From the Remote STEM Lab

Designing with lenses

This is not how I thought this year would end. I was looking forward to having my 5th graders create animated art works with Scratch and Raspberry Pi. Fourth grade was going to begin working on a Geo-Inquiry to accompany my upcoming Fund For Teachers expedition to the Galapagos Islands. My 3rd graders would be learning about physical computing with Micro:bit, and 2nd grade would be learning to use the full version of Scratch. Kindergarten would be using Scratch Jr. to tell stories. The Digital Making club would have just finished sharing their projects as a part of our annual STEM Night. I would be organizing projects from 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades to present at the Scratch Conference at MIT.

So honored to have been selected as a 2020 @FundforTeachers Fellow! Excited to travel to the Galapagos w/ @kboyceq to create projects based in the @NatGeoEducation Learning Framework for @Sinclair_ES students & to practice the Geo-Inquiry Process in the field! #FFTFellow pic.twitter.com/1vDNDJoGsv

— bradley quentin (@bquentin3) April 2, 2020

Instead, we are all sequestered away from each other. Students are sharing work from home on Scratch, Google Classroom, Living Tree, Teams, and email. My expedition to Ecuador has been pushed back to 2021. The same goes for the Scratch Conference. It is a less than ideal situation.

However, flexibility and adaptability are two of our core values in the STEM Lab, so we adjust our plans and do the best we can in a lousy situation. Here's what we have been doing in the Remote STEM Lab.

Building and Math Art Challenges
I challenged the Kindergarten and first grades to build towers and describe their design choices. Second grade made model animals and then compared and contrasted them. In addition to these, I sent out weekly guides for supplementary projects. These extra projects included building a chain reaction machine, a stabile, and a variety of activities that mash up math and art. (Credit for the math/art projects goes to Annie Perkins.) Those guides can be found here: Remote STEM Guides

@Sinclair_ES 2nd grader Diego created these two model animals, a scorpion and a squid, to compare and contrast for his remote STEM Lab project. #HISD #HISDatHome @HISD_ElemSci pic.twitter.com/wDcjp73RL5

— bradley quentin (@bquentin3) April 30, 2020

@Sinclair_ES first grader and future engineer Drew is building bridges for his remote STEM lab project. Described his process as: build, test, and refine to hold more weight. This design is holding 10 pounds! #HISD #HISDatHome pic.twitter.com/hlEDbVdTlQ

— bradley quentin (@bquentin3) April 23, 2020

Kindergarten students from @Sinclair_ES rocking the remote STEM Lab tower building challenge! #HISDatHome #HISD pic.twitter.com/PaINlOKwka

— bradley quentin (@bquentin3) April 17, 2020

Tons of Triangles

Tessellations

Animal models

Scratch Stories
The 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades were asked to use Scratch to tell a story. I gave them the freedom to decide what kind of story they wanted to tell. I got a wonderful range of projects, from biographies to retellings of fables to original stories. The students shared their projects to studios grouped by grade level. Links to each studio are below.
3rd: scratch.mit.edu/studios/25999827/
4th: scratch.mit.edu/studios/25999840/
5th: scratch.mit.edu/studios/25999872/




Code.org
Kindergarten, first, and second grade worked on completing their Code.org courses. During our office hour meetings we worked on some of the lessons together.

I cannot wait to get back to school to see the amazing students of Sinclair Elementary. I am already planning for next year in the hope that conditions will allow us to gather in person to make, build, and program awesome stuff.