STEM Lab Report: Week 1

engineer in training

We had a great first week in the Sinclair STEM Lab! I enjoyed seeing some familiar faces as well as meeting so many new students. I am excited about the year ahead and the enthusiasm of the classes.

Last week, each class began with an overview of the STEM Lab standards as to what is expected in terms of participation and conduct. We also discussed what exactly the term "STEM" means. Many students had heard it before, and a few even knew that it stood for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. One of my central goals for the year to to help the students understand how the skills in each branch of the STEM disciplines support each other in our work, and that none of them can really be practiced in isolation. By way of an example, we talked about all of the STEM involved in making something as simple and commonplace as a ball point pen.

With the introductions and groundwork out of the way, we got down to work. Almost all of the kindergarten through 3rd grade classes engaged in an engineering challenge. (We had an unfortunate marshmallow problem, and one first and one second grade missed the building experience. They did get a head start on our computer programming unit though, and a promise to make the engineering challenge up to them.) The task was to collaboratively build a structure that could stand unsupported using only 20 strands of uncooked spaghetti and 20 mini marshmallows. (Kinder used toothpicks as they are less likely to break.) I was genuinely impressed by the creative constructions and the cooperation the students displayed. Many groups began by trying to make cubes only to discover that the "smooshiness" of the marshmallows made the cube impossible. Rather than giving up, the students tried other ideas. Some discovered that pyramids were very stable. Others stuck to their cubes, but began experimenting with ways to brace the structure with more spaghetti. A few even broke the spaghetti into inch long fragments the made a perfectly nice cube, but with enormous vertices. We always wrapped up with a discussion of what we might have used that would be an improvement over marshmallows, and the students were full of great ideas.

The 4th and 5th grade classes got a taste of archaeology and learned what garbage can tell us about how people lived in the past. (This lesson, and those that will follow it later in the year, are related to my summer course work in York, England with the York Archaeological Trust. Archaeology is a great subject to draw in the various elements of STEM as well as literacy and history.) Given a bag of garbage (set aside and washed, not picked out of a dumpster), students were challenged to determine all that they could about the group of people who had generated their trash. When I put the bags together, I had in mind a story that the objects would tell. Everyday I was surprised at the theories the students created which made just as much sense as what I had originally intended. It was a great opportunity to show that our picture of the past and our understanding of the world is almost never complete which is why we always need to be questing after more evidence.

This week we will be beginning our computer programming unit, so check back next week to see all the great work! You can also follow the STEM Lab on Twitter.

Examining "artifacts"

Welcome to the STEM Lab!

I hope everyone had a wonderful, fun-filled summer. As many of you know, I spent a month in the United Kingdom with my family traveling to many of its historic sites and museums. We had a great time, learned a great deal, and enjoyed some cooler weather as well. Our trip was made possible by the organization Fund for Teachers which makes grants to teachers across the country to participate in self designed professional development. Their generosity allowed us to spend 2 weeks working on an archaeological dig in the city of York. Archaeology is the study of human artifacts. We were digging in the yard of a church that was built in the mid 12th century. The experience gave me several great lesson ideas for the coming year. You can read about our amazing trip on our blog.

Speaking of the coming year, after 4 years in 3rd grade, I have moved out of Sinclair's 100 Acre Woods and into the science lab. This year, the lab will have a STEM (Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) focus. I am busily planning for an exciting year of programming, building, and creating. We'll also be getting into some archaeology, which incorporates a great many scientific skills and also draws in the fields of history and the arts.

We will begin, however, with an introduction to computer science through Code.org. Students will learn the basic vocabulary and concepts of computer programming through an online course and a series of "unplugged" activities. Students will also be introduced to Scratch, a programming language developed at MIT that is similar to the system used in the Code.org courses.

Later in the year, we will explore building structures and simple machines. Students will follow a design process to construct, test, and redesign their solutions to various building challenges. Creativity and collaboration will be essential!

Having learned to code and to construct, it will be time to put these skill sets together. We will do this using the amazing Lego WeDo kit. These kits and the associated software guide students through building increasingly complex machines and programming their behavior. The video below is just a teaser that uses a motor and and motion sensor to construct a Venus flytrap.

I am looking forward to a great year. Parents, I hope you will check the blog often to check on the work we are doing in the STEM Lab at Sinclair. Feel free to contact me if you ever have any questions.