Summer Camp Design

Topic: Summer Camp Design

Project: Multi-week project including designing a summer camp, creating a daily schedule for campers, drawing a map of grounds, and creating an audio-visual advertisement for their camp such as a website, commercial, or slideshow.

 Academic Area/Skills: Art, Design, Technology, Engineering, Math

Materials: iPads with Google Sheets (and an account for student use), 11x14 paper for maps, coloring materials, iPads or computers to access Wix.com for website design, iMovie for commercials, and Haiku Deck App for slideshows.

Grades: 3-5 (2nd grade- modified) 

Week 1: Introduce project to students. Discuss what makes a summer camp interesting. Students spend today creating a name for their camp, selecting a location in the world, listing a few specialities/activities their camp will offer, and designing a logo for their camp if they had extra time.

Week 2: Students were introduced to Google Sheets. They learned how to log-in and created a daily schedule for campers from the time they woke up to when they went to sleep. They used two columns to organize their spreadsheet, one for time slots and one for the activity. 

Week 3: Students drew a map of their summer camp grounds. They were required to draw and label a minimum of 15 areas of their camp. They didn't have enough time in class to color their maps so this was required of them at home. 

Week 4: Students used the App, Thinglink to create interactive images of their maps! I was so impressed by their time attention to detail in their maps. Some of them blew me away. Check out a few of their Thinglinks here:

Camp Samanamish ( Check this one out! I love that she took it a step further and added photos to the descriptions!)

Florida Fun Camp! 

Camp Awesome

Camp Blue Waters

A student's work is projected for the class.
They are using the app, Thinglink to add descriptions to their map.

Towers Unit

Topic: Towers

Project: Multi-week project with pantings, tower building, and architectural drawings

 Academic Area/Skills: Art, Design, Technology, Engineering

Materials: Construction Paper, Paint, Permanent Markers, Sponges, Building Supplies (blocks, bricks toys, milk crates, cardboard boxes, cups, etc.).

Grades: K-1

Kindergarten and first grade students began working on their Towers Unit. Students had so much fun and hands on experience with the bridge unit, I decided to try another architectural engineering unit- this time on towers! 

Day 1: We discussed what a tower is, why they exist, and what they are used for. We looked at photos of different towers around the world.  Next, we created sponge art skylines. We sponged the designs, so that the next class we could outline them and add in details.

Day 2: Today we finished our skyline sponge paintings by adding in details and outlining with a black permanent marker. As a group we talked all about the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building! We learned what each floor is used for and where it is located!

Day 3: Today was a building day! We lucked out with nice weather so hauled everything outside to create some fun building rotations in the sunshine. We had Lego tower building, building with milk crates, creating towers with Keva Planks, and building towers with plastic cups!

Day 4: The final day of our project consisted of drawing a tower of our own imagination. This was left very open-ended. Some students focused on height and shape, while others focused more on the function and contents of their tower. 

 

Spinning Tops and Centripetal Force

Topic: Spinning Toy Tops

Project: Creating a Toy Top to learn about centripetal force and color mixing

 Academic Area/Skills: Art, Design, Science

Materials: Old CDs, Marbles, Bottle Caps

Grades: K+

Friday was such a hit in STEAM Lab! I began the lesson by playing with a Bayblade toy I found at the local dollar store. We discussed how the toy was working and why it was able to stay upright when spinning. This allowed me to bring up centripetal force and explain how it allowed the top to stay upright. We then began creating our own toy tops! I also challenged the kids to design a top that looked 2 different colors when still, but created a new color when spinning. I reviewed some color mixing with the younger grades. 
To make the top, students started with a CD that had a blank label placed on top. They colored a design of their choice. Next, they chose a marble and I helped hot glue the marble to one side and a recycled cap to another. Once dry (just a few seconds), students began spinning away! They tried their top on linoleum, concrete, glass, and carpet to see how different surfaces affected their spin. 

STEAM Toys

I thought I would post about some of my favorite toys I have in the lab. About once a month, students are given free-choice, or rotation time to explore with these sets. I love this time because kids always surprise me in what they want to spend their time with. I never have an empty station, as there seems to be something of interest to each kid. Having a wide selection of great STEAM toys helps keep kids engaged and keeps free-choice time really special for them. Here are six of my all-time favorite STEAM toys. 

