Welcome
WELCOME to
Mrs. Stem's S.T.E.M. Site
Mrs. Stem's S.T.E.M. Site
-
Not As Noisy As You Think! Our current unit is all about Sound Waves. We've learned about the properties of waves, comparing and contrasting light versus sound waves.Through a cacophony of stations, we've explored really cool ways to hear vibrations and see vibrations focusing on vibrational paths.Our next endeavor will be to use design thinking to build our own original instruments! Amongst our learning, students were shown an incredible display of physics, sounds, and art in Nigel Stanford's video, Cymatics. (I'm including it here because it was such a fan favorite!
Posted Jan 24, 2017, 7:25 PM by Kristina Stem -
Building Blocks of Science No... I'm not talking about LEGOs... I'm teaching about the building blocks of everything! - This is one of my most favorite units!!!We started off learning about atoms, the building blocks of everything in the universe. We related atoms on the periodic table to letters in the alphabet; except instead of just 26, we have 118 different kinds of atoms, or elements. We can combine atoms to make molecules, just like letters can be combined to make words. Every grade became more familiar with the periodic table and even made a model of an atom. They also were introduced to the Period Table Song - both the Tom Lehrer classic (fast and slower) and a "new" one: Then we ...
Posted Nov 29, 2016, 6:40 AM by Kristina Stem -
Problem Solving and Survival Skills We are working hard to identify, practice, and develop problem solving skills in our first unit of the year: Problem Solving and Survival Skills. Learning how to be "CERtain," we explored making Claims supported by multiple pieces of Evidence and solid Reasoning. We used this funny commercial about how even claims with evidence can be faulty if the perspective of reasoning is limited.Along with being CERtain, we identified how the process of Design Thinking can help us work through the steps of problem solving. After watching some adults try to solve a problem, we began practicing our own problem solving on little, everyday survival skills. Over the next couple of weeks we increase the level of difficulty ...
Posted Sep 8, 2016, 10:00 PM by Kristina Stem
