Welcome to the Spotlight on STEM section of our site! I plan to pop in here every other week and give you an update of what we've been doing and what is coming around the corner. If you haven't heard about the wonderful world of STEM yet, there are links in this site to catch you up on me, what STEM stands for, and resources for STEM related activities. All classes so far this year have had a lesson on The Power of Yet and Growth Mindset. Which is basically the idea that you aren't going to understand everything the first time you do it. Making mistakes is a good thing for you and with each mistake you learn something new and your brain gets stronger. This is very hard for even most adults to grasp. Getting things "right" and doing this "to mastery" is ingrained in us from a very young age. Being able to give yourself permission to make mistakes, make a mess, and learn as you go is quite a challenge. You would be amazed at how quickly the kids begin to recognize when they 'fail' at something that they have actually gained a bit of knowledge to help them move forward. We even celebrate it sometimes! YOU FAILED and it was EPIC! Each grade level has begun the first unit of the year. In the PLTW curriculum, these are called Modules. Here's a peek at what each grade is learning: Kindergarten is learning about forces and motion. Our vocabulary focus are the words push, pull, force, friction, and collision. We are investigating these terms in many different ways. As a final project, we will be building a wagon to haul some very heavy rocks. Our friends really want to put up a swing and they need our help to clear the area! First Grade has been studying animals, their habitats and the adaptations they have to survive in those habitats. We are taking a close look at ways animals get food, protect themselves, and move around in their environments. Our final project will be to send a human (a paper doll) into a specific habitat and we must dress him and pack a suitcase with essential supplies. Second Grade are learning about programs and algorithms. We will be using our computer science knowledge to create a game complete with main character, obstacles, move arrows and a win or lose screen! We began with unplugged coding activities such as helping Rosie find her bones and helping Fairytale characters navigate Fairytale Forest! Third Grade has started out this year as Geneticists. We are studying inherited traits in both people and plants. At the end of this unit we will be helping a farmer plan for his crop based on the genetic make-up of his plants. Do you remember the words Genotype and Phenotype? Ask your third grader for a refresher course. Fourth Grade is going to use the Engineering Design Process to solve a transportation problem. Throughout this unit we will learn about force, motion, speed and collisions. In the end we will keep an egg from cracking during a high speed collision with the wall! Fifth Grade saw first "hand" how quickly germs can spread through our classroom. We were all infected with glow germs after just ONE person began the spread during a hand-shaking activity. We are learning infection prevention, protection, and our body's reaction to infections. We will also learn about bacteria, viruses and communicable versus noncommunicable diseases. At the end of this unit we will solve the mystery of an illness spreading around school.
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