Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Full STEAM Ahead!




Three-quarters of our Lower School population attended Wakefield’s Fourth Annual Family STEAM Night! Everyone seemed to be having fun while learning together. To reflect a bit about the important skills that were practiced, here are some highlights:  

CONSTRUCT - Both the Engineering and Art stations engaged students to use their critical thinking skills to build a tower, tree, bridge, kaleidoscope and boat. Students needed to carefully consider scientific and creative elements of height, weight, dimension, form, structure, fit and design as they built their quite successful structures.

CREATE - Students experimented with color, brightness and light as they designed not only functional kaleidoscopes but ones that were pleasing to the eye! The creative process was also used when determining the structure of a bridge. Our work resulted in masterpieces that brought to mind the Golden Gate bridge, in our opinion!

CODE - Our Technology Integration and Math specialist worked together to demonstrate the important components of coding, on paper and on their devices. Students learned how to break a problem down into manageable parts and design a step-by-step solution to it. Code.org and Scratch provide ample opportunities to develop this important skill while creating, designing and having fun. A perfect winter day activity - we encourage you to continue the fun at home!

COLLABORATE - It was rewarding to see children and parents collaborate, as well as children with each other at the tables. Patience, teamwork, problem-solving, trial and error are all important components of collaboration.  

All skills were needed and practiced at all of the STEAM rotations. STEAM is meant to be an integrated experience of multiple content and skill areas.  In order for our students to be prepared to enter college and the jobs of the future, they should consistently engage in projects that practice and build comfort and competency in these areas. There are many, many research articles identifying the importance of STEAM projects and programs. P21: Partnership for 21st Century Learning is a website that I explore often. Here is a brief post that outlines the benefits of STEAM.

Full STEAM ahead!!