STEM Blog

Girl Power at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab

Posted February 9, 2015

 You are invited to the Girl Power event scheduled for March 8 from 2-5 PM here at JHU APL.  The event is for middle and high school girls to explore careers in science, technology, engineering and math through hands-on activities and interactive presentations.  Girl Power is free and no registration is required.




Third Annual STEM Family Night!

Posted February 6, 2015

Proving that science is FUN, we rolled out our 3rd Annual STEM night for our parents and students on Tuesday evening. Our three First Lego League (FLL) robotics teams began the evening with demonstrations, and then Eric Energy took the floor for a fun and engaging presentation. Before we sent everyone home, the students were challenged to various make-and-take activities and challenges in the classrooms. Thank you to our parent and student volunteers and to our faculty and staff members who helped to make the evening a tremendous success. Special thank you to Mrs. Whiteford who coordinated a splendid STEM Family Night for our school community!

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Teamwork is the Key!

Posted January 25, 2015

St. Louis School would like to congratulate the members of the Positive Pi People and Octo-Pi teams for participating in the First Lego League (FLL) competition at Anne Arundel Community College on Saturday, January 24th. In addition, the Positive Pi team won a trophy for best core values, great teamwork and cooperation! We are very proud of the hard work, dedication and commitment shown by both teams. We look forward to hearing great things about the Octo-Pi team members as they move on to High School and can’t wait to see what the Positive-Pi team members come up with next year. Way to Go Knights!

 

We would also like to express our deep appreciation to the time and energy our volunteers gave to make this day possible.

 

Come see their demonstration at the STEM Family Fun Night on January 27th.

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Metal, Nonmetal or Metalloid?

Posted January 17, 2015

On Friday, Mrs. Riggin’s Fifth Grade Science students received advanced instruction from Mrs. Beth Czyryca, a St. Louis parent and Mt. St. Joseph High School Chemistry teacher. Mrs. Cryryca and her son Chris (a SLS alumnus) led the students in an experiment where they investigated the chemical and physical properties of seven elements.  The students used this information to classify the elements as metal, nonmetal or metalloid.  Students were able to observe color and luster, test for malleability and conductivity, and observe chemical reactivity.  Our future chemists look forward to the next opportunity for experimentation.

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Programmed for Success

Posted January 15, 2015

Our first team, “Mission Possible,” competed this past Saturday at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (APL) Kossiakoff Center and did a wonderful job representing our school. The members of Mission Possible are: Gabriel Ewachiw, Rachel Kaschak, Ben Kopec, Nick Kopec, Jacob Langsdale, Jessica Langsdale, Amanda Liceaga, Javier Liceaga, and Andrew Mulcahy. We are very proud of these students, and we are truly grateful to their extraordinary volunteer coaches, Mrs. Liceaga and Mrs. Langsdale, who gave many hours and shared their expertise to guide the team.

 

Our other two teams will be competing on Saturday, January 24th at Anne Arundel Community College. More details about that competition will be forthcoming.

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3rd Annual STEM Family Fun Night

Posted January 12, 2015

As part of our Catholic Schools Week celebration, all parents and students are invited to attend the third annual St. Louis School STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Family Fun night. Come visit us in the Cafeteria on Tuesday, January 27th from 7:00 P.M. to 8:30 P.M.

The event is open to all school families and will consist of a one-hour presentation by Eric Energy followed by an age appropriate STEM activity in the classroom. We encourage you to attend and look forward to seeing you there! For more information visit our STEM blog at www.stem.stlouisparish.org.

As a bonus for early birds, the doors will open at 6:30 P.M., when you will be able to see a robotics demonstration from one of our three First Lego League (FLL) Robotics teams.

Mrs. Whiteford is also looking for STAND certified parent volunteers to help run a simple (30 minute commitment) STEM activity in the classroom. Please sign up using the Volunteer Spot link below.

Here's how it works in 3 easy steps:
1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/n1mtYK
2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot)
3. Sign up!




First LEGO League Robotics Teams

Posted January 8, 2015

St. Louis School is proud to announce that we have three (3) First LEGO League (FLL) Teams competing in the 2014 FLL World Class Challenge this year! Our team members join more than 265,000 children from 8 countries to explore how students learn and develop skills to meet the demands of the 21st century. Our teams have been expertly guided by dedicated parent volunteers acting as coaches, mentors and cheerleaders. They have been meeting on a regular basis to design a robot, program the robot to complete several challenging missions, research a project topic to address the competition’s theme, and develop a final presentation.

