STEAM Shop 3rd, 4th, 5th Grades

Part of my job this year is to run the STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Art Mathematics) Shop at an elementary school on Mondays and Tuesdays. During September and October, I worked with 1st and 2nd graders. See THIS post for those activities. I am working with 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders during November and December. My students come to my room in groups of 8 to 16 throughout the day. The stations are based on the TEKS - Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, which outline what students are to learn in each grade.

3rd Graders begin in the sink/float or landforms station.

4th Graders begin in the simple machines station.

5th Graders begin in the Mix It Up/Filtering station.

After completing their primary station, students use question cards to discuss with their classmates: ways to improve design, frustrations, discoveries, how it applies to the real world, etc.

If they have any extra time beyond their primary station, students are encouraged to visit and work on the other stations in the room. Click on bold words for resource links.

Snap Circuits, Density Experiment,

Solid/Liquid/Gas Sort, Create a Food Web

Food Web video with mini quiz

Using Snap Circuits to experiment with the flow of energy to create light, sound, movement.

Sealing the canister before trying to make the ping pong ball and the ball bearing trade places in the density experiment.

Using picture cards and a dry erase marker on a shower curtain to show energy flow through a food web.

Simple Machines - Escaped Zoo Animals,

Simple Machine sort, slideshow with mini quiz

Students used the supplies to help the zoo animals return to the zoo. Pictured are: wheel and axle going up an inclined plane, pulley, slingshot lever (rubber band and plastic spoon), and multiple inclined planes.

Create and identify landforms

Working with a partner, students created landforms for their partner to identify. We used laminated blue paper for water.

Mix it up - solutions & mixtures, filtering

Mixture video and mini quiz

Testing substances at the Mix It Up station.

Mayflower Challenge - design a sailboat, consider buoyancy

with added cargo, test for sink/float and speed.

Mayflower Challenge resources HERE and HERE.

Creating boats.

Testing boat on the "ocean".

The 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders seem to enjoy their exploration time in the STEAM Shop. So far, we have only had one catastrophe - someone accidentally stepped on our ocean and knocked the container over. It is amazing how quickly 2.5 gallons of water can spread across the carpet.

I will have the 1st and 2nd graders again in January. I guess I better start working on their next set of activities.  What STEAM activities would you recommend for a 40 minute class period? I only see the students once per semester. I can't have any on-going activities that require more than one class period. I don't have a budget, my supplies are things I can gather or get donated to my room.

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Science Share Night

Way back in October, Boogs asked if he could make a potato clock for the Science Share Night at school. We bought a potato clock kit and then forgot all about it until the notice came home to sign up for Science Share Night.

Boogs had to write up his question, hypothesis, materials, and resources before he could start experimenting.

Boogs decided he wanted to see what could make the clock run besides potatoes. He picked out a few things from the produce section to use in his experiment.

 He tested potatoes, apples, bananas, lemons, and sweet potatoes.

Everything he tried made the clock work. I went in Boogs' playroom and got out a couple of foam balls. I asked Boogs to predict whether or not the foam balls would make the clock work. He said no and he was correct.

Daddy wondered if the clock would work with water. It only worked if you used two separate glasses of water, it would not work with the zinc and copper electrodes in one water glass. Boogs and Daddy experimented with tap water, bottled spring water, and distilled water.

Then, Daddy helped Boogs word the conclusion for his experiment. Boogs practiced what he would say to people who came by his booth to view his experiment.

Boogs had quite a few "customers" come by and try out his experiment on various items.

Boogs also enjoyed viewing the other booths at Science Share. He really enjoyed spending time with the snails.

Boogs and a friends had fun trying out the different pieces of wood, sand paper, and carpet to make ramps for toy cars to go down.

Boogs had a fun time at Science Share Night. He is already thinking about what kind of experiment he will do next year.

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Science Share Night

Boogs' elementary school hosts an annual Science Share Night. Boogs was one of two kindergartners who participated. About a month ago, we received the flyer about Science Night. My husband read it to Boogs and asked him if he wanted to participate. He did. Boogs decided to use his Snap Circuits Jr. set to show that water can conduct electricity. Boogs does not really enjoy writing. He had to submit a written permission form to get approval to do his experiment.

