STEM Class updates for January and February, 2017

Hello students, teachers, and families,

Wow! I can't believe it's been before winter vacation since my last update about happenings in the STEM classroom! We've been so busy learning computer science, robotics, and working on a very special design project for our school garden. See below for specific class updates!

-Mrs. Athearn


Grades 3 and 4

Earthquake resistant building test

Third and Fourth graders wrapped up earthquake engineering in early January, and since then, we have been learning a ton of computer science concepts. The students have had a mix of plugged and unplugged programming lessons on Code Studio. We have been working on Course 2. The students feel like they are solving puzzles or creating interactive games and stories, but they are also building computer programs and learning fundamental computer science concepts like: algorithms, sequencing, looping, debugging, conditionals, events, and binary.

For more information or to try Code Studio for yourself, click on the link below to Code.org!

Code Studio

Angry Birds Maze in Code Studio

Binary Bracelets

Grade 5

Fifth graders in all of my STEM classes wrapped up their Tinkercad choice project in early January, and moved on to a few weeks of learning computer science in Code Studio. Unfortunately, due to snow days, some classes did not have as much time to practice building programs in Code Studio, but have no fear----we'll pick back up with Course 3 of Code Studio at the end of February and beginning of March. Here are some photos of the Tinkercad choice projects. They all came out great! Some students were unhappy that their design didn't 3D print exactly the way they had expected, but alas 3D printing is not a perfect technology. Overall, I think most students were pleased.

Tinkercad Choice Projects

Log Cabin

Christmas Cat

Family House

Mrs. Young, Mrs. A-C, and Mr. Reagan's Classes

Students in Mrs. Young's class are designing their own robots made from cardboard, popcicle sticks, other recycled materials and LittleBits electronics. The robot must be able to imitate human actions. Stay tuned for pictures!

Students in Mr. Reagan and Mrs. Ash-Cuthbert's classes are making robots from our Lego Robotics kits. Students must first build a robot model from one of the instruction booklets, program it to move or make sound with Lego WeDo software, and then they can design a totally unqiue robot of their choosing. Here are some photos of the robots created so far!


 

Mrs. Alves, Mrs. Ouellette, and Mrs. McPherson's classes:

Students in Mrs. Alves, Mrs. Ouellette, and Mrs. McPherson's classes are working on a design project for our school garden. They are designing a garden gallery fence that will be created in life-size form by high school students from Portland Arts and Technology High School!

I have been working with Mrs. Hewitt and Mr. Johnson on this exciting project. Mrs. Hewitt approached me with the idea of designing a garden fence at the beginning of the year. She was inspired by a wrought iron decorative piece that she found this past summer, and she knew she'd like to add on to her granite outdoor classroom project.

Then, we got together with our art teachers, Mrs. Maloney and Ms. Willwerth, and they had the awesome idea to turn the fence into a gallery for hanging art sculptures! We were able to secure a grant from the Scarborough Education Foundation to help fund this project, and the art teachers will be welcoming an artist in residence to create wind sculptures with the students this spring.

 High school students in the blacksmithing and metalwork program at PATHS will be sending us updates on the construction of our gallery fence later this winter and spring. We will be sending our plans to PATHS over February break, and then we hope to have the fence installed this spring or summer. Here's the challenge criteria and constraints that I gave to the students for the gallery fence. Students could choose to create a prototype model in Tinkercad, or build one using popsicle sticks, or create a scaled drawing.

Wentworth Garden Gallery

An Interactive Art Fence

Learning goal: Use the EDP to design and create model prototypes of an ornamental gallery fence for our Wentworth school garden.

Criteria:

1. Must fit in designated space in the garden to act as an entrance to the outdoor classroom.  
2. Must have 24, square foot openings to accommodate hanging art sculptures.
3. Can be stylized with themes of nature and Scarborough, but it should have a simple enough design to complement the hanging art.

Stay tuned for photos!!

-Mrs. Athearn

STEM Question of the Week: Week 10

This week's topic is: Computer Science

This week's question is: In honor of computer science education week once more, what is a bug in a program, and what does it mean to debug the code?

