4th Grade

April/May 2026

This month we:

• Explore CAD using Tinkercad

• Practiced resizing, grouping, and using cruise mode to create printed nameplates. 

• Celebrated a whole school GLOW Week during the PSSAs. 

** Photos to come. 

February/March 2026

This month we:

• Began our coding unit. 

• Explored creating interactive "sprites". 

• Created interactive games using events. 

• Used variables to keep score. 

January 2026

This month we: 

• Created, tested, and improved our safety vest designs

• Students used data to make improvements to their original designs

December 2025

This month we: 

• Began making plans to meet our safety vest's criteria and constraints.  

• Began creating the backs of our vests. 

November 2025

Fourth grade began their Engineering Safety Vest unit.  Students began to work in teams to use the Engineering Design Process to design a vest that will increase users’(pedestrians, cyclists, and skateboarders) safety as they move through a busy intersection. The safety vest must use electrical signals to display the information that the users wish to communicate in the intersection. Throughout November, students explored patterns in communication used by road users and created circuits to prepare for making their own working safety vests.  

Students will learn that

• Safety in traffic intersections is a concern for travelers who are unablen to communicate.

• Communication requires that information be transferred using a shared system.

• Electrical engineers create devices that use light energy to communicate information.

• They can use the Engineering Design Process and their knowledge of circuits to design a safety vest that communicates information to other

travelers.

October 2025

• Students explore simple machines to learn how they make work easier by changing the direction or amount of force that is required. 

• Students explored ways to transmit information over a long distance.  After exploring patterns that are used to communicate in nature, students explored various ways to communicate (symbols, Morse Code, and QR codes). 

August/September

The beginning of the school year included learning routines, STEM behaviors, teamwork, the engineering design process, and the role of an engineer. 

Some of our favorite activities included:

• Exploring potential and kinetic energy as we imagined, planned, created and tested our own roller coasters.

• We learned and explored how simple machines are used in everyday life and how they help engineers design solutions to problems.