STEM Blog

A Bad Case of Stripes
Posted February 7, 2013

Kindergarten students participated in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) workshop on Thursday, January 31st. They began by reading and viewing the online story A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon. Afterward they divided into groups and rotated through five different workshop centers, reinforcing classroom skills in Art, Science, Engineering, Math and Writing.  Each center included a challenge, including creating and coloring a new Camilla, writing a description of what happened to her, decorating the student-created “greenhouse”, completing a paper describing the plant life cycle, and creating and using a graph.

To view the online story visit: http://www.storylineonline.net/stripes/story.swf
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STEM Family Fun Night
Posted February 1, 2013

On Tuesday Jan. 29th students took part in a unique opportunity to experience educational – and highly entertaining – demonstrations of STEM subjects during our first annual STEM Family Fun Night. Over 100 students and their families packed the gym for hands-on science aimed at sparking their interest in the STEM subjects. Featured guest Eric Energy introduced the group to frozen carbon dioxide, the power of static electricity, and had parents and students on their feet experimenting with electronic voice alteration software. Mr. Scott Suko, St. Louis parent and world renowned domino toppler shared the Engineering and Math techniques behind the age-old sport while amazing us with a room-wide demonstration. Marbles the Brain Store challenged student’s thinking skills by introducing brain bending puzzles that called on student’s top-notch problem solving skills. St Louis administrator Michelle Kemp hosted a Rube Goldberg themed video session with Lego building activities for K-1st grade students in the Library.
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Claymation!
Posted February 1, 2013
How did the electric eel get his electricity? Why do camels have humps? These important questions will soon be answered by the 6th Grade at St. Louis!
 
6th grade has recently begun a project that truly reflects how art can be a starting point for incorporating STEM into the classroom. Our Claymation projects involve writing skills and technology as well as using our creative minds to design sets and characters. Each group of 6th graders will write a "Why Story," a type of folktale that explains how a certain trait or characteristic came to be. They will then use modeling clay and animation techniques to create a short stop-motion film.
 
Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead!
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The Robots are Here!
Posted January 25, 2013

Today, the St. Louis CyberSTEM teachers participated in a full day of training to learn how to design, build and program their robots as they gear up for the second half of the afterschool program.



Scratch students learn the software development cycle.

Posted January 21, 2013

Our St. Louis School Sixth Grade Scratch developers continue to improve their design and programming skills by incorporating concepts from physics and mathematics, making their projects more dynamic and engaging. These students are in the process of enhancing their custom video games to make them more exciting and realistic. Please check out the students’ work and feel free to play the games.

http://stem.stlouisparish.org/scratch



First Grade Robotics!
Posted January 17, 2013

Mrs. Coyle’s First Grade engineers spent time learning how build robotic LEGO models using the school’s LEGO® Education WeDo Robotics Construction Sets. They worked to program their designs using the WeDo Robotics Software and the use of working motors and sensors.  So far they have not figured out how to get the robots to do their homework but they may program them to bring cookies from the kitchen!



STEM Family Fun Night
Posted January 16, 2013

As part of our Catholic Schools Week celebration, parents and students are invited to attend the first St. Louis School Family STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Night. Come visit us in the Gym on Tuesday, January 29th from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm, participate in several demonstrations and learn more about the STEM program now underway.  The event is open to all school families and will consist of a one-hour presentation by Eric Energy followed by rotating breakout sessions from Marbles the Brain Store and Domino-toppling demonstrations by SLS parent Mr. Scott Suko. We encourage you to attend and look forward to seeing you there. For more information visit our STEM blog at stem.stlouisparish.org.



Hidden secrets of soda
Posted January 15, 2013

Today in Health class, our Fifth Graders used Math and Science to reveal secrets about two popular soft drinks. Using a float tank and an understanding of density, we determined that a can of Diet Coke was more buoyant than a can of regular Coke. We hypothesized that the high fructose syrup content in regular Coke is either more dense or is present in higher quantity than the corresponding artificial sweetener in Diet Coke.  We recognized that neither soda is desirable to drink; we prefer water.



First Grade Problem Solving
Posted January 11, 2013

After reading a story called The Gingerbread Boy, SLS First Graders were challenged by Mrs. Aumiller to come up with a solution that would allow a gingerbread boy to play in the water without dissolving.  They have reviewed the engineering design process, received their partner assignments, and have $10 dough dollars to purchase materials from the school store. Stay tuned to see what they come up with!



First Grade Engineers
Posted January 10, 2013

Tape, wax paper, rubber bands? Stay tuned to find out what Mrs. Aumiller’s First Grade engineers are up to now!



Designing and Animating with Scratch
Posted December 16, 2012

A core component of STEM education is allowing the students to exercise creativity while problem solving.  Fourth Grade students at St. Louis School are using Scratch, a visual programming language designed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to explore the relationship between logical thinking, problem solving and creativity. In the most recent exercise, students are designing and animating a clown fish using the tools built into Scratch. To learn more about Scratch visit: http://scratch.mit.edu/



Design and Build Lego Club
Posted December 12, 2012

St. Louis School offers a "Design and Build" club for students in First through Fourth Grade.  The students work independently or in groups to express their engineering creativity and natural desire to build.  A variety of Lego kits provide an opportunity for our future engineers toengage in critical thinking, collaboration, team work, and problem-solving as they assemble their designs.



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