DCS STEM Class

For the STEM component of the 7th & 8th grade social risk unit, students participated in a rapid prototyping project that challenged them to imagine, develop, and create an idea for a product that could help address a problem faced by students in grades Pre-K to 4. Teams created a prototype of their inventions, a slide deck designed to persuade potential investors to support their products, and a product pitch. Take a look at their projects, which address a range of challenges faced by younger students, including getting lost, not being able to reach things, having difficulty making friends, and challenges with focus and motivation.

For their computer science module, third graders have been exploring making Minecraft "Mods" using LearntoMod. In this application, students work through coding badges that require them to create strings of code that cause alterations to game play in Vox-L, a Minecraft simulator. The puzzles are very challenging and have required students to practice embracing challenges and persistence!

We've been working on seasonal STEM tasks in kindergarten! Students have built towers that can hold up pumpkins, tried to topple ghosts, and created fall shapes from Legos. We've also been using our BeeBots and are beginning to learn about programming!

First graders practiced one of our STEM class principles -- Dig Into Mistakes -- by creating paper airplanes. We practiced following steps or creating our own designs and then tested them. We then analyzed how well our planes flew and made adjustments to try to improve their flight. We can learn a lot by digging into our mistakes!