STREAM Newsletter Fall 2023

Our Vision:

The STREAM committee is dedicated to developing a program that is inquiry based and that will develop students into confident, self-directed learners. In a safe and supportive environment our students will be engaged in group problem solving with applicable solutions that develops independent thinking while fostering collaboration. Students will have opportunities to gain real world experience through community partnerships and internships. Our goal is to combine science, technology, research, engineering, art, and mathematics to prepare our students to be contributing members of the 21st century work force.

So, you’re going to be teaching STREAM? That’s great! You may be a first-time STREAM teacher, an experienced STEM teacher eager to add new engagement and differentiation to your pedagogy, or a parent or guardian supporting your curious learner. In either case, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and dive into learning, planning, and preparing. I’m guessing that one question you have is: How can I plan and organize to make my STREAM lessons successful? Look below for some inspiration!
11 Engaging STEM Activities that will Foster Curiosity
Teach Engineering
Try Engineering
STEM Resource Finder
50 Tips, Tricks, and Ideas for Teaching STEAM
STREAM at Crawford Library

What’s STREAMing at...

ELEMENTARY

Chase School

After reading Iggy Peck. Architect by Andrea Beaty - Teams of students were given 36 Keva Planks to build with. They were challenged to build the tallest tower possible, then the tallest tower possible without talking, and then to build structures of varying shapes using all of the planks. The tallest tower so far has been 25 inches!
The Great Egg Drop Challenge of 2023 - Round 1: Students in the Fourth and Fifth grades were challenged to design a capsule to keep an egg safe from drops of increasing height. Students were given plastic containers to take home to plan and conduct test drops. The most important rule: all designs had to be inside the container, there could be nothing outside. On drop days containers were dropped from 5 feet, 10 feet and then from the top of a 12 foot ladder. Those whose eggs have survived all three drops are moving on to Round 2. Stay tuned to see who survives and who gets scrambled!
After reading The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis, Mrs. Kaplan's Fifth grade and Mrs. Eisenhardt's fourth grade built pumpkin stoppers. They had 20 minutes to build and test their stoppers. If they were able to stop a small pumpkin, they moved on to a bigger pumpkin with a longer ramp. The students did a wonderful job working together and all the designs were able to stop a pumpkin!
Mrs. Ramos' class enjoyed a trip to the Mamakating Library and one of their tasks was to stack cups using only the tools provided. They stepped up to the challenge and successfully built cup towers!

Rutherford School

Why do some volcanoes explode? Ms. Kavleski's fourth grade class investigated how differences in lava types explain differences in the shape and eruption patterns among volcanoes. In an activity called Bubble Trouble, students compared two different types of “lava” - thin and thick. They used this information to figure out why volcanoes have different shapes and how the type of lava explains why some volcanoes explode.
Ms. Johnson's third grade class read about why leaves change color in the fall. They took a nature walk and did a nature scavenger hunt on the trails near the middle and high school. At the end, they brought leaves back to the classroom and made leaf rubbings.
Mrs. Bowles and Ms. Sheppard's fifth grade class read Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet. Then they were presented with a STEM challenge. They were told that the Macy's Day Parade planners ran out of helium! They had to create something that would allow their balloon to stay in the air for all the parade go-ers to see. They planned, built, and designed their balloons for a mini Thanksgiving day parade!

Cooke School

Ms. Dutcher's Second Grade Class were learning about germs. They used a solution that made the germs glow under a black light. Then students washed their hands with soap and water. The students used the black light, again, to see that they washed the germs away.

RJK Middle School

In our 8th Grade WIN Class with Ms. Garcia, students were given Ozobots for the first time since elementary school to see if they could explore what they could do! Ozobots can be programmed using color codes, and students were given the autonomy to begin coding their little robots to go left, right and even spin like a tornado! This activity introduces computer literacy standards and robotics.

March of the Ozobots!

The students in Mrs. Sanes 8th Grade Spanish class were learning about body parts. In this STREAM activity, students had to design and illustrate a monster that modeled the words in Spanish. This activity incorporated the disciplines of Art, Language, Research and Engineering Design.
In Ms. Garcia's 8th Grade Living Environment Class, students were encouraged to engineer a model that can represent the structures found in living cells. Some models were made using 3D printers, and some were made out of recycled materials! This model activity incorporated the disciplines of Science, Technology, Research, and Art.
In Ms. Garcia's 8th Grade Chemistry class, students were engaged to create a superhero or villain that uses the properties of an element of the periodic table. This activity incorporated Art, Technology, Science, Research and even Math!

Monticello High School

Students in Introduction to Computer Science learned about different representations of data. They were presented a word list or a word cloud from which they created their picture. Then, we compared their representations to the picture that the activity was created from. What representations were best for the data were discussed.

St. John's Street Science Store

Who: K-12 Teachers

What: A full room of STREAM and science materials!

Where: St. John’s Street Community School (22 St. John Street, Monticello) - Room 234 (2nd floor). Parking is behind the school.

When: Any school day before 9:00am and after 3:00pm until 6:00pm (security leaves at 6:00pm)

Why: To support and enhance your STREAM and science lessons!

How:

1. Use our inventory to see what is available: https://monticellocsd-my.sharepoint.com/:x:/g/personal/kkeesler_k12mcsd_net/Ebw3c7ljpWpPlYvJUOkU8osB9YgVp3h_km1tppIQf0yFcw?e=qFSzcL

2. Email Jen Gorr at jgorr@k12mcsd.net the DATE and TIME you plan to stop by, so she knows you will be in the building.

3. Bring your school ID.

4. When you arrive, ask the security guard to radio maintenance to unlock room 234 for you as it is locked!

5. Please note what you took AND how many items you took on the https://monticellocsd-my.sharepoint.com/:x:/g/personal/kkeesler_k12mcsd_net/Ebw3c7ljpWpPlYvJUOkU8osB9YgVp3h_km1tppIQf0yFcw?e=qFSzcL, so we can track what may need to be replaced.

6 Use the materials as long as you need them! If they are items that can be reused, please return them!

STREAM Lesson Support: If you need support and/or advice on leading a STREAM or science lesson, let your science liaison or DIL know. As a committee, we are happy to welcome you to our meetings, or meet with you individually, to discuss any ideas!

Check out how our TECHNOLOGY department can support you HERE!

Your STREAM Team: Kayleigh Bowles, Kelly Keesler, Eric Shewmaker, Emily Takacs, Kiowa Garcia, Patti Anderson, Joana Dutcher

Do you have something you would like us to highlight on the Winter newsletter?

Upload your pictures here!

The Engineering Design Process is the heart of STREAM

Engineering Design Process