Check out these research tools from our Learning Commons to find your answer:


https://sites.google.com/a/scarboroughschools.org/wentworth/learning-commons/online-resources

https://kiddle.co

https://code.org/

-Mrs. A

STEM Question of the Week: Week 9

This week's topic is: Computer Science

This week's question is: In honor of computer science education week, what is an algorithm and a program in computer science?

Check out these research tools from our Learning Commons to find your answer:


https://sites.google.com/a/scarboroughschools.org/wentworth/learning-commons/online-resources

https://kiddle.co

-Mrs. A

STEM Class updates: Week of December 5, 2016

Dear families, teachers, and students,

It has been a very busy few weeks in the STEM classroom. I hope everyone had a restful Thanksgiving break with friends and family. As I reflected on the year that has passed, I realized how thankful I am to work in such a amazing school in such a wonderful and education-minded community. I feel lucky to come to Wentworth and teach these inspiring children everyday!

Grade level updates below!


Grade 5

5th graders are wrapping up several weeks of learning the ins and outs of 3D modeling in Tinkercad. Students learned how to translate, navigate, nudge, rotate, scale, align and mirror shapes in Tinkercad. Students also learned boolean operations of adding and subtracting 3D shapes in Tinkercad. Students will now move on to using the engineering design process to imagine, plan, create, and improve and final 3D design to be printed in our 3D printers. Choice projects include baseball field models, name keychains, miniature log cabins, and animal faces.

Stay tuned for pictures!

Grades 3 and 4

3rd and 4th graders are continuing to be earthquake engineers and have finally finished testing model buildings on our model shake tables to create earthquake-safe building codes. Students tested their models for the best shape and size, the best foundation, and the best use of braces between support beams tested at a 7.0 magnitude simulated earthquake. Students are now planning a final earthquake safe model building using the building codes they created in testing. Final buildings will need to meet certain design criteria and budget constraints depending on the type of building being constructed. Choices include a hospital, a library, apartment building, or house.

Below are some pictures of the models in earthquake testing,

 

December 5th kicks off computer science education week! I look forward to participating in Wentworth's Hour of Code events the week before winter vacation!

Have a great week everyone!

-Mrs. Athearn

STEM Question of the Week: Week 8

This week's topic is: Earthquakes

This week's question is: 

3rd and 4th graders have recently been studying earthquake engineering. We are learning that an earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault where tectonic plates are moving very slowly on the hot molten rock core of the earth. What do scientists call the places where two plates crash and crunch together?

Check out these research tools from our Learning Commons to find your answer:



https://sites.google.com/a/scarboroughschools.org/wentworth/learning-commons/online-resources

https://kiddle.co

-Mrs. A

STEM Question of the Week: Week 6

This week's topic is: 3D Design

This week's question is: What does CAD stand for in Tinkercad?

Check out these research tools from our Learning Commons to find your answer:

https://sites.google.com/a/scarboroughschools.org/wentworth/learning-commons/online-resources

https://kiddle.co

-Mrs. A

STEM Question of the Week: Week 5

This week's topic is: Daylight Saving Time

This week's question is: What is the basic purpose of Daylight Saving Time and when was it first signed into law in the United States? 

Check out these research tools from our Learning Commons to find your answer:

https://sites.google.com/a/scarboroughschools.org/wentworth/learning-commons/online-resources

https://kiddle.co

-Mrs. A

STEM Class updates Oct. 31st-Nov.4th, 2016

Hi friends! Here's an update of what's happening in Mrs. Athearn's STEM Class:

Grade 5: 3D Printing and Tinkercad
I'm super excited to announce that Mr. Johnson and I got one of our 3D printers up and running last week! We've been making test prints to find the right dimensions for printing student designs for our 5th graders as they continue to learn 3D modeling in Tinkercad. Mrs. MacKenzie's class also got to help us out with test printing last week. 3D printing is a wonderful way to engage the students in learning, because they are so motivated to see their imaginations come to life in 3D form, however due to the time and cost associated with 3D printing, it is important to scale designs down to a small size to ensure that all students can print at least one project this year. I'll try to post some pictures of our designs as we print them.