Dash and Dot by WonderWorkshop
These robots are perfect for elementary computer coding. Students program the robots with an app from WonderWorkshop designed especially for Dash and Dot. Students can start with a simple drawing of pathways for the robot to follow then drag buttons to trigger sounds and lights from the robot. More advanced students can use blockly to program the robots to do more complex movements, light and  sound patterns, and even object detection. 
$169.99+
https://www.makewonder.com/robots/dashanddot

Laser Pegs
Laser Pegs are a favorite among primary students. I also love these toys because they teach the basic concept of electrical circuitry. I also love the company as they have been great at replacing any broken pieces from kid wear and tear. Students can build realistic objects or abstract models and see their creations light up and flash in rainbow colors. 
$12.99+
http://www.laserpegs.com/

GoldieBlox Dunk Tank
Most have heard of GoldieBlox and while I love them all and their mission, one set has been a favorite among my students. GoldieBlox Dunk Tank keeps kids busy, helps them feel successful amongst completion of the set, and has kids full of laughter in the process. Kids can build a miniature dunk tank and toss a bouncy ball at the tank to trigger the fall of a little plastic dog! Keep paper towels handy for the cleanup! While this toy is advertised to girls, I find that all kids are interested.
$19+
http://www.goldieblox.com/

LittleBits 
LittleBits are amazing. They pack a high price tag but are worth the investment. These mini electrical pieces are magnets that connect to one another with ease. Students can quickly learn the pattern of colors needed (Blue for power, Pink for a Switch, and Green for a Load). I've used these with 3 year olds through middle school and all fall in love with them. LittleBits also has incredible resources for teachers online with lessons, projects, and an educator discount. 
$99+
http://littlebits.cc/

Keva Contraption Planks
Keva Contraption Planks comes with 200 wooden planks for students to build with. Students have made ramps, race tracks, buildings, and even practiced spelling words with these blocks. They are all the same size and shape so require students to work a little harder to creatively build. I like the challenge yet freedom these blocks give students. 
$45
http://www.kevaplanks.com/

Snap Circuits
Snap Circuits are a must have for any classroom or home with kids. They teach electrical circuitry to students as young as kindergarten. This is one of the few toys that really excites students in all elementary grade levels. These not only teach basics of electronics but also allows great practice for reading directions and following a grid. The parts hold up really well and I think they are very reasonably priced. I've noticed some big chain stores begin to sell them lately.
$20.99+
www.snapcircuits.net

* All opinions expressed are solely my own and do not reflect any of the above companies nor have any companies endorsed this post.

Dream Playgrounds

Topic: Playground Design

Project: CAD, Design process, Geometric Shapes, 3D Printer 

 Academic Area/Skills: Art, Design, Math, Technology

Materials: Computers with Internet Access for Tinkercad.com, 3D Printer (optional)

Grades: 3-5

Everyone at Brighton has been very excited about our move to a new building next year! While meeting with playground designers about potential design options, the perfect project idea came to me! Students in grades 3-5 learned about the design process of building a playground. Here was their timeline:

Week 1: Research playground designs. Check out websites, catalogs, and photographs of playgrounds and playground elements. Determine their budget and how specific elements would fit into their budget. Also work to consider safety, age appropriateness, and overall look. 

 Week 2: Draw/color your dream playground.

Week 3: Students were introduced to Tinkercad.com. They then began with designing a slide, after direct step-by-step instruction with teacher.

Week 4-5: Students either added on to the slide, adding their own elements or started new and designed their dream playground in 3D.

Week 6: A few students were randomly drawn to have their 3D design printed with our new MakerBot! 

                                          

Egg Roll Challenge!

Topic: Egg Roll!

Project: Simple Machines (Inclined Plane), Measurement, Estimation

 Academic Area/Skills: Math, Science

Materials: Ramp made of cardboard, plastic eggs, legos, jelly beans, scrap paper, worksheet, pencils, clipboards

Grades: K-1

Students in kindergarten and first grade learned about ramps recently. They also practiced estimation, measurement, and the setting up an experiment. 

Students used the Egg Roll Challenge Worksheet to estimate how far a plastic egg would roll when it was filled with different materials. Students began with an empty egg, first estimating how many feet it would roll, then actually rolling it down the ramp and recording their results. Next, they estimated and experimented with an egg filled with Legos, an egg filled with jelly beans, and an egg filled with crinkled up paper. Students loved this hands on activity. Be careful though of exploding jelly bean eggs. We quickly realized we needed to tape them for extra security down the ramp. Students also needed a lot of help closing the plastic eggs. Next time, I will be looking for higher quality plastic eggs that snap together easier and last longer. 

Data Visionaries

Topic: Data Visionaries 

Project: Data collection, Infographics 

 Academic Area/Skills: Math, Technology, Art, Design

Materials: Computer with internet access

Grades: 4+

Students in fourth and fifth grades learned about online data collection, data analysis, and graphic design in this project.

Week 1 and 2: Students created online surveys using typeform.com. They could create their survey on any topic that was of interest. They were required to have specific types of questions- multiple choice, short answer, rating, and number answer. Surveys ranged in topic and included sports, food, video games, and animals. 

Week 3: Students took each others surveys

Week 4: Students began to analyze their data by reading their results and organizing them into facts.

Week 5-6: Students used this data to create infographics on piktochart.com