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CHC students learn about STEM
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Fourth-grade students at C.H. Campbell Elementary School used their math skills at the Cardinal Toppings station during the school’s STEM week May 9.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Janet Williams (left), retired C.H. Campbell Elementary School music teacher, helped fourth-grade students learn about the evolution of technology concerning playing music at the school’s STEM week May 9.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.C.H. Campbell Elementary School fourth-grade students learned about engineering while working together to construct a wall that could not be knocked down during the school’s STEM week May 9.
By ABBY SLANKER
C.H. Campbell Elementary School had its first STEM Week May 5-9, with all grade levels having a day to learn about science, technology, engineering and math.
Each grade had its own designated STEM day with activities which were grade level and age appropriate. Each class had one hour to themselves in the gym to explore each of the activities. PTO parent volunteers served at grade-level chairs.
Fourth-grade STEM day included such math activities as Cardinal Toppings, at which students ‘built’ ice cream sundaes and had to get as close to 6 ounces as possible by adding or taking away toppings and playing a life-size game of Battleship using their math skills.
In the science department, students looked at several objects through microscopes and made dancing Oobleck.
The students observed how Oobleck – a non-Newtonian substance – reacted when sound waves pass through it. Students learned non-Newtonian substances have both properties of liquid and solid matter.
At the engineering stations, students were asked to construct a wall out of building blocks and cardboard pieces. They were instructed to work together to build the strongest wall possible that would not be knocked down by Angry Birds, which was the second station on engineering. The students were able to catapult balls to try to knock down objects on a table, and then tried to knock down the wall their fellow students had built.
On the technology side, a display was set up to chronologically depict the evolution of playing music, which included a hand-cranked record player, a turn table, a cassette tape player, a CD player and an iPod.
Several retired C.H. Campbell teachers returned for the week to help with various stations, along with PTO parent volunteers.
Patti Palotsee served as chairperson for STEM week.
“We received lots of help from Hilltop parents, including Dave Wilkeson, in planning our STEM week. The schools worked together to benefit the students and the week has been a huge success. Jodi Klepec has been my right hand, and we couldn’t have done this without her and all of our parent volunteers and retired teachers throughout the week,” Palotsee said.