Once his permission form was approved, he received a three page planning packet to fill out and include in the display with his project. I thought for sure that would discourage him but he worked on it a little bit at a time and got it done. He diligently practiced putting his circuit together over and over again. My husband helped him figure out what to say. Boogs helped pick out a tri-fold display board, took pictures by himself to include on the board, and attached everything to his board. I helped with the board layout and his friend helped him glue everything down. He was so excited!

Boogs wanted to wear his lab coat. So cute!

Nonnie came by to hear Boogs' experiment.

Poppa came by to hear his experiment.

Boogs had a good flow of what he called "customers"
throughout the evening.

Boogs' proudly showed his principal his experiment.

In between "customers", Boogs was able to see the other presentations. His favorite was about a girl's pet hedgehog. Boogs now wants a pet hedgehog.

The school set up several tables with hands-on activities for the students to do. Boogs made sure he visited every table.

Build the tallest structure with limited supplies -  cup,
rubber band,  2 cardboard squares, sheet of tinfoil, and straw.

Testing to see what materials conduct electricity.

Making whirligigs.

Testing the whirligig. 

It was a great night. Boogs said he will definitely participate and present again next year.

Goo or Goop? Either Way It Is Great Messy Fun!

Goop... we have made a lot of Goop over the years, but C and I decided that it would be fun to make goop again at our Wednesday Learning Playdate. This little workbook, Science Project Physics Tricks, had a section on mixtures with explanations. So we used the "Do-It-Yourself Blue Goo" experiment with the kids. The book defined cornstarch and told what it is usually used for. It also stated that "goo" is a colloid, a special kind of mixture in which particles of one type of material are suspended in another kind of material. Examples of colloid mixtures are: fog (water floating in air), milk (milk fat suspended in a watery liquid), Jello (gelatin and sweetener suspended in water), oil paint (pigment floating in an oily liquid), mayonnaise (oil suspended in water with the help of egg yolks to keep the oil and water from separating).

We did not tell the kids what we were doing today. Instead, we had them go on a scavenger hunt to find the supplies they would need for an unknown experiment. We wanted to somehow incorporate movement into this activity. Warning: There are excessive amounts of pictures in this post.

Boogs listened while B read the first clue. Then they raced to the backyard and scrambled up the ladder on the playscape.  

They found a jug of water, an information sheet about water, and their next clue. The information sheet had a few facts about water on it - covers 70% of Earth's surface, chemical formula is H2O, and a little bit about the water cycle. 

The next clue led them to food coloring by the hollow stump. They read the clue and raced to the other side of the yard.

They discovered bowls under the picnic table. They also read their last clue. This clue was C's favorite. It said,  "Find the last item where dad burns the meat." B immediately yelled, "THE GRILL!"

They found the cornstarch at the grill and had their supplies. There was an information card for them to read (or be read to) about cornstarch with the box of cornstarch.

Then the mess began.

At first, E only wanted to add food coloring. He did not want to touch the goop.

Big Sis showed him how much fun it is to play with goop.

E quickly decided to dive right in.

Boogs and B loved playing with their slimy, squishy goop.

E and Big Sis enjoying the mess.

Boogs and B spent a little over an hour playing with the goop.

Then Boogs decided to take the mess to a whole new level!

Yikes! Good thing we were doing this outside.

B followed Boogs lead.

Big Sis thought it would be fun to get a picture of an optical illusion of it looking like she was eating goop while the goop was really going beside her mouth. Unfortunately, she miscalculated and the goop swung right into her face.

We all had a good laugh.

B looked like she was wearing gloves.

Boogs ended up matching his shirt.

He just kept piling it on.

We did not realize how much goop was falling onto the porch. Hmmm... does food coloring stain? It sure looked like it was not going to come off.

We threw B into the shower and Boogs into a bath and then hurriedly (frantically) started trying to get the food coloring off of the porch before C's husband came home.

We were able to remove most of the food coloring with a bar of  soap, a little water, and a little bleach.

I am so glad I followed Steve Spangler's advice in his Secret Science Book - Don't try this at home... try it at a friend's house. (Hee hee!) The kids have already started asking what we are going to do next week. Right now, I have no idea. We ran out of time, but the kids did ask to use the Storytelling Cards again this week. We will have to make time next week to have another round of storytelling.


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