DCS STEM Class

After learning about hibernation, students in kindergarten constructed "hibernation stations" that would create ideal conditions for an animal to slumber through the chilly winter months. Students discussed the importance of creating spaces that were dark, quiet, and safe and then set out to construct a hibernation station suitable for their chosen animal. The photos below demonstrate the wide variety of shelters constructed for this challenge!

In first grade STEM class, our computer science work has officially begun! Students are starting our exploration of coding with "unplugged" activities, which are tasks that illustrate programming concepts without the use of a computer. Our activity this week introduced "loops," which allow programmers to easily repeat portions of their code. Our unplugged lesson revolved around a book that we've been reading, Hello Ruby , and taught loops through the creation of dance routines. Check out the routines that students created below -- we learned not only about loops, but that repeating a dance 8, 9, or even 20 times can be exhausting!

Throughout the year, our specials team collaborates on several integrated units, where students learn about a common theme or topic in each of their specials classes. Our 3rd and 4th graders have just wrapped up a study of Native Americans, which featured learning about folk tales in library class,  creating bird prints in art class, learning traditional songs in music class, and learning skills related to orienteering in PE. In STEM class, students familiarized themselves with the story of one Native American constellation and then applied learning about electricity to create a paper circuit. In our paper circuits, students used a coin cell battery to power a circuit created using LEDs and copper tape. Creating and troubleshooting our circuits was a challenge and became a great opportunity for practicing perseverance and looking closely to investigate errors and malfunctions. Here a few photos showcasing some of our final products.             ...

Thanks to a grant sponsored by Lowe's, our STEM Lab is now home to a Glowforge Lasercutter. Before the winter break, our 7th and 8th graders completed a project that combined computer science and design as we broke in our new machine. Students used a program called TurtleArt to write code that created a geometric figure of their choice. Once these shapes were generated, students converted their files into a format readable by our lasercutter. Finally, students printed their creations on draftboard and turned them into ornaments or etched creations. Take a look at some of their work in the images below! This image above shows the shape created in TurtleArt -- the next one is the finished product.  

Over the past few weeks, our second grade students have been learning about our 3D printers and gaining familiarity with how to use a program called Doodle3D to create designs to print. When using Doodle3D, students are able to create a digital drawing on one part of the screen and the program renders it in 3D on another section of the workspace. These drawings can then be exported and sent to our 3D printers.  Students worked to create ornaments that met three success criteria.  The ornament must fit within a winter theme. The ornament must be a "cookie cutter" outline with nothing floating inside. The ornament must have a loop for attaching a ribbon. Check out some of the designs students created below!

During our Friday PreK class, students experimented with three different types of building materials -- Kid K'nex, Tinkertoys, and Brain Flakes -- to try to create snowflakes. Take a look at some of our explorations!