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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Hilltop Elementary School first-grade students experimented with salt volcanoes at a science station during the school’s annual STEM Week on March 7.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.A Hilltop Elementary School first-grade student celebrated after building a noodle play dough structure at an engineering station during the school’s annual STEM Week on March 7.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Two Hilltop Elementary School first-grade students were mesmerized as they tried their hands at two non-electronic games at the technology station during the school’s annual STEM Week on March 7.
By ABBY SLANKER
Students at Hilltop Elementary School participated in STEM Week at the school March 6-10. STEM Week, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, was created by a group of Hilltop parents and has been improved upon and evolved each year.
Each grade had its own designated STEM day with activities which were grade level/age appropriate. The activities were also tied into each grade level’s curriculum.
Each class had one hour to themselves in the gym to explore each of the hands-on activities. PTO parent volunteers supervised the activities and served as grade-level chairs. Joan Bacha and Kelly Volovar served as first-grade STEM Week co-chairs. Dave Wilkeson served as STEM Week chairperson.
Before entering the gym, each class was divided into groups, with each group assigned to a station and then the groups rotated through the science, technology, engineering and math stations.
For the first-graders, one science station provided the students the opportunity to predict whether several items would sink or float in a tub of water. The students were also able to create a salt volcano at another science station, during which they created a ‘volcano’ in a jar using vegetable oil, salt, water and food coloring.
At one math station, students participated in a javelin throw, during which they threw a ‘javelin’ three times, measuring distance and recording data from each throw. They then had to figure out if their throws were greater than, less than or equal to each other. At another math station, the students were challenged to balance a variety of items on a ‘seesaw.’ They were tasked to make the seesaw balance with items such as coins, marbles, rocks and matchbox cars. The object of the experiment was to see how many items the students could balance given the variety of objects at their disposal.
At an engineering station, students were challenged to build something at the ‘Noodle Play Dough Structure Challenge.’ Using dry noodles, play dough, tooth picks and a measuring tape, students were encouraged to build any type of structure they could in four minutes. The student who built the tallest structure which stood on it own won the challenge.
At another engineering station, students were taught the paper airplane design process, making their own paper airplanes and flying them around the gym. Students were encouraged to change the rudders by moving them up and down, to see how that would affect the flying of their plane.
This year, the technology station was the same for all students, with a focus on the evolution of video games. The interactive display featured a variety of games from Atari to Playstation2, as well as older handheld games which were not electronic.
“I love helping with STEM Week and interacting with the kids. They get so excited for this week,” Volovar said.
The students were sent home with a summary of their STEM Day experiences, and were encouraged to share what they had learned with everyone at home.