To see what your child is creating, have them log on to their Project Ignite account from this url:

https://projectignite.autodesk.com/


Grades 3 and 4: Earthquake Engineering
Last week, students in grades 3 and 4 learned about the the need for earthquake engineering and the 2010 earthquake in the island country of Haiti. We learned that Haiti was hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and most buildings, large and small, were completely destroyed. We also learned that part of why Haiti was so devastated was because construction codes, or safety rules for building, were not being enforced. Students also got to experiment with a shake table. Engineers use shake tables to test if buildings will survive an earthquake or not. Students will use shake tables again this week to test model structures and collect data about what types of building designs will be the most earthquake resistant. Students will use this data to come up with their own model construction codes that will be used to build a final earthquake resistant structure in a few weeks.

To see a life-size shake table in action at the University of California-San Diego, click on the link below:

https://youtu.be/duzcOkzwpDo?list=PLyy_4z9b5NrwmJYv2wBWuJT2DEsZwwUqn


Happy Halloween Everyone!
-Mrs. Athearn :)

STEM Question of the Week: Week 4

This week's topic is: Earthquakes in America

This week's question is: Where and in what year did the strongest recorded earthquake in the United States occur? It was recorded as a 9.2 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale!

Check out these research tools from our Learning Commons to find your answer:

https://sites.google.com/a/scarboroughschools.org/wentworth/learning-commons/online-resources

https://kiddle.co

-Mrs. A

STEM Question of the Week: Week 3

This week's topic is: Astronomy Current Events

This week's question is: What annual meteor shower peaked last week firing up the night sky with dust from Halley's Comet?

Check out these research tools from our Learning Commons to find your answer:

https://sites.google.com/a/scarboroughschools.org/wentworth/learning-commons/online-resources

https://kiddle.co

-Mrs. A

STEM Question of the Week: Week 2

Hi friends!

It has been such a busy week in the STEM classroom. Between curriculum planning and having two sick children at home, I completely forgot to post the STEM Question of the Week here on my blog! My sincerest apologies!

The STEM Question of the Week was posted Monday on students' Google Classrooms, so remember you can always find it there too!

Here you go!


Q: In computer science, what does CPU stand for?

Here are some resources to research the question:

https://sites.google.com/a/scarboroughschools.org/wentworth/learning-commons/online-resources
http://kiddle.co/

-Mrs. Athearn

STEM Class updates 10/17-10/21, 2016

Hi students, teachers, and families,

After attending the ACTEM (the Association of Computer Technology Educators of Maine) conference last Friday, I am feeling energized and excited to share new technology resources with my students and colleagues of Wentworth. I was especially excited to attend a learning session on cad design and 3D printing. I learned that the 3D design tools we are using here at Wentworth are the optimal programs for student 3D design and printing. I also gained new insights into how we can utilize this amazing technology for student learning---more info to come in the future!

Grade level updates:

Third and Fourth

This week I will be trying out a new interactive lesson tool called Peardeck with third and fourth graders as they are introduced into the field of Earthquake Engineering. Students will also explore use of a special tool that earthquake engineers use called a shake table.

Fifth

This week, fifth graders will begin a lesson in Project Ignite (our cad learning portal) called "Let's Learn Tinkercad". Students will be able to practice their 3D design skills in Tinkercad by learning how to: navigate shapes on x,y,z axes, use shape menus, and scale, rotate, group, and manipulate shapes.

Stay tuned for Monday's STEM Question of the Week.

-Mrs. Athearn

STEM Question of the Week

Participation is completely optional. Research the answers with your family or during STEM class if you finish your work early. Post your answer to the STEM Question of the Week in the comments of this blog post, on your child's Google Classroom, or bring a written answer to Mrs. Athearn in B101--Green STEM lab

Answers will be accepted until 2:45 on Friday. Winner will receive a certificate and pencil from Mrs. Athearn.

This week's topic is: Women in Computer Science

This week's question is: What is Ada Lovelace best known for?

Check out these research tools from our Learning Commons to find your answer:
https://sites.google.com/a/scarboroughschools.org/wentworth/learning-commons/online-resources

-Mrs. Athearn

STEM Class Updates for Oct.10-Oct.14

Hi students, teachers, and families,

3rd, 4th, and 5th graders did a great job last week setting up their Digital STEM Notebooks in Google Slides. Digital STEM Notebooks will be how students record and represent what they learn in STEM class this year. The notebook is digital so students can receive feedback and comments from me, share and collaborate on entries with classmates, and have a completely paperless, polished portfolio of STEM learning by the end of the year.

