Our first STEM Night of the 2016-2017 school year was a huge success! Thanks to our partnership with Michelin, our STEM lab has added a TON of new building supplies, including some really exciting LEGO sets! Thursday night, we put a few of them to use with a variety of building challenges. One of the great things about STEM is that there can be many different ways to solve a problem or answer a question. There's no right or wrong way to create something...and when you find that your idea isn't working as well as you'd like, there's always another option to explore. LEGOs are a great tool for exploration and design. Not only are they fun, but they can give us great practice in problem-solving, creative thinking, and perseverance. Our students and families had a great time learning, building, and sharing their ideas! We started our evening with The Most Magnificent Thing, by Ashley Spires. This is a FANTASTIC book that got us started thinking about the challenges of the design process...and made us excited to build our own magnificent things! When we were ready to build, we had 5 different options: Block and Cover: A game of strategy! Build a Better See-Saw: Build a prototype and improve its design! Habitats: Build an animal and show where it lives! Towers: Whose structure is tallest? Which one can stay standing the longest? Simple Machines: How do the gears work? How can we use this device? Of course, no STEM Night would be complete without a tasty snack! Check out the LEGO-inspired treats we made:
Thanks to all our students, families, and staff who made this STEM Night a fun and successful one! And a special thanks to Mrs. Cheri Parker for the great photos! Get excited...there's more STEM fun to come this year!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
|