DCS STEM Class

Our 3rd and 4th graders have spent their October STEM classes exploring catapults! Given a small kit filled with potential building materials, students tinkered and tested multiple designs to try to develop a catapult that could send a Unifix cube "pumpkin" flying as far as possible, while also providing control and accuracy.  During their second STEM class, students put their catapult designs to the test in the Catapult Olympics. The six stations tasked students with a long-distance launch, trying to hit a target, landing their cube in a bucket, sending their pumpkin up and over a stack of boxes, attempting to knock over a stack of cups with their pumpkin, and trying to make their pumpkin fly through a hula hoop. Throughout the Olympics, students kept tinkering with their catapult designs as they continued to seek an optimal design.  Check out some photos of the action below!

During their fall work in STEM, our kindergarten classes have been exploring the properties of various building materials and their potential uses for accomplishing tasks. In their most recent round of challenges, students designed gates large enough to hold five pumpkins and also devised chain reactions that could topple a ghost. Check out some samples of their work below! 5 Little Pumpkin Gates "Ghostbusting" Chain Reactions  

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things about our daily lives. These shifts provide an authentic opportunity for makers to design and develop items to respond to new, emergent needs and challenges.  In their first project of the year, 7th & 8th graders are identifying needs and challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic and selecting a problem that can be addressed through 3D printing and design. The first photo above shows two iterations of a mask-holding bracelet, which is designed to allow a user to hang onto their mask while keeping their hands free. The photo below shows several, student-created versions of an item called "earsavers," which wrap around the back of one's head and hold the loops of an earmask, alleviating some of the discomfort that can come from wearing a mask all day. Finally, one highly motivated 7th grade student took independent initiative on this need-responsive printing project to create and print a new feeder for her chicken, Kiwi. Afte...

During their first STEM lessons, PreK students met our STEM class mascot -- Q -- and learned about what it means to be a "Curious Creator." After spending time designing their own Q in their first class, PreK engineers spent their second class building towers that could support Q. With their bags containing an assortment of building materials, students explored the different ways the items could be combined to yield a stable and tall tower. Check out some of their inventive towers below!  

 It has been another busy week in STEM class!  Our fourth graders had an authentic opportunity to explore one of our STEM class mindsets -- Embrace Challenges -- by taking on a tangram puzzle challenge. After reading the book Perfect Square , students attempted to solve the ancient Chinese puzzle by using the seven pieces to create a square. The task took a lot of perseverance! After successfully solving the square puzzle, students were then able to use their pieces to design their own shapes and designs out of the tangram pieces or a square sheet of paper. If you'd like to try out some tangram puzzles yourself, you can find a digital version of the puzzle here:  https://www.gieson.com/Library/projects/games/matter/

  This week, our kindergarten students met our STEM class mascot -- Q -- and officially became "Curious Creators." During their second class of the week, students used a variety of materials to create a house or a school where Q could do his learning. By creating their own designs and viewing those of their classmates, students explored the potential uses of each of the materials and discovered that they could be combined in many different ways. Second grade students spent the week completing activities related to Peter Reynolds' book The Dot . One of their tasks was working to create the tallest tower possible using only index cards and dot stickers. Students demonstrated perseverance as they tried to add more levels to their towers while working against an afternoon breeze!  

This week featured an exciting return to school, with students engaging in STEM projects in our new outdoor learning spaces. Rather than having a different special each day, we've modified the schedule this year so that each class gets to spend a week at a time in each of the special content areas. This change allowed the first groups in STEM to dive right into engineering and design challenges this week!  First grade engineers explored buoyancy as they tried to create rafts using apple pieces and toothpicks. During this challenge, students practiced brainstorming several ideas, persistence, and analyzing designs for successes and possible revisions. Take a look at some of their creations in the photos below. Third grade students also began the year with a challenge that required creating multiple iterations of a design. Given several sheets of paper, students folded and tested several paper airplanes, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses after each flight. Once students creat...