S.T.E.M

Science Technology Engineering and Math

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Current Project Needs:

Empty tissue boxes or small shoe boxes

Toilet paper, paper towel tubes

Large cardboard boxes, flattened

New seat stumps for the outdoor classroom (ours are rotted/ing)

Items for MS Gravity Games our (our tennis ball "marble" run in the woods):

Metal collanders with handles
Metal cutlery (anything you'd donate to thrift stores)
Wooden boxes (like apple, mason jar boxes)
2 x 2 of any length, anything similar we could use for tracks
scrap wood
extra attachment items: caribeaners, metal hooks, clips, zip ties
metal shelf braces

Always collecting cereal boxes

Cleaning up the toy bins at home?

We always love more dominoes and kapla/keva planks which are our favorite building material

Any small animal figurine or doll house sized item are much loved for Stop Motion

This is a screenshot of my channel-- @PreddyAwesomeSTEM, the link is: https://www.youtube.com/@PreddyAwesomeSTEM

This is my first attempt at creating in YouTube and our 1st attempt at Stop Motion. Hope you enjoy!

BOB IS BACK!

Bob the Blob is Back in stop motion animation. Go to my YouTube Channel to see your Bob video.

Want to make videos at home?

You can use the free version of Stop Motion Studios, it is awesome. It's icon is blue.

The paid version is $6 and gives you many more editing features. It's icon is pink. This is the one we use in class.

Wants and Needs

It's Not A Box! We are amazing upcyclers-- we take your old Amazon boxes and make doll houses, cars, fidget boards, race tracks, etc. However, we can't keep a million boxes in the classroom and all cardboard is cut up for storage and to keep projects from getting too big (for the same reason).

What Kind of Cardboard Do You Want?

The best cardboard for us isn't actually the strongest. We use cardboard cutting machines designed for kids (chompsaws), they struggle with thick cardboard. Flakey, weak cardboard also makes our projects difficult. Most Amazon boxes sort of hit that perfect middle spot of quality and thickness.

Cereal boxes, which are made of paperboard are excellent for all sorts of projects and we will always take those. Avoid boxes with perforations (ex: sparkling water boxes).

Where Should I Bring the Boxes?

If you have cereal boxes or some larger cardboard ones (over 2 feet) and can flatten them, feel free to drop them off in the office or at my room anytime.

I will send out an email when we are in need of more boxes.

What else should I be saving?

Paper towel rolls, toilet paper tubes, bottle caps, yogurt lids, corks, ribbon, berry baskets, twist ties, odd shaped doo dads--- we are a mini scrap exchange!

We also can upcycle maps, old board games that are incomplete, kids magazines, stencils, die cuts, magnets.

I'll post current project needs at the top of this site and send out emails.

This is the Home Page

Where Do I Go?

Are you in STEM Class and need to get to your links?

Click on your grade level tab above the title.

Outdoor Classroom

We are back in the outdoor classroom. Sturdy shoes and water bottles for our woodsy aventures!

Snow-where to Go?

Here are some at home ideas to keep you and your family edu-tained.

1) Play in the snow, obviously! Try to catch snow on your tongue, try to catch it on a metal spoon and look at it before it melts. If we get enough fresh snow, try snow cream. If you have a kitchen scale you can measure your ounces of snow to get the right ratio to condensed milk.

What about a snow map? You can use old markers and spray bottles to make different colors and design a map of your neighborhood, or a topographic map of our state with different colors showing different heights. Food coloring and water in an eye dropper or straw can transform your snow and stay eco-friendly.

Packing snow? There's nothing better than fort building... but if you can't build a huge fort could you build a mouse castle? A doll store? A dog-sized skate park?

2) On each grade level website there are games and videos we have enjoyed in class. Play 10 NitroType games if you are in grades 2-8 or try https://monkeytype.com/ if you don't like the racing! Use 2 hands, But don't spend forever on screens...

3) Snow days invite us to slow down. Accept a slow down challenge, who can make a ball move the slowest from one place in your house to another? A ping pong ball and a set of stairs is ideal, can you slow the ball down while it is still in motion? Do you need to make the track steeper or more gentle and shallow? How can friction help you?

A fun marble run variation involves a lot of painters tape, a wall and toilet paper tubes or other paperboard (cereal boxes, etc). This was a very popular activity for most grades!

4) Go one step further and make a bigger mess-- Rube Goldberg contraptions are always a hit! Check out some examples, and then see what treasures are in your recycling bin!

5) Hot Chocolate Science? https://www.stem-spark.com/activities/hot-chocolate-physics

6) Check out this awesome website for a wide variety of ideas: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/stem-activities . For less mess and more fun for a variety of ages I'd recommend the catapults, paper planes and flipbooks.

7) Celebrate the snow day with stop motion. Make a video of you celebrating in the snow using the free app, Stop Motion Studio.

Or get out some clay, paper and those trusty boxes from the recycling and make your own stop motion video. Cooking video? Animate a video game? Animal charades using your siblings?

8) Build the best indoor reading fort and take a picture to share. Nothing better than being cozy with a great book. Get the book titles in the pictures so we can all get some great book recommendations!

Share and check out what others are doing at home during our snow days!

Add your ERA family friendly photos and videos here!