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