Friday,
September 2, 2016 - Oakcliff Traditional Theme School held its STEM KICKOFF
DAY!
First, classes attended an assembly presented by Mr. Miah "Water Water
Everywhere" about the Bangladeshi clean water crisis. Mr. Miah's story
inspired GET PUMPED! A collaborative fund raising endeavor to purchase water
pumps for villages around the world who are in desperate need of clean water
for drinking, cooking, and bathing.
After
the assembly presentation, all classes rotated to the
- Lego in
the gym
- Their own classroom to do a STEM Mini burst activity, or to begin their STEM Challenge Unit.
Throughout the day,
classes rotated through one of 4 stations set up around the school.
- Coding in
the Library. Ms. Miller led the Coding hands-on presentation -
turning students from
consumers into producers of video games and all
things coded. Ms. Miller
spoke with each teacher in an informal PL session
explaining how coding
assignments in the curriculum could make
technology integration for
assignments in ways previously inconceivable.
- Movie
Maker in the Computer Lab. Mrs. Karvis led the Movie Maker
hands-on presentation - turning students from
consumers into producers of all things video.
Mrs. Karvis
- 3-D
Modeling in Mr. Clancy's Science Lab. Students learned
techniques for making 3-dimensional models to assist them in the engineering
design process utilized in the STEM Process.
- Makey Makey
in the Mrs. Crabb's Music Room. Students used carrots and celery with the Makey
Makey device.
Videos are forthcoming. Mr. Clancy and Ms. Miller
worked diligently to get the Padcaster to livestream for the afternoon culminating
event, but the livestream was unsuccessful due to technical problems in the
livestreaming. All is not lost! Mr. Clancy and
his trusted crew of Safety Patrols shot hours of action video and interviews.
It will be compiled for viewing pleasure soon.
Photo Caption: Left: Makey-Makey. Right: Coding in Javascript using Blockly on Code.org's Course 2; students practiced the repeat command to make "beautiful code."