Geodesic Domes!

Last week, grades K-3 began a project to understand the geodesic dome, a design created by R. Buckmister Fuller in an attempt to create efficient structures that would require little resources and energy to build and run.  This ties in brilliantly with our work with Global Goal #11 on the very first day of STEAM this year!  Click the photo of the Montreal Biosphere to learn more about the history behind this famous, socially responsible design!

To begin, we revisited the idea of sustainable cities and why they matter (urbanization, overpopulation and drain on resources in cities, impact on climate change).

Then we talked about geodesic domes and where we have seen them before in our lives (Epcot Center, soccer balls, Dothan Brook playground).  Finally, we learned how to make them ourselves, and in a throwback to our very first STEAM project with the pasta and marshmallows, we created individual geodesic domes, but this time with toothpicks!

 

Next step: building life-size models out of newspaper and tape that our students will actually be able to fit in! Stay tuned!

How Does Playing Help Us Learn?

For three weeks in April, we have let the students explore electronics and complex materials to see if "playing" with them helps them learn.  We were wondering if the opportunity to create meaning without rigid expectations (other than behavior) would result in the students gaining in skills, confidence, and learning through play.  Here's what they had to say!

How does playing with these materials help you learn?  How does it change your thinking?

It's clear that all students, regardless of age or gender, find the opportunity to learn by hands-on exploration valuable and meaningful! We couldn't agree more!

Electronic Sea Life!

Here are some of the examples of that third, fourth, and fifth graders made out of dismantled electronics.  They created sea life as art to raise awareness for the need to protect our oceans from plastics and other pollutants!  We were so proud of them!

Sea monster

Jellyfish

Seahorse

Jellyfish

Saltwater Crocodile

Turtle

Shark 

Narwhal

Sea Turtle

Penguin

Learning Through Play!

For this short STEAM unit, we will be orchestrating various opportunities for students to learn through open-ended play! We are focusing on Global Goals 4 and 5: providing an inclusive and effective learning environment for all students, regardless of gender, socioeconomics, etc.

The first thing we did to set kids up for this unit was to entice them with all these awesome tech opportunities, highlighting what they do and how the students can use them to to explore and learn.

We told the kids that only one gender would have the opportunity to use these, while the other gender would color quietly. We made broad generalizations to justify this choice (girls like art more, girls are quieter and like to do more fine motor activities or the boys get too rowdy so they need a quiet activity, the girls are already good at art so the boys need additional practice) and the responses were immediate, large, and indignant. I was really proud of some students of the opposite sex who stood up for their peers, pointing out that we were being unkind, sexist, and unfair. They were great, passionate discussions, and resulted in cheers when we told them everyone could use any materials they want!

. Then we let the kids explore with these dynamic materials! We will be reflecting on how open-ended play with these materials help them learn!