Skip to main content

Kindergarten

STEM Class: Kindergarten Curricular Goals

In year two of STEM class, the focus is on building understanding of what engineers do, developing a curiosity about how things work and are put together, and being able to create and test a prototype of a solution to a design challenge.


Design Sensitivity and Maker Empowerment
Looking Closely Exploring Complexities Finding Opportunity for Making
I can draw a picture of an object. I can label its basic parts. I can draw or verbally explain how an object fits into a larger system. I can make something by repurposing.


Engineering Design Standards
Defining Engineering Problems Generating and Modeling Ideas Testing and Evaluating Ideas Refining Ideas
I can give examples of problems that engineers might try to solve. I can draw and label an idea for how to solve a problem. I can build my idea. I can explain if my idea met the goal. I can try a different solution to a problem. I can explain what I changed.


Computer Science
Computer Programming Computational Thinking and Computer Literacy
I can create a sequence of steps for a computer or robot to follow. I understand that computers are controlled by humans.

I can identify different types of computers and name basic parts of the computer (screen, mouse, touchscreen, keyboard, etc.).


STEM Class Principles
Imagine Possibilities Dig Into Mistakes Embrace Challenges Ask Questions Share and Show Kindness

Popular posts from this blog

7th & 8th Graders Showcase Automata!

  Several times each year, our school specialist team works together to create integrated units of study, where students explore a common theme through each of our content areas -- art, music, library/multimedia, PE, and STEM. Our 7th and 8th graders recently completed a Winter Carnival themed unit, where they worked on creating products or performances to showcase during a special carnival event for students in grades PK-2. In STEM class, students designed, built, and improved automata, which are mechanical devices that generate motion through a series of spinning cams, axles, and cam followers. Image Source: Adafruit The following success criteria guided the work for our 7th & 8th grade students: The automata must have a winter theme. The automata must feature at least one element that spins, goes up or down, or moves side to side. The automata design must include at least 10 different materials. Additionally, students were challenged to create a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Technology Club: Scratch

For the past two months, second and third grade students participating in our after school Technology Club have been using the block-based coding tools in Scratch to create animations. In the club, students tinkered with graphic design, sound, and coding to bring their ideas to life. Check out some photos of their designs!
Post a Comment
Read more

7th & 8th Graders Code In Python

In their first computer science project of the year, our 7th and 8th graders took a big step in their journeys as programmers -- moving from block-based to text-based coding. In previous STEM projects, students have used tools that allow them to snap together code "blocks" to make things happen. In this unit, they were responsible for typing commands to tell the computer how to execute actions. The image below shows the difference between text-based coding and block-based coding. While there are many different text-based coding languages, our 7th & 8th graders learned skills in Python, due to its beginner-friendly nature. Still, making this transition is not easy, so students were provided with resources and modules to work through that allowed them to have some starting directions and then challenged them to stretch their thinking by generating their own additions and modifications. Here's a look at a project, called "Turtle Race," in action:  https:...
Post a Comment
Read more