The STEAM Academy

It has been so busy since we started our STEAM Academy in December.  So busy that I haven't had time to document all the great things that we've been doing.  We started out a couple of weeks before Christmas break, so we wanted to do something light and fun to move into the "steam" frame of mind.  We decided to use the holiday to have a little fun and have a Gum Drop Tree Tower War.  The goal was to see whose could be the highest and create the best stability.

Gum Drop Tree Tower War

We then participated in the Hour of Code. This was a school wide event.  The entire school worked on coding throughout the time frame and our STEAMERS worked through the courses provided on code.org.

Hour of Code

Units

We have decided to continue our lessons using units and started with Nutrition. The students were provided with various mini-lessons and experiments for background knowledge.  The experiments were How Much Sugar is in Your Favorite Drink, How Greasy is Your Favorite Snack and What does Soda do to Your Teeth. They also researched independently or with their collaborating partners.  The challenge/project for this unit was to create a way to present information to their peers about leading a healthy lifestyle.  Students were introduced to nutrition through experiments and experts in the field.  Ann from Jersey Shore Hot Yoga came in to do Yoga with out STEAMERS.

Presentations

Stay tuned for the next unit Engineering!

Lesson #2

Mr. Cuadrado's 4th Grade Class

In Lesson #2 we are taking a look at what makes us unique.  We looked at the characteristics of the self-portraits and how the artists placed their interests or used color to convey a mood.  In the Google contest you have to demonstrate what makes you, you through a drawing.  How can we do that?

Look at the following links:

Audrey Hepburn

Ella Fitzgerald

Let's go further into what exactly puts the "U" in unique for you.  Partner up with someone and take the following survey:

The "U" in Unique Survey

What did you learn about your partner that you didn't know about before?

Lesson #1

Mr. Cuadrado's 4th Grade Class

Doodle 4 Google Lesson Plans

Mr. Cuadrado's class explored the evolution of  self-expression by observing and interpreting various artists' self-portraits and discovering that self-expression can take numerous forms.

Self-Portrait Gallery

They discussed the differences of the art as a whole group and then split into smaller groups to get a closer look at one of the self-portraits.  They then created a speech bubble for their portrait of what they thought their painter was thinking.

What is self expression?

This blog was created to share STEAM activities at our school.  I am currently working with teachers on integrating technology into their lessons and starting a STEAM academy after school.