STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics. Our class' inquiry into play has included a rich investigation into physics as our STEM teacher, Mr. Hellbusch, has helped the first graders learn about the pushes and pulls of motion as they pertain to their bodies and other objects like toy cars at play. The two first grade classes observed each other at play, tallied different kinds of motion, and graphed this data as part of a field study to Maggie Daley Park. See the scientists and mathematicians in the video below:
This past week the first graders were challenged to create their own games out of cardboard and straws that would meet a certain criteria: a marble must go fast, go slow, drop and the game must be fun to play. In order to achieve all this, the children were introduced to some preliminary principles of engineering. They had to design their game, build it, test it through playing with others, and revise their game by making different iterations. Here are some pictures of the engineers at work:
