the students what I was doing and they eventually told me I was describing its characteristics, which we later found out were PROPERTIES.

In groups we then created a list for each of property: Color, Shape, and Texture. Then we created a master list for students to use while we completed our lab.

Each student was given our lab worksheet and a tray of preselected items:

Once students were set up with their materials they were off to explore the properties of each item in the tray! Ask your 2nd grader which item was their favorite and why : ) 

3rd graders have been working on a weather broadcast for the past two weeks. Each group was placed in a specific region and then given a location to focus their data on. Students have been assigning roles, collecting data on average temperature, wind speed, and precipitation, as well as researching the weather related hazards the habitants of each region face. With their research students will be creating a script for a weather broadcast as well as engineering a mini prototype of their solution to their weather related hazard. Once students are ready we will be transitioning to iMovie and working on our technology skills. Ask your 3rd grader which region they are focusing on and which role they were given in their news team!

4th graders have been working on their basic coding skills using Code.Org. The website creates computer science lessons geared towards elementary students to teach them all they need to know about coding. Ask your 4th grader what level they are on in our first coding course (angry birds)! As students feel comfortable with the basics we will be progressing towards more advance levels of coding : )

5th graders have been diligently working on their iMovie skills so we can prepare to start delivering the Cove schools morning news! If you have any topics or news stories you would like the 5th graders to cover please feel free to leave us a comment with your suggestions.

Thank you for checking in and I hope you enjoyed your peek into my STEAM classroom!

-Mrs. Henderson

   

This week in STEAM: September 6-11

This week in STEAM was very fun and exciting! Here are some highlights from our first week:

In kindergarten we learned a lot about thermometers, temperature, and making predictions! To start off our lesson we looked at some very interesting slides about all the different temperatures around the world.

Here are some of the facts we learned:

The hottest place on Earth is Death Valley, California. It can reach 134*F!

The coldest place on Earth is Antarctica. It can be -128*F there!

The center of the sun is 27,000,000*F!

The air outside of an airplane is -50*F!

After discussing how temperatures can go up and down each student was given a thermometer to investigate! I was asked many interesting questions about why there was red blood inside the thermometer  : ) and why it moved with the temperature. After some quick clarification students were given their first question! What temperature are our thermometers measuring right now and what do we think they are measuring? Once we knew we were measuring the air temperature we set out to explore some more! Students were paired up and given a measuring cup and a small container. Together they measured out 125mL of water using their measuring cups and then took the temperature of their water. Students were stumped! Why was the water the same temperature as the air? After a short discussion I told students I had placed the water out for them the day before so it had adjusted to the air temperature.

Then I took out a large bag of ice!

I had students make predictions about what they thought would happen when we placed ONE ice cube into their container and as we continued we slowly added THREE ice cubes. Students were amazed by how quickly their thermometers dropped from 80*F to 40*F right before their eyes! To finish our activity we projected a "Using a Thermometer" worksheet onto the whiteboard and together we filled in our findings! Ask your Kindergartener what they learned about temperature and thermometers in STEAM class this week :)

In 2nd grade STEAM we began our unit on properties of matter with a brainstorm, song, and a scavenger hunt all about matter!

Here are the lyrics to our new song:

States of Matter

(To the tune of Farmer in the Dell)

Solid, Liquid, Gas

Solid, Liquid, Gas

Three states of matter,

Solid, Liquid, Gas

A solid keeps its shape,

Some are hard, some can break,

Like a table of a role of tape,

A solid keeps its shape.

A liquid shape depends

On the container that it's in.

Like a cup, bottle, or a metal tin,

A liquid shape depends.

A gas you cannot see,

It's in the air we breath,

Helium, oxygen, or steam,

A gas you cannot see.

Ask your 2nd grader to sing it to you!

After singing we talked about MOLECULES (the tiny particles everything is made from) and as a class we acted out how the molecules behave in each state of matter. 

Here is Mrs. Hajj's class acting out how 

molecules are for solids, liquids, and gases:

We learned that solids have tightly packed molecules that are very organized, liquids have molecules that are close together, but they can move and slide past each other, and that gas molecules spread out and move very fast! Students really enjoyed being up and moving around as molecules : ) 

To finish our lesson we did a classroom scavenger hunt to see how many of each state of matter we could find right in our very own classroom and together we created a master list of everything we found! Ask your 2nd grader what their favorite part of STEAM was this week!!

Check back next week to see more STEAM highlights! 

-Mrs. Henderson

Back To School!

Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful summer and that you're ready for a new and exciting school year. I have been working very hard to make STEM/STEAM fun and exciting for the 2015-2016 school year and I look forward to seeing you all : )

My son Maddox's 1st birthday this summer : )

5th Grade Paper Table Engineering Challenge

Last week all four 5th grade classes took part in a paper table engineering challenge. Before they began they had strict parameters, but not visual aids provided.

Paramaters:

You may only use 8 sheets of newspaper

Your table must be at least 8" from the base

You may only use tape to hold your structure together

Your table must be able to hold the weight of a dictionary

You only have 25 minutes to construct your design

Their goal was to create a paper table strong enough to hold the weight of a dictionary.

I wanted to students to understand that the engineering process is a series of trial and error where changes are frequently made and tested (and retested). 

Students brainstormed possible solutions before they began

Let the building begin!

Next Generation Science Standards:

3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost. 

3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem. 

3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.  

2nd Grade: Habitat Projects

Over the past few weeks 2nd grade students have been learning about and researching habitats. We started our habitat unit by watching an Animal Atlas video showcasing all the different habitats and animal adaptations. After watching the video we spent some time talking about all the new vocabulary words we heard.

• Hibernation
• Migration
• Camouflage
• Adaptation
• Habitat
• Biome
• Tundra
• Grassland
• Rain Forest
• Forest
• Desert
• Ocean/Coral Reef 

We also practiced hibernating and creating camouflage right in our classroom, it was so much fun! I really enjoyed watching students take ownership of their newfound vocabulary. Did you know that camouflage isn't just "army colors"? Having students experiment with colors, patters, and textures to create their own camouflage was just one of the many things we've done during our unit!

As our unit comes to an end, students have been working in small groups to create animal habitat dioramas using the research they did on the internet and preselected books from our schools library. Here is a link to our Animal Habitat Padlet wall we used to store our websites and videos for easy access: Animal Habitat Padlet Wall

Check out student work in progress!

 I can't wait to see their finished products! 

Ask your 2nd grader which habitat they are working on!

-Mrs. Henderson : )