Friday, December 2, 2016

NOVEMBER!

We have been BUSY in my STEM class this past November.
I post most of my pictures and live stories to twitter at https://twitter.com/Mr_JVD

A project that I though would take 3 weeks it taking closer to 6...but it's GREAT!!
Students grades 3-5 are building bridges out of craft sticks and glue.  It's an amazing exercise in engineering, teamwork, and ingenuity.  Some teams are totally ROCKING it while others are struggling.  It's interesting to see how each group interacts with each other and with other groups.  Watch a time-lapse video here: Time-Lapse Bridges

The K-2 students have been busy too!!
We had a great time with 3-D shapes making them out of toothpicks and clay!  Some of the students really surprised me with their engineering skill!!

We also played a mad-dash game of WAR! using playing cards and our addition skills.

We have built towers, bridges, and all kinds of fun things that have challenged our brains.  This week we are learning about reactions.  It' has been a hoot watching each others pupils while we turn the lights on and off.  We then test our reaction time by catching a yard-stick that one of our classmates drops.  Super fun with a lot of brain power getting used!

Another fun thing we did with most of the 4th grade pod and a class of 5th grade is the Mannequin challenge!  We did a "proof of concept" drill with a set of 5th graders then did the whole pod of about 150 students.  SO FUN!!!  Check it out here: Mannequin Challenge