Currently, our three teams are preparing for their qualifiers and putting finishing touches on their projects. Our first team, “Mission Possible,” will be competing this Saturday at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (APL) Kossiakoff Center. The robot competition schedule runs from 12:40 P.M. until 3:40 P.M. Our other two teams will be competing on Saturday, January 24th at Anne Arundel Community College; more details about that competition will follow.

We are very proud of these students and wish them the best on their FLL Qualifiers. Please feel free to stop by APL this Saturday and cheer on our team!

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DEN Voices Connect

Posted January 8, 2015
On the first day back from Christmas vacation the Third Graders shared some joy in music class while Skyping a classroom in the Midwest. They shared a question and answer session (Q: How cold is it there? A: -9 degrees) and then sang together. Mrs. O began the class by talking about how we all can be "Agents of Change" and reminding them of Monsignor Luca's words to them before we went on break that even the smallest actions can make each of us an instrument of peace. They sang, and danced, and shared the joy:

"We are the future,
We have the power,
We are the agents,
Agents of change!"

This project, better known as DEN Voices Connect, was created by members of the Discovery Educator Network (DEN) to encourage collaborative learning through music.

The project has approximately 9,400 students from 42 schools in 34 states, 7 countries and 4 continents.

The goal of this project is for every school or class to send in a video recording of their rendition of the song. The organizers will then mash them up into a virtual choir and publish the final video. Today’s classroom activity gave the children a collaborative practice session prior to recording our rendition of the song.

For more information, check out the project at
http://www.denvoicesconnect.com/
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Hour of Code

Posted January 8, 2015

Today’s interconnected technological world is built on computer software. Last week, during Computer Science Education Week, Code.org sponsored an Hour of Code where students gained a basic understanding of the underlying software that drives our modern world. As part of the St. Louis School technology curriculum, students received their credentials to the website and began working on their puzzles and challenges. They will continue to work on the 20 hour Computer Science course throughout the year.




First LEGO League Robotics Teams

Posted November 20, 2014
As part of our continuing efforts to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education, St. Louis is excited to announce that we are sponsoring three teams to compete in the 2014-2015 First Lego League (FLL). Teams participate in the Challenge by programming an autonomous robot to score points on a themed playing field, and develop a solution to a problem they have identified as guided by the FLL Core Values and the question “What is the future of learning?”

Twenty one of our students from grades 4 through 8 have been meeting weekly to collaborate on the project, designing their robot, the missions and the programming. We are grateful for the dedicated parent volunteers who are coaching the teams, working under our technology teacher Zulma Whiteford, the school’s liaison and mentor.

We are very proud of these students and commend them on their dedication in pursuit of their passions!



Girls in STEM Careers!

Posted November 18, 2014

On Wednesday, November 12th the Sixth Grade girls from St. Louis School participated in the Cool Careers for Girls Symposium at the University of Maryland in College Park. Students met women professionals in cyber security, learned about possible career paths and participated in hands-on activities covering cryptography, computer forensics, programming, systems engineering and computer security. St. Louis School is committed to providing these types of opportunities for students; to spark interests, discover talents, and show options for each child’s future.

The event was made possible through a partnership between the Educational Technology Policy, Research and Outreach (ETPRO), the National CyberWatch Center K – 12 Division and the University of Maryland Cybersecurity Center.

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Discovery Education Streamathon

Posted November 18, 2014
St. Louis School uses a variety of 21st Century educational tools to engage our students. One excellent source of engaging material is Discovery Education, the educational arm of Discovery Channel. This past Saturday, five of our students were key participants in a Discovery Education professional development event broadcast to more than 2,500 educators in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The “Streamathon” event was produced as a television program and broadcast live via the Internet from the Discovery Channel studios in Silver Spring. This unique event was themed after a 1970’s television show and featured leaders in educational strategies and applications related to student instruction and engagement.

St. Louis students were interviewed by Hall Davidson, Senior Director of Global Learning Initiatives for Discovery Education, and had the opportunity to showcase their work and explain the tools and processes they use. Each student spoke eloquently about the educational environment at St. Louis and the effect learning tools had on their lives outside of school. Students also worked with Dr. Lodge McCammon where they learned the moves to one of his songs and demonstrated the importance of kinesthetic learning during his presentation.

Saturday was filled with excitement and new experiences as we watched the broadcast from the greenroom in anticipation of our turn on stage! The day concluded with a behind-the-scenes tour of the Discovery Channel building and we departed with some Discovery Education gifts for us to remember our visit. We would like to thank the Discovery Education team for the invitation to take part in this event as well as the parents who allowed their child to participate. Next stop Hollywood!

Click on the video and advance to 4:02:59 to see the student’s session!
http://new.livestream.com/accounts/135982/streamathon
— at Discovery Communications.

 

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