S.T.E.M. Family Night a Success!

The first S.T.E.M. Family Night for the Lower School 4th grade families was a great success. It was held on the evening of April 10, 2013, in the Ells Conference Room. It was rescheduled from the original date of February 27th because of our snow day. Eleven families of 4th grade students, including older and younger siblings, and grandparents accepted the two challenges presented to them. The first challenge was called the "Penny Challenge" in which the participants had to predict how many drops of water they could place on a penny. Each family member accepted the challenge and carefully worked to see who would win. The family member that had the least difference between prediction and actual won a prize. This challenge was just the preliminary for what was to come. The "Tower Challenge" was next. The families again put their heads together and developed a plan to build the tallest, free-standing structure (tower) from a single sheet of copy paper and 30 cm of tape. They were given a practice round, then time to modify and redesign, and then it was the official "challenge". Each team had 20 minutes to complete the challenge. The winning family, the Norman family, built a tower that stood 108cm tall, for at least 10 seconds. The family won a $25 gift card to Applebee's Restaurant. A good time was had by all, and the families all left wanting more activities like this. The Norman family even tried the challenge again at home and created a free-standing tower that reached 146cm. Fantastic! What does S.T.E.M.education do for our children? In today's work world that our students will be entering, they will need a mastery of science, technology, engineering, and math to be successful in a career in any one of these fields. It makes sense that these skills be taught as one, so that our students acquire a deeper understanding of them all. These skills need to be embedded in our math and science lessons daily. By using the engineering design process of: (1)asking what the problem is and what others have done; (2)imaging possible solutions; (3_planning and designing a solution; (4)creating (building) this solution; and (5)improving the solution by testing and revising. This all needs to begin in our PK classes and continue throughout USM. S.T.E.M. generates curiosity, interest and confidence in these topics. Mastering these skills will enable our students to enter our global world proficient and prepared.