3rd and 4th graders will use their digital notebooks this week as they investigate what makes something a technology.

5th graders will be working on setting up their Project Ignite accounts this week, Project Ignite is a student and teacher portal for Tinkercad---the 3D modeling program that we use to create designs and prototypes in our CubePro 3D printers. 5th graders will be learning the ins and outs of 3D designing in Tinkercad for the next several weeks. Students will use their skills for a special design project for our school garden---more on that in the future!

Check out Project Ignite here: https://projectignite.autodesk.com/


-Mrs. Athearn

Welcome back to STEM Class!

Dear students, teachers and families,

What an exciting first few weeks we've  had here in STEM class! We've been working on the following engineering learning goal for all 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders:

I can use the Engineering Design Process (EDP) to create a technology that solves a problem with a specific set of criteria and constraints.

To meet this learning goal, Wentworth students have participated in two fun engineering challenges. We built model towers to save animals living along an alligator swamp, and we created catapults to use in a catapult painting project to solve Mrs. Athearn's problem of having blank and boring bulletin boards. The kids have also learned about potential and kinetic energy as they created, improved, and tested their catapults.

Check this blog often for weekly updates of the exciting things happening in STEM class this year! We'll be creating, tinkering, designing, engineering, and using lots of fun technologies.

Science Question of the Week

I will be posting a Science Question of the Week every week starting October 10, 2016. Questions will be posted on Monday on this blog, and students can research the answer in their choice time at school or at home with their families. Students can post their answer in the comments of the blog post, Google Classroom or bring a written answer to Mrs. Athearn in B101. Answers will be accepted up until 2:45 on Fridays and winners will be displayed on the Spinetix TVs the following week. Winners will be determined by having the first correct response delivered to Mrs. A. This is of course an optional and fun activity that kids can choose to participate in.

-Mrs. Athearn :)

Green Engineering Projects Update!!

Hello friends!

The students of Wentworth have been very busy working on their green engineering projects in STEM class. I am really impressed with the different ways that students are choosing to use recycled materials to create inventions that will soon be "powered up" by our LittleBits electronics, if they have not added LittleBits already. I am equally impressed with the students' creativity using Tinkercad to create 3D logos with Earth Day messages. We will be wrapping up these projects in the next two weeks, and then we will be finishing out our year with some smaller LittleBits' projects including making bubble machines and art-bots.

Check out some photos and videos of the students' hard work below!

-Mrs. A


Little Drummer Invention powered up by LittleBits servo motors!

Recycled Kitty Car!

Basketball Court!

Lego Car!

Recycled Creature Car!

Petite Recycled Car!

Wolf  Invasive Species Logo Created in Tinkercad

Earth Day Message Logos Printing in 3D Printer!

Update for the week of April 25, 2016

Hello teachers, students, and families,

I hope everyone had a nice spring break! I took some time to celebrate Earth Day over vacation and do some planting in my hay-bale gardens and clean up some litter around my neighborhood. I heard from many students about other ways they celebrated Earth Day like planting trees, conserving water or energy, and just spending time in nature. As we continue to study Green Engineering in STEM class, I hope students and families will be inspired to make small changes that can help protect and preserve our natural resources here in Scarborough and across the beautiful state of Maine. Below is an update on grades 3 and 4 STEM learning for this week!

Monday's and Friday's Classes:

Third and Fourth graders are continuing to work on their 3D printing project with an Earth Day/Green Living theme. The kids are learning the basic tools and functions of Tinkercad---our free online 3D modeling program, and using an online research tool--PowerKnowledge Life Science, to complete research of their choice about a Green Living topic to promote an Earth Day message. Kids choose a topic about Green Living and environmental science of their choice like global warming, recycling, or using energy efficient technologies, learn about that topic, and come up with a simple message that can be represented on a 3D logo design that we create in Tinkercad. The message should be simple and realistic---a small change or difference that everyday people like us can make to help the Earth.


Tuesday's, Wednesday's, and Thursday's Classes:

Third and Fourth graders are continuing on to the CREATE step of the Engineering Design Process as they design a recycled invention inspired by the Recycling Marketplace in Senegal, Africa. Kids collected recycled materials, and then imagined and planned the criteria for what their invention must do or be. Next, students made a detailed plan for creating their invention as well as, a plan for "Powering-Up" their invention using our LittleBits electronic modules. Some kids are making cars, model houses, and even a donut machine! I can't wait to see these inventions next week as we add artistic detail by painting and decorating the inventions.

