DCS STEM Class

As a component of their technology take apart project, 7th and 8th graders have been using their parts to create artistic arrangements that will intrigue viewers, make them wonder what object the parts go together to compose, and raise awareness of the complexity of everyday objects. This part of the project was inspired by Todd McLellan's work Things Come Apart.   Here are a few of the first works created by our 7th and 8th graders. More will follow!

This week in STEM class, 3rd graders wrapped up their Scratch projects. Throughout their work on these projects, students practiced using success criteria as a checklist to ensure that their projects included all required elements. Take a look at the wide range of projects created using Scratch!   Click to View Spell Simulator Project ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------

Kindergarten students are learning that programmers give computers step-by-step directions. To practice the basic concepts of coding, including sequencing (putting steps in order) and loops (repeating a certain instruction more than once), students played coding hopscotch this week in the STEM lab. Working in small groups, kindergarten students created a code using directions, actions, and repeat blocks and then executed the code by hopping along the pathways they'd created. Click to view a video of Coding Hopscotch in action!

This week, 7th and 8th graders began a reverse engineering project. Students have chosen an item to take apart to explore its component parts and how it is put together. Throughout their take aparts process, groups are documenting their progress and keeping a Bill of Materials, which is an itemized list of each component part. Students will then use their parts to create an artistic composition and consider how they might redesign their item to improve its effectiveness, efficiency, ethicalness, and beauty.

Third graders have spent several classes creating and coding stories using Scratch. They have worked on creating customized backgrounds and characters, as well as putting coding blocks together to make their characters move, speak, and make sound. We've also learned about the role that loops (repeat blocks) and events play in programming. Take a look at some screenshots of our projects-in-progress below.

Students in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade have begun learning about computer science. In class, we are learning that computer science is the study of how we can use computers to accomplish tasks and to express ourselves. Our first activities have been "unplugged" -- meaning that we are learning about aspects of how computers and programming work without actually using a computer. First and second graders learned about algorithms -- a set of steps to complete a task -- by creating step-by-step directions to help our new friend Ruby (from Hello Ruby) visit with each of her friends. In their second lesson, first and second graders are learning about loops -- a repeated sequence of steps -- by creating their own dance routines. In kindergarten, we started our work in computer science by drawing what we think computers look like and describing as many of their parts as possible. In our second lesson, students learned that computers...

For their second rotation through STEM class, 7th and 8th graders worked on computer science projects. With a goal of improving our understanding of programming, students chose to create a game, an app, or an HTML/CSS website. Our products aim to teach younger students something about natural resources and sustainability. Games (Coded using Scratch) Apps (Created using Thunkable) Websites (Coded with HTML & CSS in CodePen)