Our Final STEM Activity of the Year!

 Bravo!  We love doing STEM activities!  They are SO much fun, kids learn a LOT, and they are buzzing with excitement the ENTIRE time we are working on the activity.  For our last activity, we created a parachute for an egg that we will launch from the playground structure. 

Day One
We watched videos of how to create a parachute and ways to protect the egg.  We discussed problems they could encounter and the materials they would be able to use.  (Thank you for sending things to school!)  They were really excited and loved watching the videos.  We also talked about doing STEM activities this summer.  There are a million ideas out there and many of them don’t require a lot of preparation or materials.  We also found a great resource on line called SonicDad.com.  They have a TON of cool projects and helpful videos!

Day Two

Creating our parachutes and egg container.  On their own, I asked them to think about what they wanted to do for this project and let them brainstorm for ten minutes.  I then partnered them up (with our cool phone app) and set them loose to make both their parachute and egg container.  They all used the same garbage bags, but modified the shape and structure.  Some partners used four strings, while other used up to eight.  They were round, oblong, square, and rectangle.  It was interesting to see how much variety there was in each design.  They could only use five pieces of material for their carrier, making them really think about what was important and how to use their resources.  Bubble wrap, packing peanuts (1 cup of peanuts = 1 ), Scrap Box items, and tissue were among the most popular items.  The partners talked, tested, experimented, and practiced launching their parachutes.  The class was BUZZING.  It was evident that this was not their first STEM activity and that they were using all that they had learned in the previous activities to make this work.  Patience and cooperation was in full force.  There were great ideas bouncing off of the walls of room 306.  I loved watching every minute of it!

Day Three…it’s time to launch!
This is a test...this is my first time attempting to link a video!  Here's hoping it works!  =)  If it doesn't connect you directly, you can copy and paste the link.

Ella and Jacob:  https://youtu.be/fkhyq_NwbHs
Sophia:  https://youtu.be/DxQ8Ohbhlzs
JaVonte and Jane:  https://youtu.be/M0s8aBgW-Po
Drake, Shantell and Jeffrey:  https://youtu.be/AQ8j-nEaHqk
Adam and Arjun:  https://youtu.be/zA0YoZOyIsw
Nico and Lexi:  https://youtu.be/sv1ucGT87SM
Colin and Ashlee:  https://youtu.be/1WzNMLVru1M
Richie and Elise:  https://youtu.be/xj_g6JhROXQ
Kristina and Miles:  https://youtu.be/ZfccdlVKflg
Josef and Annalise:  https://youtu.be/04Bv_IHP0Ic
Dorien and Max:  https://youtu.be/7QFLA8dJ0ys

YahOooOoOoo!  We launched our parachutes and eggs off of the slide on the upper el playground.  Every single egg survived.  One broke – but that was only because the tape came away from the egg container…once fixed, it survived without a hitch.  Yay!  They were so excited to see their parachutes and it was so cool to see how different (and similar) their designs were.  They come away from these lessons having learned a lot, not only from what they did, but from what others do as well.  They notice things.  They figure out ways they could do it better and differently next time.  They talk to each other.  They problem solve.  They are remarkable.  I am really impressed with how far they’ve come!  STEM activities rule!  Try to do some over the summer! 

What we LEARNED!

I am so proud of every single one of my sweet chiddlers.  They did an amazing job this year and learned SO much during our STEM activities!  YahOOoOOoOoO!