Have a great weekend all!

Mrs. A

Updates for Trimester 3: Green Engineering and 3D Design: April 7, 2016

Hello students, teachers, and families,

First of all I want to give everyone an update of the Trimester 3 STEM Class and Curriculum Schedule. Trimester 3 brings 22 classes in grades 3 and 4 to my STEM classroom. With this amount of students, and limited supplies, I have organized the trimester to ensure that each student gets to participate in some exciting hands-on engineering challenges, as well as, technology-immersion projects that force the kids to innovate and think creatively. The overall theme for everyone is Green Engineering! Here is a breakdown:


Monday and Friday classes
4 weeks working on designing a 3D logo in Tinkercad for Earth Day
3-4 weeks working on a designing a Recycled Racer Car using recycled materials
1-2 weeks for LittleBits invention project

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday classes
4 weeks working on designing a Recycled Racer Car or Recycled Invention using recycled materials
3-4 weeks using the LittleBits to "power up" Recycled Racer or Invention
1-2 weeks for 3D designing in Sketch-Up

Notices have gone home for classes that are in need of recycled materials for the Recycled Racer Car or Recycled Invention project. Students can still bring in items that are free of peanuts or tree-nuts, glass or sharp edges. Cardboard boxes and plastic bottles or containers work best for this project, but the kids should bring in anything they think could work for wheels and axles or any other part of their project. Future notices will be sent home for the other classes that will be working on this project later in May.

As always, feel free to drop me an email at sathearn@scarboroughschools.org with any questions!

-Mrs. A

Green Engineering is off to a start!

Hello teachers, students, and families,

This week all STEM classes in grades 3 and 4 were introduced to our new field of engineering. We are now embarking on a journey to learn about Green Engineering! Green engineering is sometimes referred to environmental engineering, and the focus is on designing technologies that are earth-friendly. That could mean technologies are created from recycled materials, or technologies that can be recycled at the end of their life-span. Green engineering also is focused on renewable energies like wind and solar power. Green engineers strive to solve problems that affect our environment and the health of our planet.

Students will be engaging in a long-term project to create a recycled invention---like a car racer or toy. We are connecting this learning to the recycling marketplace in the African country of Senegal, and how the people of Senegal turn trash into treasure that can be sold in their informal recycling economy.

To make a recycled invention, students need to gather some materials. I am asking that students save recycled materials that they might otherwise put in their weekly recycling pick-up. Students should bring recycled materials into STEM class for our "Scrap Market". We need to gather a good amount of materials for students to use to make their recycled racers or toys. I recently sent home a newsletter explaining this project.

Students should:

1. Save things like 2 liter plastic bottles, small food boxes, berry and tomato baskets, egg cartons, cereal boxes, and any other recycled materials they think would make a good building material for wheels, axles, car bodies, toy parts etc .

2. Make sure recycled materials are clean and rinsed out, and do not have sharp edges. NO GLASS PLEASE!

3. Drop off recycled building materials in the Purple or Green STEM labs in the morning on the way to homeroom.

I thank you so much for your support in our Green Engineering Recycled Invention project!

-Mrs. Athearn

Welcome back 3/4 blended and 4th grade classes!

Hello again!

Trimester 3 begins this week, and I am so excited to welcome back my 4th graders and 3rd graders from 3/4 blended classes! This trimester our theme will be Green Engineering. We will learn about how engineers have to think about impacts their technologies could have on our fragile environment, as well as, how engineers solve environmental problems. We will also be learning about the West African country of Senegal and how their recycling marketplaces allow the people there to reuse materials that would otherwise be wasted to create new products. Recycling is a huge part of Sengalese culture, and we will see how we can also use recycled materials to create new products in STEM class.

Parents and Families: Stay tuned for a request for recyclable materials that will be needed in our upcoming engineering projects!

Also, as a general reminder, anyone who would like to have a conference with Mrs. Athearn, please send an email to sathearn@scarboroughschools.org or schedule a date in PTC Wizard. I will be available for conferences the week of March 21st.

-Mrs. Athearn