STEAM Cycle 24

Kindergarten-Bone Puzzle 2

As we move through this unit about the structure and function of the human body, the students are following the story of a fictional character named Angelina.  She fell at recess and hurt her arm.  As the story progresses, Angelina visits the hospital to have an x-ray taken of her arm.  The students learned about x-rays and worked through a puzzle of the hand bones.  Each student made a handprint with white paint and glued the puzzle pieces to their handprint.

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1st Grade-Patterns of the Stars 2

After learning about the stars and their life cycles, the students used the iPad app Star Chart to investigate stars further and learn about constellations.  The students chose one constellation to draw in their science logs.

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2nd Grade-Investigating Erosion

While conducting an investigation using a sand model, the students observed and explained ways that wind, water, and natural disasters change the shape of the Earth.

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3rd Grade-Traits Through the Generations 2

As we continue to learn about genes, the students were introduced to 2 identical "parent" plants.  Although the plants look identical, the students learned that each parent plant contributes a dominant or recessive gene.  Students travelled through 8 stations, each representing a phenotype (a trait such as stem length, color, type of leaves, etc.).  At each station, the students determined the genotype that would be passed from each parent creating a dominant or recessive phenotype for the baby plant.  After completing the stations, students used paper cutouts to illustrate the baby plant and recorded their observations in their STEAM journals.

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4th Grade-Data Collection & Display 2

Using the Tynker iPad App, the students are learning to code their first game by following step-by-step directions.  The students learned about x and y axes, how to add characters to the game and code actions the characters can follow.

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5th Grade-Mystery at School 2

There is an illness spreading at our fictional school.  The students learned about bacteria and viruses as they distinguished between communicable and noncommunicable diseases.  By reading through the patient information, the students found correlations between each student's symptoms and communicable diseases to diagnose the students.  In the next lesson, students will begin looking at connections between the students to determine Patient Zero and how the illness spread.