Hilton Grade 3

Google Classroom Class Code Link: dtvrxto

In our first class, we leaned all about what STEAM is and attempted a STEAM challenge. Students worked in teams to create the tallest tower possible out of either paper or plastic cups. They used various methods of stacking and compared their results with other teams in the end. The students had some great ideas about which properties made for better towers!

During the second week of classes, the students are reading the story Rosie Revere, Engineer. After discussing the design process that engineers use to create new tools to solve problems, the students are challenged with brainstorming and then designing and building their own tools. Some of the creative ideas so far have included: back scratchers for itchy backs, grabber tools for reaching high shelves, cleaning and organizing devices, and much more!

This week we have been planning and beginning to design shoebox tasks as a service project. We discussed tools that some students need to "Bee Their Best". We are building activities onto the shoeboxes to donate to children to use as extra help for fine motor skills. We read the story Arnie and His School Tools as well. We had a great discussion on how students need different tools to work with at school...

We have been busy building, creating, and designing in STEAM class! The 3rd grade spent some time discussing cardboard as a building material. They decided it was easy to use, cheap, and strong! They also spent time learning various cardboard attachment techniques. These are ways to connect cardboard without using tape. (They do love tape though!!) After trying each of the techniques, the students combined their flanges, fasteners, slots, hole punches and more to create unique sculptures!

All grades at Hilton took part in the annual Jingle Bell Jog. They also spent some time with a mini STEAM activity. We learned about snowflakes and their patterns, sides, and shapes. Each student designed a snowflake from a hexagon and we combined them into one, big, snowy collage. We talked about how we are all different like snowflakes! Each snowflake they made is as unique as every one of our students!

The 3rd and 4th grades are busy learning to design in 3-D using Tinkercad and 2 our Elementary school 3-D printers! Each student has been carefully measuring, aligning, and re-designing their creations in our virtual Tinkercad classroom. They are excited to see the final products as they print from the printers too. Here are some of their "PAX" keychains they are making for their backpacks:

We had a lot of fun with STEAM at Hilton! Here are some hi-lights from our last couple lessons:

We read The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.and made and tested our own windmills!

We learned about coding and created some puzzles in code for our classmates to follow. We also completed the Hour Of Code online. Finally, we worked on coding and programming our Ozobot robots. The students had a blast and were very creative with what they made their robots do!