Energy and Energy Transformation

The first lab of the year for 8th graders was an incredible success! Students spent a week learning about potential and kinetic energy along with other various forms of energy (sound energy, thermal energy, electromagnetic energy, chemical energy, elastic potential energy, and more!) and then applied their knowledge by designing and building a functioning roller coaster. Students were placed into groups and moved outside to the back of the school where their creations began! Once students were happy with their tracks, they were given marbles to test if it would actually work. Along with designing and building these roller coasters, students were asked to answer a few lab questions regarding their designs. For example, the students drew models of their tracks once completed and then labeled their “blueprints”. These labels included information such as the types of energy present, where they are present, as well as why they are currently in effect. Overall, all of the students were able to construct working designs which were a blast to build!

El Tiempo – The Weather

After studying the Spanish vocabulary needed to discuss and understand the weather, Grades 3 and 4 built their very own weather stations in the Makerspace. The students enjoyed expanding on what they learned in Spanish class by going deeper into the science of weather and designing their own weather stations. Their simple construction materials included paper cups, popsicle sticks, strings of hair and more.

Kindergarten Circle

Kindergarten students constructed a strong but flexible zig-zag ring of carefully crafted of hand-cut Pine and Poplar pieces. Each student snugly fitted nine pieces together on their own, and then saw that each assemblage, like each student in the class, came together and made a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Loose Parts Shed

Children of all ages are drawn to these versatile and beautiful new building pieces in our community. PreK-4 and sixth grade students are seen here exploring the possibilities of these dynamic learn-through-play loose parts materials which inspire creativity and support imaginative play. A gorgeous autumn day is the perfect outdoor learning space for our children.

A Block of Time

For the past several months our kindergarten makers have been spending time working on a project that encompasses all the skills we have developed this year. First blocks of wood were measured and sawed, then sanded down and painted. Students used rulers to mark one inch intervals and carefully hammered holes into their blocks. Next came the time to use screwdrivers as we added a battery compartment to the side of each block. Moving on to our study of electricity students used wires and led lights to build real working circuits!

Riding Into Spring

“Everytime I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the human race.” H.G. Wells is on to something with this quotation: be active, get outdoors, and let your legs take you where your car sometimes can’t.

When fifth grade parent Monika Stokes proposed a workshop teaching kids about safety and care for bicycles, it evoked memories of my 10 year-old self imagining that my bike was really a horse and it could take me anywhere: my friends’ houses, the woods in my backyard that I called “The Ranch,” and up and down the highway I created with chalk in my driveway. More than anything, my bike gave me my first taste of freedom. The workshop would provide so much more than I, or any of my childhood friends, knew about bikes. The fifth grade would become mechanics.

Over the course of an afternoon in the makerspace, Monika, local riders, and a staff member from Danny’s Cycles in Stamford taught fifth graders how to clean and grease bike chains, how to repair a flat tire, about the different types of pedals used, the proper way to fit a helmet and the safety measures needed out on the roads and trails. There was even a station with an assortment of bike parts that the students used to create anything they could imagine. The highlight of this workshop for me was the tire repair competition at the end. Any student who wanted to participate could use what they learned to repair a tire as fast as they could.

I knew that the kids would enjoy this workshop because of the physical nature of it, but I was blown away by which stations they enjoyed best. Students who I never would have expected to get into tire repair were down and dirty trying to master this task. Others really gravitated to using the greasy bike parts for art. Even if they didn’t ride, there was a personal connection to be made in this workshop. I am confident that the skills learned will serve them well at some point in their future: whether they are out enjoying a trail in the woods, playing on bikes with friends or even as an adult with their own kids.

Fifth grade parents, take your child out on a ride or ask them to show you how to fix a bike tube! Don’t worry about getting a flat; they know what to do.