Hilton Grade K

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 our second class, kindergarteners discussed what they thought a scientist looked like. They had some pretty great pictures that they drew. We then read the story Rosie Revere, Engineer. We talked about different kinds of STEAM workers including scientists and engineers. We also learned that anyone, including them, could be an engineer or a scientist! We then tried it out by inventing some pretty interesting tools. Classes before Thanksgiving had to solve the problem of getting a turkey for Thanksgiving. There were turkey remotes, turkey callers, turkey jet packs and all sorts of fun ideas. The students drew their designs out first, and then had time to build their prototypes out of cardboard, popsicle sticks, lids, and paper. Students after the break had a different task to create a tool for removing snow. There were some pretty great shoveling tools, snow robots, and blowers!

This week, we have been talking about different types of engineers and the work that they do. We talked about how they use the design process to solve problems. Students had the chance to make an engineering design decision. They were given the problem of choosing which building material was best for building something: 1. tall 2. strong 3. spinny 4. that can roll. They used various building sets to try to solve the problem and had to explain what worked best for their design at the end.

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!

Kindergaten was busy practicing the shapes they learned in math class! They were challenged to build several 2-D shapes out of play -doh and straws. Some even took on the challenge of trying some 3-D pyramids, cubes, and prisms!