Teachers are good at what they do. BB teachers formed a leadership team and planned a Family STEAM Night to give parents an idea of the kinds of things their children were doing at school. Now the activities did not rise to the level of PLTW STEM learning, but they did focus on the design process.
Sample stations included: Designing from a pattern with LEGO, the art in math with Spirograph, stringing bracelets with initials made from beads representing binary code, constructing a straw tower that could support an orange, creating 3D Play Doh images from 2D pictures much the way a 3D printer works, building paper towers, and more. Some stations were more PK, K, and 1st "friendlier" than were others. This was noted on the flyer for the event.
There was even a selfie station with some Mad Scientist props which resulted in some fun family moments. Though we are usually a Tweet-happy staff at events such as this one, we were a bit overwhelmed with the turnout and had to keep all hands on deck in order to meet the needs of our families. When the event ended its planners immediately regrouped to brainstorm some revisions for next year.
In fact, we have convinced our PTO to change their Winter Carnival next year to include family STEAM activities and not just carnival-type games.
A successful first attempt!
Sample stations included: Designing from a pattern with LEGO, the art in math with Spirograph, stringing bracelets with initials made from beads representing binary code, constructing a straw tower that could support an orange, creating 3D Play Doh images from 2D pictures much the way a 3D printer works, building paper towers, and more. Some stations were more PK, K, and 1st "friendlier" than were others. This was noted on the flyer for the event.
There was even a selfie station with some Mad Scientist props which resulted in some fun family moments. Though we are usually a Tweet-happy staff at events such as this one, we were a bit overwhelmed with the turnout and had to keep all hands on deck in order to meet the needs of our families. When the event ended its planners immediately regrouped to brainstorm some revisions for next year.
In fact, we have convinced our PTO to change their Winter Carnival next year to include family STEAM activities and not just carnival-type games.
A successful first attempt!